A FORMER Highlands resident was awarded NSW Young Australian of the Year 2012 on Wednesday night.
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Jennifer Star's award was accepted by her parents, Hill Top residents Martin and Sylvia Purcell, at a ceremony in Sydney.
The 25-year-old, who now divides her time between England, India and Australia, received the award for her work establishing Tara.Ed, a non-government organisation that promotes sustainable, quality education for children living in rural India through a partnership between Indian and Australian schools and teachers.
An outstanding athlete, with a brilliant academic record, Ms Star was named one of Australia's 100 Brightest Young Minds in 2007.
Several years ago she went to India as a World Vision Youth Ambassador and teacher.
There were no classrooms and she found herself sitting under a tree with 48 children and no resources.
Then and there she resolved to return to India to improve the plight of some of the world's most impoverished people.
When Ms Star was 21, she started Tara.Ed. Since 2007, Tara.Ed has reached out to 86 teachers and 1340 schoolchildren.
Ms Star said her aim was to influence the prospects of 20,000 children, 200 teachers and 20 schools across two continents by 2020.
She said it was an honour to be named NSW Young Australian of the Year.
"I think of myself as quite an ordinary Australian girl who's been given an opportunity to do something extraordinary," she said.
"Tara.Ed is one of those extraordinary things."
Charity founder Father Chris Riley was named NSW Australian of Year 2012 in recognition of his dedication to helping disadvantaged Australians.
Twenty years ago, Father Riley founded Youth Off The Streets (YOTS) with a single food van delivering meals to young homeless people in Kings Cross.
YOTS now operates Key College on three separate campuses with a fourth school in the Southern Highlands.
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Today, it is a major agency assisting young people aged 12-years-old to 21-years-old who are homeless, face drug and alcohol dependency, exclusion from school, neglect and abuse.
Father Riley estimates the organisation has helped more than 50,000 young people with accommodation, education, psychological services and drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
In 1997 he opened Key College, an independent high school pioneering a flexible education model to help young homeless people return to school.
Barbara Holborow OAM was awarded NSW Senior Australian of the Year 2012 for her tireless commitment to achieving better judicial outcomes for children.
As a magistrate, she was instrumental in setting up free legal aid for children in NSW, a care court to deal with cases of neglect, a special jail for first-time offenders aged 18-years-old to 25-years-old and promoted an open court by allowing television cameras into her court room.
Since her retirement from the bench in 1994 she has continued to defend the rights of children.
The NSW Local Hero 2012 is Lynne Sawyers of Darbys Falls, a foster mother who has shared her home, her family and her love with more than 200 children.
