Youth Advisory Group

Taeg Twist is a proud Birri Gubba Birriah and Ngāpuhi person from Waibene in the Zenadth Kes region. A dedicated advocate for human rights, Taeg works across the arts and health sectors, with a particular focus on Indigenous rights, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and environmental justice.

This year, Taeg was appointed as the First Nations Australian Youth Delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) and is the recipient of the 2024 Jack Cranstoun Scholarship. Their leadership experience includes serving as the Youth Health Network Coordinator for the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (QAIHC) and as President of Imagi-Nation for AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience).

Taeg’s commitment to social good extends beyond their professional roles. Taeg is a regular plasma and blood donor for the Australian Red Cross and volunteers their time to support homelessness initiatives. Taeg’s long-term vision is to establish a not-for-profit organisation that brings access to the arts to rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, with the aim of advancing health equity.

Joshua is a 16-year-old high school student who has been raised in a small regional Wheatbelt town. Josh has been a young carer for his sister, for over 10 years, providing intense, nursing-level care for her around the clock.

Josh’s life and outlook have been significantly shaped by his caring role, as well as the resultant financial hardship he has experienced after his family of 6 were suddenly thrust into poverty, depending, out of necessity, on a meagre Carer’s Pension.

Joshua has also experienced multiple other factors of disadvantage throughout his childhood, including housing instability, family domestic violence, and a family court battle that favoured the perpetrator of abuse. Josh has seen first-hand the devastating impact of drug and alcohol use in three close family members, who turned to substances in attempts to manage serious mental health conditions.

Joshua has a unique intersectional voice. He uses his lived experience to champion systemic reforms and additional supports in attempts to mitigate the impact of disadvantaged childhoods on the life outcomes of young people. Josh is excited at the prospect of joining a team of other passionate young people, through his involvement in the Sir David Martin Foundation, with similar aspirations of tackling the many dire social issues that imprison youth in disadvantage.

Mijica is a youth advocate for mental health, underrepresented communities and community development. She works full time as an Equity Practitioner and works part-time as a research assistant with University of New South Wales (UNSW) focusing on the areas of adult learning and emergency settlement in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Mijica is an active volunteer in Canberra, ACT community dedicating her time and effort in areas of education, media, health care and human services. She is a Juris Doctor candidate with the goal of one day supporting young people and families in times of hardship. She hopes to share her lived experiences with mental health with others to empower them to thrive in community, empowering them to empower others.

Ellie Hennessy is a Year 12 student at a high school in Sydney. Ellie and her family have a long-standing relationship with the Martin family, and the Sir David Martin Foundation. She is excited to become more actively engaged in the Foundation. In 2020, Ellie co-authored a charity cookbook titled 3 Cooks Who Care with proceeds benefiting Oz Harvest. She actively participates in various co-curricular activities at school, showcasing her enthusiasm for learning and helping others. In her spare time she loves participating in team sports and is eager to continue her studies post-high school, hopefully focussing on law and business.

Maddy (she/her) resides in Wangal and Gadigal Country of Eora Nation studying a Masters of Social Work, whilst working with Australian Catholic University on Darug Country, and as a support worker alongside people living with disabilities.

Maddy has spent the past eight years working alongside young people for a variety of organisations and schools nationally, and internationally. She is the current Oceania Representative for the International Youth Advisory Body for the Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life in the Vatican. She sits on the board for the Marist Association which oversees Marist Schools, Marist 180, Marist Solidarity and Marist Youth Ministry.

Maddy is driven to redefine our perception of peripheries, and people on the margins, challenging the discourse to recognise everyone is at the centre of their own worlds, so we accept the invitation to take the time to sit with and amongst people – learning from them. By doing this providing a space in which everyone feels safe, heard and unconditionally loved.

She feels quite privileged to be journeying with young people, encountering them as whole people, allowing them a space where they do not have to justify who they are and why they are in this space.

Maddy’s hope for young people in the Sir David Martin Foundation and in society in general is recognition of the two-way learning and wisdom young people offer to the world, watching them grow to be the best version of themselves whilst being confident leaders for the betterment of our world.