Our alumni are empowered with the knowledge, professional experience and ethical practice needed to excel. They are found in classrooms, hospitals and a range of other workplaces, and make a real difference in the world.

We’re proud to celebrate the achievements of our alumni. So in 2015 we launched our inaugural Alumni Awards, highlighting the contribution our alumni make to the community.

The 2017 Alumni Awards were hosted on the Brisbane campus on Wednesday 4 October and attended by ACU alumni, students, staff and senior executives.

The recipients of the 2017 Alumni Awards were:

Daniel Billing, CEO and founder of the Indigenous Reading Project (IRP)  and recipient of the 2017 Community Engagement Award has been named ACU's 2017 Alumni of the Year.

Daniel Billing

Bachelor of Social Work (Honours), 1999

Daniel Billing

Daniel is the founder and CEO of the Indigenous Reading Project (IRP), a not-for-profit established to bring about change in the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children through improving their reading ability.  The IRP team works with schools to identify students who are below national benchmarks for reading ability. These students are loaned a tablet and given access to IRP’s cloud library. If the student demonstrates improved reading ability upon completing the program they are allowed to keep the tablet.  Since 2012, over 600 students from almost 300 urban and remote communities have successfully completed the IRP e-reading program. The project has experienced an 86% success rate, with the average amount of time participants spend reading improving by 110%.

About this award

Recognises an outstanding Alumni who has made a significant contribution to the wellbeing of others through community and humanitarian service.

Nominees for this award must demonstrate evidence of attributes that are aligned with the ACU University Mission and include being ethical in their behaviour, with a developed critical habit of mind, an appreciation of the sacred in life and a commitment to serving the common good.

Nominees must comply with all of the following eligibility and selection criteria:

  • Australian and international graduates of ACU and predecessor institutions are eligible for this award.
  • Demonstrated significant contribution to the enrichment and benefit of the community.

Bradley Moggridge

Bachelor of Science (Environmental), 1997

Bradley Moggridge

Bradley, a proud Aboriginal man from the Kamilaroi Nation, is a scientist who is using the ancient and tested knowledge of his ancestors to find sustainable water solutions for the driest inhabited continent on Earth. Bradley has built a career as an advocate for protecting and managing water in Australia, based on two very different educational traditions. Bradley is currently undertaking a PhD and works part time as the Indigenous Liaison Officer with the Threatened Species Recovery Hub. He has worked for the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ as Team Leader of the Aboriginal Water Initiative and for the CSIRO as their only Indigenous Waters Research Specialist. Since 2012 he has been Chairperson of the Solid Sista’s and Brotha’s Aboriginal Program, a not-for-profit that works with Aboriginal children and adolescents building the leaders of tomorrow.

About this award

Recognises an outstanding Alumni who has made a significant contribution to the wellbeing of others through community and humanitarian service.

Nominees for this award must demonstrate evidence of attributes that are aligned with the ACU University Mission and include being ethical in their behaviour, with a developed critical habit of mind, an appreciation of the sacred in life and a commitment to serving the common good.

Nominees must comply with all of the following eligibility and selection criteria:

  • Australian and international graduates of ACU and predecessor institutions are eligible for this award.
  • Demonstrated significant contribution to the enrichment and benefit of the community.

Melissa ‘Milly’ Tapper

Bachelor of Exercise Science, 2010

Milly Tapper

Despite being born with brachial plexus, a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm’s main nerves, Milly developed a passion for table tennis at an early age and made her first able-bodied junior Australian team at 14 and was the nation’s top ranked junior athlete at 18. Milly played her first Paralympic competition in 2009 and went on to win a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.  In 2016 Milly made history in Rio de Janeiro – becoming the first Australian athlete to compete at both the Paralympic and Olympic Games.  Regardless of her extensive sporting commitments Milly still finds the time to volunteer, mentoring youth at risk of disengaging with education and speaking in a range of forums inspiring both able and disabled people to never give up.

About this award

Recognises a young Alumni (35 years or younger at the time of nomination) whose early accomplishments since graduation have led to a high level of achievement in their professional field or community engagement.

Nominees for this award must demonstrate evidence of attributes that are aligned with the ACU University Mission and include being ethical in their behaviour, with a developed critical habit of mind, an appreciation of the sacred in life and a commitment to serving the common good.

Nominees must comply with all of the following eligibility and selection criteria:

  • Be aged 35 or under at the time of nomination.
  • Australian and international graduates of ACU and predecessor institutions are eligible for this award.
  • Has demonstrated an ongoing high level of achievement in their profession or community service since graduating.

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