Program Partners

ABC Heywire

ABC Heywire puts young regional Australians at the centre of conversations that shape their communities. The annual ABC Heywire competition is designed to involve regional youth in the national conversation by asking people aged 16 to 22 to share their story.

The ABC Heywire Regional Youth Summit celebrates the achievements of regional youth, their stories, and ideas. The annual summit is held at Australian Parliament House, and promotes youth leadership, collaboration and the development of projects that improve accessibility of resources in the regions.

Summit attendees—Australian Members of Parliament and Australian Government Departments—learn more of the exciting new projects aimed at improving the lives of young people in regional Australia.

Heywire winners work with ABC staff to transform their story into a high-quality content for TV, digital, radio or social reel which are "shared" at the summit.

The summit also includes Trailblazers—a group of outstanding young leaders who are driving social, educational and economic projects.

The Trailblazers workshop their change-making projects to the next level and "pitch" their ideas to impact partners and Australian Government Members of Parliament.

The stories and projects shared are a testament to the rich diversity of experiences of young people in the regions.

This year’s ABC Heywire winners highlight Australia’s rich diversity and provide an insight into the lives and communities of young Australians living in your regions.

“I escaped child slavery and save two other girls after being captured and sold by ISIS in the Yazidi genocide.”
Sol, Wyoming (NSW)/Darkinjung Country

"I am following on the footsteps of my ancestors and using art to share my stories.”
Alliya, Kurri Kurri (NSW)/Wonnarua Country

“Nothing quite prepares you for the first moment you walk into a youth homeless centre.”
Ella, Wooroolin (Qld)/Innigal Country

“I use a wheelchair to transport myself and words to transport my ideas.”
Jack, Wodonga (Vic)/Wiradjuri, Waveroo and Dhudhuroa Country

The ABC Heywire program creates the space for young people to share their stories and the support to craft creative solutions to the hardships they face.

ABC Heywire engages with regional, rural and remote young Australians, providing a national platform to share their stories and ideas. The ABC Trailblazers program inspires and supports young entrepreneurs who have undertaken social, educational, and economic development projects in their regional communities.

The Department is a valued partner of the ABC Heywire program, which has been amplifying the stories of regional youth for more than 26 years. Since 1998, there has been more than 13,400 stories shared of young people living in Australia's regional, rural and remote communities.

Through this longstanding partnership, all RDA Committees have opportunities to connect with their regional winners and to help these young change-makers realise their most powerful ideas for making regional Australia a better place to live.

The ABC Heywire also program strongly aligns with RDAs' key priorities for their regions. Through their strategic planning, RDAs identify key activities and program to benefit economic development, improve liveability and deliver vocational opportunities for communities.

These priorities include:

Supporting youth and community capacity building
supporting Indigenous leadership
education, training and jobs pathways
building future resilience
skills and ready workforce
population attraction and liveability
incubator and accelerator programs.

The next competition will open mid-2026. All young Australians living in regional, rural and remote communities are encouraged to share and celebrate their unique stories of life outside the cities.

In the meantime, if you have any queries please email abcheywire@abc.net.au.

To learn more about the competition and the winners, go to: