Big ideas don’t always start in big places. Robbie Sefton looks at the awards, fellowships and people helping turn regional ideas into initiatives with lasting community impact.
01 October 2026
Insight from: Robbie Sefton
Spend a little time immersed in the current news cycle and you can emerge feeling a bit disheartened; to say the least. Divisiveness and disunity can be prominent, generating anxiety at times about the future. So, when a story like the annual Rural Women’s Award drops into your news feed, it’s a welcome reset.
The winner of the 2026 Agrifutures Rural Women’s Award was announced last month (September) and over the past 25 years the Award has grown its reputation for honouring outstanding initiatives from women across rural and regional NSW. In Agrifuture’s words, it’s about “empowering and celebrating the inclusive and courageous leadership of women involved in Australia’s rural and emerging industries, businesses and communities, now and into the future”.
This year’s finalists once again embody this ethos, with eventual winner, South Australian dairy farmer Narelle Zanker turning an ambitious agritourism venture into a unique educational experience that’s increasing the understanding of the dairy industry, and by extension agriculture as a whole.
NSW and ACT state winner and national finalist Kristie Ivone is making a difference, too, with her Boas Language Academy. Her venture emerged from a belief that regional communities thrive when diversity is celebrated and everyone has the chance to contribute. Her business trains migrants to share their languages and cultures, using language to build bridges rather than exacerbate divides. It speaks to the influence of generations of migrants who’ve made their mark on our regions, demonstrating why standing together is far more productive than division and distrust.
The Tim Fischer Fellowship, launched last year by the Country Education Foundation, is another example of a program working to support individuals in country communities who are passionate about helping our regions thrive. Applications have closed for this year, and based on the calibre of last year’s applicants, this year’s should again give the judging panel some selection headaches.
As well as highlighting outstanding vision and initiatives, awards like these bring like-minded people together, sharing different perspectives and potentially inspiring new ideas and directions. I had the privilege of facilitating the Rural Women’s Award alumni lunch this year, giving past finalists the chance to meet and talk about the impact they’re delivering in their own communities. In rural and regional areas where distance can make it hard to connect with others, events such as this are priceless.
These are just two programs working to nurture big ideas from the regions, but there are many others. They obviously serve to foster the growth of outstanding individuals and their initiatives, but what they also do is highlight reasons for optimism and enthusiasm, counteracting pessimism and hostility within our news channels and social feeds.
The people they bring to the fore are excited for the future and believe in the opportunities it presents. They show us all that while the world can be a lot sometimes, if we all just focus on one thing we can do to improve the communities we live in – no matter how small the idea, action or even gesture – the knock-on effect can be enormous.
