Young Alumnus of the Year

Young Alumnus of the Year, Nic Brown

With suicide as the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 44, Nic Brown is striving to reduce the stigma around mental ill health and provide young people with the support they need.

As the CEO of Batyr, a not-for-profit youth mental health organisation, he’s leading positive change by ‘giving a voice to the elephant in the room'.

Batyr delivers education programs in schools, universities and workplaces, giving them the knowledge and skills to lead mentally healthy lives.

“We train young people to share their lived experience of mental ill health to encourage other young people to access support and reduce the stigma around mental health,” he said.

Quickly moving up the ranks of the organisation, Nic has supported the growth and development of Batyr from a team of six employees, to nearly 60 full-time and part-time staff and over 200 contractors and casual employees. Batyr has also seen incredible growth in income, from $1 million in 2015 to $7 million in 2020, directly increasing their reach and impact.

“Our programs have now reached close to 300,000 young people through face to face programs and maintained important measures around attitudes toward seeking help,” Nic said.

Since graduating with a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science in 2011 from Southern Cross University in Lismore, working with young people and not-for-profit organisations has been a focus of Nic’s career.

“I love sport and I love recreation and I love the idea of using them for good,” he said.

During his time at Southern Cross, Nic worked as a lifeguard at the Lismore campus pool and volunteered as convener of the water polo team.

“It was some of the best times of my life, spending time with friends and living by the beach in Ballina. Southern Cross is a tight-knit community so you really get to know the lecturers and the tutors and build a really good relationship,” he said.

Before starting at Batyr, Nic worked as a Recreation Support Worker for the Salvation Army, leading recreation and sporting activities with asylum seekers in Nauru’s offshore processing centres.

“I wasn’t changing their lives, but I was able to provide little moments of joy and that really put into me a desire to want to help people thrive and live a good life, whatever they may look like for them,” Nic said.

“We lose nine lives to suicide every single day so the impact that that has on this country and on communities and on individuals is immense. I don’t think it’s talked about enough and I don’t think we’re doing enough to solve that problem, so I want to be a part of solving that problem.”