MEDIA RELEASES

MEDIA RELEASE

Tuesday 5 May 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

YOUNG MENTAL HEALTH AMBASSADORS IN LIVE4LIFE CREWS WIN 2026 YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARD 

Melbourne, 1 May 2026 — Year 9 and 10 volunteers in the Live4Life Crews from rural and regional communities won the Victorian Government Group Achievement in the Community Award in the 2026 Victorian 7News Young Achiever Awards on Friday 1 May.

Past Crew members Mina Beverley, Jewel Burchell-Robins, Charlie Bassett, Regan Smith, Elizabeth Ireland, Jayhe-Lee Quattrocchi and Talon Gostelow joined CEO Jeremy Wiggins and Youth and Community Engagement Adviser Bridie Johnstone at a Gala Dinner ceremony hosted by Karina Carvalho at the Pullman On The Park — where representatives from all over the state gathered to acknowledge, encourage and promote the positive achievements of all young people throughout Victoria.

The Victorian Government Group Achievement in the Community Award was presented by the Minister for Youth, the Hon. Luba Grigorovitch MP who said it "recognises young people who have worked together as a group to provide a service, program or project for other young people, which is based on consultation and engagement with young people and has resulted in positive, youth-led changes in a local community". 

In accepting the award on behalf of the Live4Life Crews, Bridie Johnstone said: "Live4Life Crews are important. They are the ones putting their hands up to lead change. They volunteer to work together to improve mental health awareness among their peers, decrease stigma, and increase help-seeking behaviours. These young people in the Crews are champions, leading the conversation about mental health — not only amongst their peers, but also their wider communities all across Victoria."

For the young mental health advocates representing their peers on the night, the award was a celebration of solidarity. Past Live4Life Baw Baw Crew member Jewel Burchell-Robins said, “The night reminded me that every Crew member, past, present, and future, carries a quiet kind of greatness. They give their time, their energy, and their hearts to create a place where young people can grow, support one another, and truly thrive. Standing in a room filled with such genuine, selfless young leaders was a privilege I won’t forget. It made me proud to be part of a generation that doesn’t wait for change, but chooses to build it together.”

Rural young people face significantly higher suicide risk and reduced access to care. Live4Life is an evidence-based, community-led program which builds the skills, relationships and local capacity needed to improve wellbeing, reduce suicide risk and support young people earlier. Since 2010, Live4Life has been implemented in 13 Local Government Areas all across Victoria. The total number of young people who have received evidence-based mental health education through Live4Life is now over 40,000.

At the heart of the program are young representatives in Years 9 and 10, who volunteer to become leaders, promoting positive mental health messages and delivering highly visible events and activities in their communities. The Crew act as role models for the younger cohort at their school, using their skills and knowledge to promote mental health awareness and create cultural change.

In 2025, 325 young people joined Live4Life Crews in their communities and were trained and mentored to support their peers as Mental Health Ambassadors. Since Live4Life began, over 1,800 young people have joined the Crew.

The positive long term impact of the program has been verified in numerous independent studies and Live4Life was cited as an exemplar in the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. Just last month, 10 former Crew members met with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, at the "Regional & Rural Youth Voices: Shaping the Future of Mental Health" forum — helping to amplify the voices of young rural and regional Australians on a global stage.

In 2026, hundreds more young people have signed up as members of local Crews in Ballarat, Baw Baw, Benalla, Central Goldfields, Glenelg, Hepburn, Latrobe Valley, South Gippsland, Southern Grampians and Wellington.
Live4Life CEO Jeremy Wiggins praised the young people in the program: “Congratulations to the young people of the Live4Life Crews. Their contribution to their communities is outstanding and this award is very well-deserved. With the challenges rural and regional Victoria manages year on year, investing in prevention is vitally important if we are to provide a pathway for young people to gain the agency, knowledge and skills they need to understand and navigate their mental health.”

Live4Life is calling for greater investment in youth mental health prevention programs from government. The need is particularly acute in rural and regional communities where the suicide rate is more than 50% higher than metropolitan areas, and where 6 out of 10 young people cannot access the services they need. Only 1% of national mental health funding is spent on prevention — and yet the evidence proves prevention works. Live4Life’s budget submissions to the Australian and Victorian Governments can be viewed here.

QUOTES

“Congratulations to the young people of the Live4Life Crews. Their contribution to their communities is outstanding and this award is very well-deserved. With the challenges rural and regional Victoria manages year on year, investing in prevention is vitally important if we are to provide a pathway for young people to gain the agency, knowledge and skills they need to understand and navigate their mental health.” 

Jeremy Wiggins CEO, Live4Life

"Live4Life Crews are important. They are the ones putting their hands up to lead change. They volunteer to work together to improve mental health awareness among their peers, decrease stigma, and increase help-seeking behaviours. These young people in the Crews are champions, leading the conversation about mental health — not only amongst their peers, but also their wider communities all across Victoria."Bridie Johnstone, Youth and Community Engagement Adviser, Live4Life

“The night reminded me that every Crew member, past, present, and future, carries a quiet kind of greatness. They give their time, their energy, and their hearts to create a place where young people can grow, support one another, and truly thrive. Standing in a room filled with such genuine, selfless young leaders was a privilege I won’t forget. It made me proud to be part of a generation that doesn’t wait for change, but chooses to build it together.”

Jewel Burchell-Robins, past Live4Life Baw Baw Crew

"When we heard Crew won with their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the program — everyone's eyes lit up, our knees bent and sprung, we hugged and cheered, but, most of all, we were overwhelmed with pride for the beautiful souls in this community out there doing the work. The room was bustling with passion and pride — not least from us — for young people everywhere. It's an honour to represent the work our Crews are doing in community and they absolutely belong on stage here."

Talon Gostelow, past Live4Life Macedon Ranges Crew

“When we were waiting to hear the winner's name, I felt this intense silence and I was thinking, ‘Surely this is our year?’ Then as I heard ‘Live…‘ I threw my head back and screamed, ‘Oh my god, finally!’ It was such a privilege for us to be on that stage representing not only Crew4Life, but Live4Life as a whole.” 

Charlie Sawyer-Bassett, past Live4Life Glenelg Crew

“It was so surreal to be representing everyone in the Live4Life community because there is a lot of hard work from others who couldn’t be there at the awards ceremony. I felt very grateful to be there and it was amazing that Live4Life won.” 

Jayhe-Lee Quattrocchi, past Live4Life Benalla Crew

“It was an amazing night being surrounded by so many young people who have done incredible things for their communities, and to see their determination and passion was so inspiring!”

Elizabeth Ireland, past Live4Life Benalla Crew

“It was breathtaking being in a room with so many extraordinary people doing what they love. It was even more breathtaking when we won and I was able to go and accept the award with some amazing people. I am beyond grateful for the opportunities Live4Life has given me.” 

Regan Smith, past Live4Life Baw Baw Crew

“It was so lovely and an honour to be in a place surrounded by so many other young people who do such important and hard work, who did nothing but uplift each other the whole night, regardless of winning status.”

Mina Beverley, past Live4Life Macedon Ranges Crew