The Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG Memorial Award
The Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG Memorial Award was established by Hume City Council to recognise the legacy of Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG, a Hume local and national hero who was killed in 2013. Of many notable things, he will be remembered for inspiring the next generation.
In his honour, a total pool of $5,000 is available to help young people in Hume achieve their dreams. Young people in Hume aged 12-25 can nominate to win an award to further their personal or professional development. The two award categories are:
- Leading from the Front Achievement Award – where achievement in sports, community, art, employment, or education is recognised.
- Gaining Ground Encouragement Award – where a commitment to an area of interest is recognised.
2025 Award Recipients
Highlight Video
Hear from the 2025 Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG Memorial Award recipients as they share their reasons for applying and the goals they hope to achieve.
Leading from the Front Achievement Award Winner: Rumaysa Salman
Rumaysa Salman is an 18-year-old aspiring Human Rights lawyer, driven to empower young people by increasing their understanding of their legal rights.
She is passionate about youth activism and has volunteered with several organisations that advocate for social justice. A natural leader, Rumaysa inspires those around her with her dedication and vision.
Rumaysa’s goal is to create a more inclusive and just society where no one is left behind by delivering ‘Know Your Rights’ workshops for young people in Hume.
Leading from the Front Achievement Award Winner: Fatima Zahra
Fatima Zahra is a passionate advocate for the Hume community, dedicated to inspiring other young people to become confident and compassionate leaders.
She volunteers with Islamic Circle of Australia and New Zealand (iCan) where she helps organise events and engages in public speaking to empower young Muslims and promote personal development.
With support of this grant, Fatima’s plans to work with iCan to design and deliver leadership workshops that will equip young people with the skills and confidence to step into leadership roles in their communities.
Gaining Ground Encouragement Award Winner: Umar Imran
Umar Imran is a 16-year-old from Craigieburn, he is part of Australian Army Cadets and School Representative Council (SRC) at his school.
He offers a free tutoring service, using his knowledge to help others succeed. Umar is passionate about helping others and shows incredible discipline and focus on everything he does.
Umar’s goal is to gain admission into Bachelor of Dental Science degree at La Trobe Universities Rural Health School through the Aspire program. This funding will support his dream; it will go into academic resources to strengthen his chances of getting in the Bachelor of Dental Science course.
Gaining Ground Encouragement Award Winner: Bianca Barbaro
Bianca Barbaro is a creative 12-year-old who has run her own community library at Greenvale Recreation Centre, providing free books to children and families.
She started her own online platform called Bianca’s Book Club where she share’s her love for literacy by reading and reviewing books. Bianca has written her own book series which features stories about neurodivergent young people.
Her goal is to illustrate and publish the book series and ensure her books are offered to Hume schools so other students can learn more about neurodiversity.
Honourable mentions go out to:
- Rachael White
- Dawood Razaq
- Jerome Nu’u
2025 Award Finalists
Congratulations to all our finalists, you are all making an exceptional impact in the community.
Previous Award Recipients
2023 recipients
The Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG Memorial Awards 2023
Leading from the front Achievement Award Winner
Jin Woodman
The first winner in this category is 13-year-old Jin Woodman, a phenomenal young wheelchair tennis talent from Sunbury.
In 2023, Jin has already represented Australia at the Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters in France and at the International Tennis Federation World Team Cup in Portugal.
Jin aspires to compete at the 2032 Paralympics in Wheelchair Tennis. The award will contribute towards enhancing Jin's training equipment to help him reach his goals.
Leading from the front Achievement Award Winner
Mikail Tamoz
The second recipient of this award is Mikail Tamoz. 12-year-old Mikail from Dallas is an up-and-coming talent specialising in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and boxing.
He has won a number of awards in Jiu Jitsu and is looking to defend his World Championship title in Abu Dhabi later this year. Mikail’s goals for this year also include becoming the National Champion in his weight class for both boxing and wrestling.
The Award will assist Mikail in covering travel expenses for upcoming competitions.
Gaining Ground Encouragement Award Winner
Sam Vowles
18-year old Sam Vowles is an active member of the Sunbury community and has volunteered with the State Emergency Service (SES) from the age of 15. Sam has shown great dedication to supporting his community during times of emergency and natural disasters.
With the Award, Sam plans to grow and enhance his skills in remote hiking, first aid, survival and rescue skills to develop his own search and rescue capabilities in the State Emergency Service.
Honourable mentions go out to:
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Blake Polley
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Kashyap Sreekumar
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Jamil Nabole
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Raweeha Shafiq
2023 Award Finalists
2021 recipients
The Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG Memorial Awards 2021
Leading from the Front Achievement Award Winner
Angus McTaggart
18-year-old Angus completed VCE at Aitken College, Greenvale during 2020 and is now studying an Advanced Diploma of Hospitality Management at William Angliss. When Angus completes his studies at William Angliss, he plans to progress to the Bachelor of Tourism and Hospitality Management. Angus has been saving to pay for this course since Year 9, when he found out about this full fee paying/non-government funded course at a University Open Day. Angus will use the Award to go towards these studies. Angus plans to own a business like a café, restaurant, wine/cocktail bar), lead successful teams and mentor and teach in the industry.
Gaining Ground Encouragement Award Winner
Abigail
20-year-old Abigail is currently studying International Studies and Global Security at University. Abigail has been a volunteer with Banksia Gardens Community Services since 2019 through the gender equity project, 'Good People Act Now'. The project has allowed Abigail to pursue her passion of promoting gender equality and taking tangible action in the prevention of violence against women in our local community.
Abigail wants to use the award to enhance her leadership and technical skills, so that she can contribute to community projects more meaningfully. Abigail’s goal is to make tangible contributions to reducing gender inequality across Australia, but also specifically within Hume.
For further information contact Hume Youth Services at youth@hume.vic.gov.au or call 9205 2556.
2019 recipients
The Corporal Cameron Baird VC MG Memorial Awards 2019
Gaining Ground Encouragement Award winners
Adam Marguglio
Adam attends Sunbury College where he is heavily involved in the VCE music program. Adam's love of creative arts, including writing songs and playing the piano, has seen him become a leader in his school’s music department. Adam regularly encourages other students in the school to perform and is contributing to a strong music culture within the school. He plans to use the award money to purchase new equipment to further his understanding of music.
Tamanna Qarar
Tamanna came to Australia in 2013 where she quickly found a love for numbers. Her excellent mathematical ability saw her become a volunteer maths tutor, which led to volunteer teaching at the Dari Language school at Hume Afghan Association. She also became a member of an advisory group for the Centre for Multicultural Youth. Now she is undertaking her Bachelor of Civil Engineering at RMIT.
She is passionate about helping young people, especially young students and young refugees, to reach their full potential. Tamanna is planning to use the award money to support disadvantaged women and girls in Afghanistan to develop sustainable employment.
Leading from the Front Achievement Award winners
Isobel Symeoy
After many years of extensive volunteer and community work, Isobel quickly realised she wanted to spend her life helping others. At 13, she followed in her dad’s footsteps, and joined the Junior CFA at Craigieburn Fire Station. From there, her time is filled with other selfless acts such as shaving off her hair to donate it to children with cancer, raising money for the Good Friday Appeal, and becoming a member and assisting the Craigieburn War Memorial and Remembrance Committee.
Isobel is working towards becoming a paramedic and intends to use her award money to keep helping the community.
Rihan Rofaeel
Rihan is a highly engaged young person in our local community thanks to her faith, volunteer work, and social justice efforts.
Her leadership achievements to date are remarkable. She also aims to meet the needs of others through volunteering with Christmas on the Streets and actively working towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of ‘Zero Hunger’.
Rihan plans to use the funds at a grass roots level to try and work with local grocery stores, bakeries and produce providers to reduce food wastage that could be going to a better place. Part of this also includes teaching people how to prepare healthy, quick and affordable food.
For further information contact Hume Youth Services at
youth@hume.vic.gov.au or call 9205 2556.