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The Premier's Spirit of ANZAC Prize


The Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize is an annual competition open to all Year 9 and 10 Victorian high school students.

The Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize aims to inspire young Victorians to explore the ethos of the ANZACs at Gallipoli and on the Western Front and how values such as courage, initiative, mateship and endurance help unite and strengthen Victorian communities today.

2013 Students Announced

Congratulations to the 10 lucky Victorian secondary school students who have done themselves and their communities proud by securing a place on this year’s coveted 2012-2013 Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize overseas study tour.

On 1 March 2013, the following students were presented with the Prize at a special reception at the Parliament House:

  • Tegan Budge, Pascoe Vale Girls College, Pascoe Vale
  • Jasmine Davis, Sacred Heart College, Geelong
  • Kate Mani, Genazzano FCJ College, Kew
  • Bayley Charalambous, Lavalla Catholic College, Traralgon
  • Sarah Jacks, Ballarat High School, Ballarat
  • Whitney James, Benalla College, Benalla
  • Luke Stacey, Sacred Heart College, Yarrawonga,
  • Laura Carmichael, St Mary Mackillop College, Swan Hill
  • Nathan Di Teodoro, Mazenod College, Mulgrave
  • Cameron Mansell, Tarneit Senior College, Tarneit

These students will now be counting down to their April school holidays where they’ll be visiting the battlefields at Gallipoli, the Western Front and, for the first time, Barendrecht in the Netherlands.

The 10 students were selected from a shortlist of 27 State finalists. The remaining 17 regional finalists will be off on a Canberra study tour which includes visits to the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House, the National Film and Sound Archive and the National Gallery.

The 17 regional finalists are:

  • Caitlin Smart, Mercy Regional College, Camperdown
  • Claire Fitzgerald, Clonard College, Geelong West
  • Audilia Sujana, Waverley Christian College, Wantirna South
  • Caleb Hounihan, Hawthorn Secondary College, Hawthorn East
  • Charlotte Maybery-Reupert, St Pauls Anglican Grammar School, Warragul
  • Lila Van Breugel, Trafalgar High School, Trafalgar
  • Alyssa Britnell, Ballarat Clarendon College, Ballarat
  • Niki Bell, Dimboola Memorial Secondary College, Dimboola
  • Luke Leskie, Numurkah Secondary College, Numurkah
  • Penny Konstandopoulos, Irymple Secondary College, Irymple
  • Courtney Brown, Merbein Secondary College, Merbein
  • Emma Jean Casey, Kilvington Grammar School, Ormond
  • Martha O'Hagan, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Bentleigh
  • Erin Lai, University High School, Parkville
  • Cheyne Jacka, Rosehill Secondary College, Niddrie
  • Caitlin Gaffney, Santa Maria College, Northcote
  • Dino Vlachos, Overnewton College, Keilor

2013-14 Applications Now Open

Applications for the Premier’s Spirit of ANZAC Prize 2013-14 are now open, with the top 10 entries once again eligible to win a spot on an all-expenses-paid study tour of sites where Australians have served in war, focusing on the Western Front or Gallipoli. 

To enter, students are invited to submit an entry that addresses the question:

To what extent is the Anzac spirit relevant to life in Australia today? What can it teach us about the Australia we want for the future?

Entries can be in ONE of the following formats:

  • Essay of up to 1000 words
  • Poem or short story
  • Audio presentation (maximum 10 minutes)
  • Video presentation (maximum 10 minutes)
  • Musical composition – a song or instrumental
  • Digital presentation on CD or DVD
  • Web page or PowerPoint on CD or DVD
  • Artwork (painting, drawing, photograph or textile)

To find out more and to download an entry form visit the Spirit of ANZAC website (new window). Entries are open until 18 October 2013.

The 2012 Tour

The 10 Victorian high school students from across the state selected to participate in the 2012 Premier's Spirit of ANZAC Prize arrived back from their whirlwind study tour of military sites of significance around the globe on Sunday 16 April.

Tour highlights included a visit to the Gallipoli Peninsula, exploring the tunnels and bunkers at Fort Siloso in Singapore and visiting the Parit Sulong memorial in Malaysia where a massacre of Australian soldiers occurred.

Commemoration ceremonies for our soldiers were also held by the students at Gallipoli’s Lone Pine, the Kranji Cemetery and Changi Museum in Singapore and at Parit Sulong

You can read more about the students’ journey by visiting the Spirit of ANZAC tour blog (new window).

Students entering the 2011-2012 competition were asked: "What does the spirit of ANZAC mean to you? Are the values displayed by the ANZACS at Gallipoli and the Western Front still relevant today?"

Each of the students earned their spot on the tour by entering outstanding creative projects including multimedia works, essays, poems, and even musical pieces.

For more information about the Spirit of ANZAC Prize, check out the official site at Veterans Victoria (new window) or contact patricia.pollard@dpcd.vic.gov.au.

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