Rural Achievers Competition History

The RAS Rural Achiever Award is a state-wide leadership program run by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW to recognise future young leaders (20-29 years of age) who are working hard to make a significant contribution to their community and to rural Australia.

The program began in 1990 as the initiative of the RAS Scholarship and Education Committee. Initially named the RAS Young Achievers Award, the competition became known as the Rural Achievers Award in 1991. Its originally stated aims were to:

• Highlight the importance of youth in agriculture and the show movement.
• Identify enthusiastic, skilful, industrious and unselfish young people.
• Provide a forum for young people to express their views and develop closer links with agriculture and the show movement.

Initially, ten finalists were chosen, however, over time that number settled to eight. All participants received:

• A share in a pool of prize money
• An extensive variety of networking opportunities with agricultural industry leaders and delegates.
• Personalised mentoring with an RAS representative for one year.
• Professional development sessions lead by respected industry professionals.
• Extensive seven-day program of events during the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Itinerary includes function at Government House, stewarding, a behind-the-scenes look at the Show, dinners with respected agricultural industry leaders, and more.
• Complimentary one year RAS membership

From 2001 a single representative from the group has been chosen to go on to compete in a national Rural Achiever competition. The calibre of finalists has been outstanding from the outset with many possessing double degrees across fields as diverse as economics, science, law, medicine, business, marketing and communications, with a focus on agriculture and rural issues.

Competition Finalists (1990 - 2000)

Competition Winners (From 2001 a single representative from the group has been chosen to go on to compete in a national Rural Achiever competition).