Media Release The winners of the annual Sydney Awards – celebrating the people and projects making Sydney the best city to live, work and play – have been announced at a black-tie gala ceremony this evening at Crown Sydney.
This marks the sixth year the awards have been delivered by independent think tank Committee for Sydney, in partnership with Macquarie Business School and The Daily Telegraph.
Eamon Waterford, CEO of the Committee for Sydney, said: “Sydney is the best city in the world. This isn’t an accident – it’s the result of hard work by great people, and the awards are our way of celebrating these people and what they contribute to our city.”
“So much of that work goes on behind the scenes. Whether it’s helping our most vulnerable, supporting people from all walks of life to have access to quality education or leading on city-shaping infrastructure projects, all of this year’s winners exemplify what it means to love our city.”
The winners of the prestigious Sydney Awards for 2026 are:
Sydneysider of the Year: David Gonski, Chancellor Emeritus, UNSW
Originally from South Africa, Gonski’s parents moved him and his siblings to Sydney for a better life and education when he was seven years old – a move he says has shaped his work ethic, sense of self and approach to life.
“Although I was a very young and fortunate immigrant, each day I feel as though I have to prove myself and, I know at the end of each day I probably haven’t done as well as I should have. I attribute that very strongly to the fact that we immigrated,” he said.
Widely known for his work on the Gonski Review, much of David’s career has focused on the importance of education.
“I see education as incredibly important. It equips people with critical skills that improve their mobility in the world and the ability to do well.”
“I’ve always seen that as the power of education – that although someone may not come from much, education can give them the ability to build their way up. I hope a lot of others have that opportunity too.”
Beyond education, Gonski’s career has spanned decades and industries, including business, the arts and philanthropy. Often referred to as the ‘chair of everything,’ Gonski has led UNSW, Barrenjoey Capital Partners, Art Gallery of NSW, ANZ, Levande Living, Sydney Theatre Company, Investec and Coca-Cola Amatil, among many others.
Young Sydneysider of the Year: Darian Brooker, CEO, We, Future Leaders
Darian Brooker is the youth education entrepreneur behind ‘We, Future Leaders’, an education and mentoring company that works with kids from preschool through to university to ensure they have the educational and life support needed to succeed.
Growing up in foster care, Darian experienced a great deal of instability during her childhood, which resulted in her changing schools 26 times across the course of her education.
“When I look back, the odds seemed stacked against me. Despite the challenges I faced, I was able to finish high school, and much of that was because of the support of different mentors along the way – no matter how fleeting,” she said.
Darian’s childhood and disrupted education motivated her to help other children in a similar position and, in 2017, she founded We, Future Leaders.
While the organisation has a team of 50 staff and supports around 150 students each week, Darian’s plans for the future are even bigger.
“It’s my goal to impact a million young people by 2040. I’d love to see an Australia where education inequalities are bridged because everyone deserves access to quality education no matter their circumstances or background.”
Proudly sponsored by EY
Project of the Year: Western Sydney International Airport
Western Sydney International Airport has been spoken of for decades and, finally, is about to become Sydney’s second gateway to the world.
Set to service one of the country’s fastest growing and multicultural regions, the airport will connect Sydneysiders to family, friends and opportunities across the globe.
Simon Hickey, CEO, Western Sydney International Airport, said: “Today, more than half of the people living in Sydney are west of Parramatta. Western Sydney is one of the nation’s fastest growing and most diverse regions with over a million people moving into the area since 2016. Looking forward another decade, WSI is set to supercharge this region, offering unprecedented opportunities for jobs and investment.”
Once complete, the airport will initially service up to 10 million passengers a year but has been designed to expand with additional terminals able to be added in the coming years. As Sydney’s only 24-hour airport, Western Sydney International Airport will be able to service up to 80 million annual passengers if fully expanded.
As Hickey puts it, “WSI is the most transformational piece of infrastructure our city has seen since the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It’s been the catalyst for billions of dollars of additional infrastructure investment and ultimately this will connect the west to the west, and the west to the rest, like never before.”
Proudly sponsored by Aqualand
Local Project of the Year: The GreenWay
The GreenWay is an incredibly popular six-kilometre active recreation corridor running throughout the Inner West that links the Cooks River to the Bay Run.
While the project is now universally loved by Sydneysiders, it took more than 25 years for the concept first dreamed up by community advocates to take shape.
Darcy Byrne, Mayor of the Inner West Council, said: “From the very start, the GreenWay was a vision that came from the community.”
“It was local people who identified the potential for a continuous active transport link running along the length of the light rail, and local people who kept advocating for the project across several years, many changes of government and a number of different challenges.”
“It’s being used not only by Inner West residents, but by Sydneysiders more broadly as a recreational destination and active transport corridor.”
From the beginning, the community vision was to transform a sleepy old canal corridor into an urban biodiversity link that people living in increasingly dense areas could enjoy.
Now, that dream has become a reality and so much more. More than just a three-metre wide bike path, the GreenWay is a place where families, cyclists, runners and walkers can come and connect with nature, art and active recreation, right on their doorstep.
Proudly sponsored by Lime
Unsung Hero: Erin Longbottom, National Director of Homelessness, St Vincent’s Health Australia
Erin Longbottom is the National Director of Homelessness at St Vincent’s Health Australia, focused on coordinating healthcare support for people sleeping rough.
“Sleeping rough can be very dehumanising and incredibly hard for people to hold on to hope at times,” she said. “Our job is to remind people that homelessness does not define them and that a different future is possible.”
“One of the most powerful things about working in homelessness and health is meeting people with compassion and acceptance, no matter where they are in life. It’s recognising that, at our core, we’re all the same. Some people have simply experienced circumstances and challenges that have profoundly changed the course of their lives. You don’t judge; you just help.”
Erin’s work with people experiencing homelessness began as a nurse at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney’s Homeless Health Service, where she led a clinical team providing outreach healthcare to people experiencing homelessness. She now serves as St Vincent’s Health Australia’s inaugural National Director of Homelessness, first role of its kind for an Australian healthcare organisation, focused on strengthening health’s role in preventing and ending homelessness.
Despite the challenges of people sleeping rough that Erin has witnessed throughout her career, she has hope for the future.
“We can solve homelessness. We know what works. But we need the right people around the table and the proper investment to do it.”
Proudly sponsored by Architectus
People’s Choice: Sharath Mahendran, creator of YouTube channel Building Beautifully
Sharath is the creator of Building Beautifully, a YouTube channel that has become one of Australia’s most recognisable independent voices on urban planning in Sydney.
Since launching the channel, Sharath has amassed more than 62,000 subscribers. His engaging and easy-to-understand content turns dense, technical planning debates into accessible and visually appealing content for a young, digitally native audience.
What began as a passion project has since drawn coverage from major Australian media outlets, appearances on radio stations, speaking invitations and formal submissions to the NSW Parliament.
Building Beautifully shows how a grassroots creator platform can shift public conversations on civic issues and bring younger Australians into planning debates that have typically been dominated by policymakers, businesses and established commentators.
The judging panel for the awards included:
- The Hon. Prue Car MP, Deputy Premier of NSW
- Kellie Sloane MP, Leader of the Opposition
- Zac McLean, Head of News, The Daily Telegraph
- Prof. Leonie Tickle, Executive Dean, Macquarie Business School
- Susan Wheeldon, Country Manager, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, Airbnb
- Kerry Robinson OAM, CEO, Blacktown City Council
- Shaun Christie-David, Founder & CEO, Plate it Forward
- Karen Bevan, CEO, Full Stop Australia.
The Sydney Awards are supported by major partner Macquarie Business School, media partner The Daily Telegraph, and event sponsors Aqualand, Architectus, EY, Sydney Airport and Lime.