Churchill Fellowship short video

Events

To inspire your application for the 2024 Churchill Fellowship round, the Churchill Trust, in partnership with our Churchill Fellows, will be delivering virtual information sessions throughout February 2024.

​​In this session, join Churchill Fellows Sarah Brown and Steven Percy as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects, and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Sarah Brown was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to investigate innovative technology solutions to connect zoo visitors with nature and grow revenue. 

Steven Percy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to understand the role of hydrogen in Australia's energy future. 

a life-changing opportunity to travel overseas to explore a topic or an issue you are passionate about. We encourage applications from all sectors of the community and in any field or topic of interest.

​​To learn more about how you can become a Churchill Fellow, visit our website 

.  Applications open Friday 1 March 2024.

Churchill Fellowship information session: Science, technology and environment

Public service (courts and emergency response) 

​​In this session, join Churchill Fellows Tom Morrison and Carly Stanley as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects, and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Tom Morrison was awarded the Bob and June Prickett Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to research and assess UAV delivery methods of incendiary devices used in fuel reduction burning. 

Carly Stanley was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to investigate community-led responses and innovative approaches to the criminal justice system. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Public service (courts and emergency response)

​​In this session, join Churchill Fellows Paul Fung and Jennifer Schumann as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects, and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Paul Fung was awarded the Paul Tys Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to investigate clinical service models that integrate mental health care with General Practice. 

Jennifer Schumann was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to investigate effective public health policies for preventing opioid misuse. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Health and medicine

​​In this session, join Churchill Fellows Amanda Healy and Jeremy Healthcote as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects, and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Amanda was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to complete formal and recognised training in Fashion Design in Europe with subject experts. 

Jeremy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to gain an international perspective on the work being undertaken in First Nations communities on Mental Health. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: First Peoples 

​​In this session, join Churchill Fellows Phil McGilvray and Jessica Colleu Terradas as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects, and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Phil McGilvary was awarded the Park Family Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to investigate innovative methods of equipping teenagers with essential financial skills for life. 

Jessica Colleu Terradas was awarded the Dorothy and Brian Wilson Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to identify effective language and literacy screening and intervention practices for at-risk students. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Education

​​In this session, join Churchill Fellows Farzana Choudhury and Donna Purcell as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects, and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Farzana Choudhury was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to empower people facing poverty through social and housing status rights-based models. 

Donna Purcell was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to study leadership models that remove barriers to employment for people with disability. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Community (inclusion and accessibility)

Arts (visual, performing and management) 

​​In this session join Churchill Fellow Petah Cavallaro as she shares her Fellowship experience, imparts insights on her fascinating projects and motivates you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Petah Cavallaro was awarded the Mr and Mrs Gerald Frank New Churchill Fellowship in 2019 to pursue excellence in opera and build international relationships with cultures in which opera thrives. 

Evan Marker was awarded the Bob and June Prickett Churchill Fellowship to train in the art of stone letter carving and observe the operation of a commercial studio. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Arts and trades

Agriculture, horticulture and food production

​​In this session join Churchill Fellows Gavin Hardy and Holly Klintworth as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Gavin Hardy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2020 to investigate the potential of community food forests and orchards. 

Holly Klintworth was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2022 to undertake an internship with a reputable cognac distillery to learn the art of brandy production. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Agriculture, horticulture and food production

Indigenous Churchill Fellows Network discussion

To inspire your application for the 2023 New Zealand Churchill Fellowship round, the New Zealand Churchill Trust, in partnership with our Churchill Fellows, will be delivering a virtual information session.

​In this session join Churchill Fellows as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to New Zealand. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Alison Cadman was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2013 and studied the growth of not-for-profit social housing organisations in the UK and Australia.

Alison is the Chief Executive of Dwell Housing Trust, a registered community housing provider based in Wellington. She has a BA in sociology and a postgraduate certificate in Business.  She has been a trustee of the Newtown Ethical Lending Trust since 2015. She has been on the national council of Community Housing Aotearoa – the peak body for community housing organisations in NZ – and was co-chair. She was appointed a Board member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Winston Churchill Trust in early 2022. 

Ian McDonald was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship in 2018 and travelled to the United States to research communications within the Baseball Industry.

Ian and his wife own a motel business in Greytown. Ian trained as a Broadcast Journalist in the early 90’s and worked in radio as a New & Sports Journalist for several years. He moved to Australia in 1996 and spent the next decade working in Customer Service roles completing a Bachelor of Sports (Management) degree at Unitec in Auckland. Ian then worked with the New Zealand Rugby Players Association, researching former professional players on their transition from sport to a new life, followed by a role with the Halberg Trust (now Halberg Disability Sports Foundation) from which he retired on medical grounds after an unsuccessful hip replacement operation. He now uses a powered wheelchair to get around. Ian volunteered with Baseball New Zealand, which led to full-time employment. He was appointed a Board member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Winston Churchill Trust in early 2022.

​To learn more about how you can become a Churchill Fellow, visit our website 

.  Applications open Wednesday 5 July 2023.

New Zealand Churchill Fellowship information session

To inspire your application for the 2023 Churchill Fellowship round, the Churchill Trust, in partnership with our Churchill Fellows, will be delivering virtual information sessions throughout February 2023.

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Kate Cole and Lucy Walker as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Kate Cole is an engineer and scientist working with major stakeholders such as Tier 1 contractors and client organisations to prevent illness and disease in the thousands of workers across construction, tunnelling and demolition. Kate is currently the A/g Deputy Executive Director Health and Safety, Sydney Metro and Director of Cole Health Pty Ltd. She is a certified occupational hygienist and president of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH). She is among the Australian Financial Review's Top 100 Women of Influence and a Superstar of STEM.

Kate was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2016 to investigate best practice to prevent illness and disease in tunnel construction workers. 

Lucy Walker is passionate about rural pharmacy, particularly collaborating with other health professionals to assist the health of her community.Since 2011 Lucy has owned and operated TerryWhite Chemmart Goondiwindi, the 2017 Guild Pharmacy of the Year. She also won the 2015 Queensland Chemmart of the Year. Lucy has spoken at a variety of conferences and written articles about her pharmacy. Lucy is also on the advisory board of TerryWhite Chemmart.

Lucy was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to bring innovative global pharmacy practices to rural communities and improve services nationally. 

.  Applications open Wednesday 1 March 2023.

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Simone Carson and Angela O'Connor as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Simone Carson is the co-founder of SecondBite. It’s purpose is to rescue food that would ordinarily end up in landfill and redistribute it to local charities around Australia. From an initial collection of 100kg of surplus food in 2005, Secondbite in FY19 rescued over 19.4 million kg of food nationally. It is widely regarded as the most efficient and only genuinely national food rescue organisation in Australia.

Simone was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to improve Food Rescue in Australia by examining best practices globally. 

Angela is passionate about Women’s Health and in particular advocating for vulnerable women, infants, and their families. Angela was Winner of Drug and Alcohol State-wide award for setting up the First Post Natal Follow up service for Pregnant Women with Drug and Alcohol issues; and was winner of International Women’s Day Leadership Award. She has also written and published many papers. 

Angela was awarded the Churchill Fellows' Association of Western Australia Churchill Fellowship to establish the first 'Sheway' program for pregnant women with alcohol and other drug use. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Community

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Ebru Sumaktas and Katherine Webber as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Ebru Sumaktas was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017 to examine successful programs for the employment of people with disability in the open labour market. 

Katherine Webber was awarded The Rodney Warmington Churchill Fellowship to increase accessibility to public toilets by researching taboos, design, policy and legal barriers in 2018.

Churchill Fellowship information session: Accessibility and inclusion

​In this session join host Jay Laga'aia and Churchill Fellows Kylie Jonson and Simone Slattery as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Actor, singer and presenter. Best known internationally for his role as Captain Typho in the films Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, he has also starred in several television shows, performed on stage and released albums.

Kylie Johnson is dedicated to creating beautiful, quality handmade ceramics. Author and studio and gallery owner, Kylie work in all its varied forms sells in over 40 stores and galleries in Australia.

Kylie was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017 to study the Japanese art of Kintsugi and explore successful models of gallery spaces for ceramics. You can 

Simone Slattery is passionate about music from a wide range of eras. Simone is an Australian violinist and one of the country’s most versatile young musicians and performers.

Simone was awarded the Dame Roma Mitchel sponsored Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to develop new specialised skills in historical violin performance as both performer and educator. You can 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Arts (creative and performing) 

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Robert Siemsen and Zoe Eather as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Robert Siemsen is a classically trained coachbuilder who recently started Robert Siemsen Pty Ltd to offer traditional body making skills here in Australia. The work of the business is based on what Robbie saw and practised in England while working there and completing his Churchill Fellowship. Inspired by the halcyon era of coachbuilding, Robbie will always be committed to bringing the principles of speed and fine craftsmanship of that era forward to today.

Robert was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 

To study and further my understanding in the craft of traditional Coachbuilding.

Zoe is an experienced consultant and engineer who specialises in Smart Communities, that is using different ways of thinking and technology as enablers to make the places we live more accessible, liveable, and sustainable for all. Zoe keeps up to date with the latest trends and shares her learnings through hosting 

. Through her boutique consultancy, My Smart Community, Zoe offers strategic advice on dealing with disruption, leveraging infrastructure spend and major projects, smart technology in regional communities and facilitating genuine collaboration.

Zoe was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to accelerate the integration of "Smart Mobility" to enable more liveable Australian communities. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Trades and technology

​In this session join host Olympic gold medalist and former Senator Nova Peris, and Churchill Fellows Alphonsus Shields and Donisha Duff as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Alphonsus Shields was born and grew up in Darwin Northern Territory (NT) Australia, he is of mixed First Nations heritage, Aboriginal (Nyikina Western Australia) and Torres Strait Islander (Boigu Island) with some European/Malaysian lineages. Currently employed as a Senior Constable with the NT Police in Australia, his passions and focus are advancing First Nations peoples to promote into Senior Government positions, across all forms of Government. 

Alphonsus was awarded The ANZSOG Churchill Fellowship to promote indigenous employees groups in middle management positions within government in 2019. 

Donisha Duff has dedicated her life to improving the lives of others, with a strong background in health, education and youth support. Donisha is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman from Thursday Island and her family descend from the Moa and Badu Islands, and the Yadhaigana and Wuthathi people. Donisha has over 20 years of experience in health policy, planning and management and currently works as Chief Operations Officer at the Institute of Urban Indigenous Health (IUIH).

Donisha was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2015 to investigate chronic kidney disease programs for Aboriginal First Nations people. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: First Nations

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Anita Collins and Ganga Fraser as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Anita is an educator working with school children through to teachers, politicians, school leaders and decision makers. While her research expertise is highly specialised in the field of music learning and brain development, her professional expertise is highly generalised in looking at how music learning can enhance human performance. Anita has a number of roles including the Founder and Director of Muse Consulting, dedicated to finding ideas and making them live, and the Creative Chair of Learning and Engagement with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Anita was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2015 to explore research collaborations between music education programs and neuroscience laboratories. 

Ganga is a passionate and thoughtful educator who is highly committed to ensuring all students, regardless of their background, have access to quality education, and that schools use the most effective programs to bridge learning gaps. She is also passionate about addressing one of Tasmania’s greatest challenges: raising literacy and numeracy rates. Ganga is currently Head of ELICOS, at The Hutchins School, Sandy Bay, Tasmania. Between 20i14 and 2019 Ganga was Head of Teaching and Learning at Dominic College in Glenorchy, Tasmania.

Ganga was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to develop effective interventions that improve literacy and numeracy outcomes in Tasmanian schools. 

​In this session join host Paul West and Churchill Fellows Gina Dal Santo and Cameron Matthews as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Paul is passionate about all things food and helping new gardeners experience the magic of fresh and organic homegrown food. He is the host of the much loved program River Cottage Australia, a regular contributor for the ABC, and author of the best selling cookbook The River Cottage Australia Cookbook. Paul is the co-founder of Grow it Local, a community that aims to get more people growing, sharing and eating locally grown foods. 

Gina Dal Santo is a cheese enthusiast who’s made a career out of bringing that passion to others. A founding cheesemaker and lecturer at The Artisan Cheese Making Academy Australia (ACMAA), which operates as part of TAFE SA, Gina received the Dairy Industry Association Manufacturing Scholarship in 2011 and was a finalist for the VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year Award at the Australian Training Awards, which recognises excellence and initiative in training, a focus on learner needs, and a commitment to VET teaching and learning.

Gina was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2015 to develop a national centre for cheese education creating a paddock-to-plate Artisan Cheese Industry. 

Cameron is passionate about creating a blueprint for the Food Service Industry to improve sustainability across key areas including sourcing, society, environment and chefs’ mental health. He has held the title of Executive Chef for a range of iconic restaurants including Brisbane’s Siggi’s Restaurant and Lurleen’s, Sirromet Winery, Mount Cotton. In November 2020 Cameron followed his dream and opened his own restaurant – 

 – a chef in residency pop-up held within the iconic Wasabi restaurant space in Noosa. And in late 2021 he opened newly established Hazelwood Estate’s 

Cameron was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2016 to research and develop improved sustainability practices for high end restaurants and food outlets. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Food production

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Gregory Toman and Fiona Ewington as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Greg Toman is a passionate mountain-man. Greg’s professional background in outdoor adventure guiding and instruction started in 1991, focusing on whitewater rafting and kayaking, rock climbing and bushwalking. He was instrumental in establishing the swiftwater / flood rescue discipline throughout Australia, as well as Indonesia and Malaysia. As a founding director of Outdoor Pursuits Group, Greg is responsible for developing and delivering a range of rock climbing, climber self-rescue and cliff rescue courses.

Greg was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to enhance overall safety to both rescuers and those requiring rescue in remote rescue situations. 

Throughout a 20-year military career, Commander Fiona Ewington saw operational service as a Maritime Warfare Navigation specialist and marine pilot. More recently, CMDR Ewington’s work with the Navy’s Maritime Trade Operations capability has focussed on the interaction between the Australian Defence Force and civil maritime industry. During conflict and competition, liaison between the warfare commander and merchant shipping is vital to ensuring free and open trade routes that support national prosperity.

Fiona was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017 to develop military doctrine on Maritime Trade Operations employment to protect trade interests. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Public service and emergency response

Environmental management and sustainability 

​In this session join Churchill Fellow Sarah May and Jonathan Craven as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Sarah May is passionate about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the opportunity they present to make significant progress in food waste. Sarah is particularly interested in the opportunities for government in transitioning to a ‘circular economy’, where waste is avoided, the value of our resources are preserved for as long as possible, and products and materials are continuously (re) circulated.

Sarah was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2017 to research international models for reducing food waste. 

Jonathan Craven (Jono) is a Tasmanian vegetable farmer and currently Agriculture Manager at Harvest Moon, Hobart Tasmania. Jono holds an Associate Diploma of Applied Science, Rural Management from the University of Melbourne and a Diploma of Applied Science, Rural Management from Glenormiston Agricultural College. Jono was previously General Manager, Agriculture at Houstons Farm.

Jono was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2015 investigate effective recycling of urban and agricultural wastes to provide positive outcomes for agriculture. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Environmental management and sustainability 

​In this session join Churchill Fellows Kate Cole and  Michael Bertoldo as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Michael Bertoldo thinks it is important for cancer survivors to live a life as normal as possible after cancer. For some people having the opportunity to have children is a big part of that normality. Michael trained as reproductive biologist at the University of Sydney where he completed his PhD on the role of egg quality in pregnancy loss. In 2021 he became Medical Science Associate at Ferring Pharmaceuticals as a specialist in Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health.

Michael was awared a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to to develop cutting edge oncofertility options for Australian females. 

​In this session join host Leigh Radford and Churchill Fellows Daniel Brown and Loretta Serafin as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

Leigh Radford is a multi-award winning broadcaster, 'Captain Rural'. He was the Head of all ABC Rural output from 2005 until July 2017 and is a multi-award winning Broadcaster. He is still heard regularly on ABC Radio Adelaide.Leigh has been involved with the Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists for the best part of two decades and has represented Australian Agricultural Journalists as an Executive to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) since 2011. He also chairs the IFAJ Broadcast awards and is a member of IFAJ’s Governance committee.

Daniel Brown, best known as Dan, is passionate about the Australian dairy industry and enhancing its financial productivity. Dan has a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from The University of Queensland and from August 2016 has spent time working his way up from Dairy Manager to Head of Dairy with Moxey Farms Pty Limited.

Dan was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to determine effective nutritional management strategies for BCS in intensively housed dairy farms. 

Loretta Serafin is a research agronomist in summer grains, leading the Department of Primary Industries northern summer grains research program, out of Tamworth. She is working on a PhD in sorghum agronomy for low rainfall environments.

Loretta was awarded the Swire Group Churchill Fellowship to investigate alternative summer oilseeds (sunflowers, Sesame) for profitable, sustainable crop rotation in North Eastern Australia. 

Churchill Fellowship information session: Agriculture and horticulture 

To inspire your application for the 2022 Churchill Fellowship opportunity, the Churchill Trust, in partnership with our Churchill Fellows, will be delivering Virtual Information Sessions throughout February and March 2022.

In this session, you will be able to learn from two Churchill Fellows as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply. The Fellows and their Fellowship projects are:

We look forward to seeing you at this informative event!

Registrations are essential, so secure your spot at one or more of our Virtual Information Sessions and start thinking about applying for your Churchill Fellowship now.

Please note, the information sessions are intended to focus on industry topics so that you can hear from Churchill Fellows in similar spaces. It is not essential that you attend an information session that aligns with your proposed Fellowship topic, you can attend any information session that aligns with your schedule and is of interest to you.

a life-changing opportunity to travel overseas to explore a topic or an issue you are passionate about.

No prescribed qualifications are required to apply for a Churchill Fellowship. It is for any Australian citizen who having exhausted alternatives within Australia, would like to see what other countries are doing successfully in a similar space to inspire new ideas, innovation, and excellence. 

The high international regard for Churchill Fellowships provides a pathway for Churchill Fellows to access expertise from around the world that is not typically available to everyone, expanding your knowledge and experience for the benefit of Australian society. There is a high level of visibility and credibility associated with being a Churchill Fellow.

Applications open Tuesday 1 February 2022 and close Thursday 28 April 2022, for successful applicants to travel from 2023.

2022 Churchill Fellowship Information Session: Arts

The recording of this event is now available to view, 

Joy and Judy connected in March 2020 over their shared interest in care farming and since then have stayed in touch to share thoughts, ideas and research. They will discuss their respective Churchill Fellowship projects and share current projects, key findings and next steps to continue their work in the UK and Australia.

Ms Judy Brewer AO – 2019 Australian Churchill Fellow

Judy is a nationally recognised speaker and writer on issues relating to regional Australia, particularly with regard to autism and neurodiverse families.  She lives on and manages a beef property at Mudgegonga in north east Victoria, and for many years has combined farming with an off farm career in education and various advocacy roles. 

In 2019 she was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to further develop a business template for care farming in Australia by investigating various types of social farming operations in the UK, Ireland and the Asia Pacific region.

With Covid preventing physical travel over this period, Judy has been networking with others in Australia and internationally to commence her project.  It was through these meetings that she virtually met Joy and they have shared many contacts, information and ideas over this time.   Her own care farm plans have progressed as well with individual and small group visits to her farm occurring regularly now as she scales up the project to an environmentally and economically sustainable business.

Judy has had many leadership roles over the years, in agriculture, politics and disability.  More recently she has chaired the national Autism Co-operative Research Council, the national Palliative Care Outcomes Committee, convened the Autism Future Leaders program and been appointed the Honorary Chancellor of Charles Sturt University.

In 2016, Judy was named as an Officer of the Order of Australia, an AO, for her service to people with a disability, refugees living in rural areas, women and education.

Ms Joy O’Neill – UK Churchill Fellow 

Joy has over twenty years’ experience of teaching across birth to 25 age range in schools and universities and as a Leader and Adviser in Local Authorities and the charity sector. 

In 2018, while supporting a young person at risk of exclusion from school, she visited a care farm. Since then, she has been fascinated by the concept of care farming and how this could support education, health and wellbeing for vulnerable individuals. Between 2019 and 2021 Joy was a Director of a Buckinghamshire-based care farm. 

While investigating more about the topic, she arranged visits to almost 50 care farms, city farms and social or therapeutic gardens across the South East of England to learn about the benefits they provided for clients. While there many shared their private concerns and worries, which usually centred around funding and attracting enough clients. Joy began to wonder if there were any real benefits for anyone other than the clients themselves, in a care farm set up and decided to apply for a Churchill Fellowship to research care farming with a focus on the benefits to the farmer, the local community and the rural economy. 

After a delay of fourteen months due to the global pandemic, she accepted the opportunity to complete the research through a ‘Digital Fellowship’ route. Joy has the honour of being the first UK Churchill Fellow to complete a Digital Fellowship and was able to increase the number of countries included in the research, adding Australia, Austria, Israel and the United States to the original list of Ireland and Italy. 

You can contact these Fellows via their Fellowship pages:

Global Perspectives: Care Farming

2022 Churchill Fellowship Information Session: Accessibility

In this session, you will be able to learn from two Churchill Fellows as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply.

2022 Churchill Fellowship Information Session: Manufacturing and Small Business

Indigenous Churchill Fellows Network, in partnership with the Churchill Trust, presents an online First People’s Information Session for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders thinking about applying for a Churchill Fellowship.

In this session, you will be able to learn from two Churchill Fellows as they share their Fellowship experiences, impart insights on their fascinating projects and motivate you with what they have achieved since returning to Australia. You will also be able to engage in a live Q&A and gain helpful advice on how to apply. 

The guest speakers and Fellows and their Fellowship projects are:

Applications close Thursday 28 April 2022, for successful applicants to travel from 2023.