Skip to content
Education Training, Government Federal

The House hosts My First Speech winners

Department of the House of Representatives < 1 mins read

The winners of the My First Speech competition will be visiting Canberra next week to have their say.

The competition asks students to imagine themselves as a newly elected Member of the House of Representatives. They are tasked with writing a 90 second speech about issues they are passionate about, just like a new Member of the House of Representatives.

The judges for the 2024 competition were the Speaker of the House, the Hon Milton Dick MP, Member for Longman, Mr Terry Young MP and Member for Curtin, Ms Kate Chaney MP.

This year’s winning speeches covered the issues of small business, reducing online harm and better access to education. The winners will be flown to Canberra—to deliver their speeches live at an award ceremony in Parliament House on Wednesday 6th November 2024.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon Milton Dick MP will be welcoming the winners to Parliament House and hosting the award ceremony where the students will deliver their speeches.

“The My First Speech Competition is a fantastic way for our future leaders to get involved in democracy and speak about the issues that are important to them,” said the Speaker.

Event details

My First Speech event
Wednesday 6th November, 12.00 pm to 12.45 pm
Presiding Officers Exhibition Area,1st Floor public area (near the post office)
Parliament House, Canberra

The event will also be live streamed on the House of Representatives Facebook page.

Media contact

Information Management Office
Department of the House of Representatives
[email protected]

More from this category

  • Government Federal
  • 12/12/2025
  • 09:41
Catholic Health Australia

Commonwealth must boost funding for public hospitals

The Commonwealth should increase its funding of public hospitals to a 50-50 share with the states and territories, Catholic Health Australia said today as health ministers meet in Brisbane. Analysis of AIHW data by Catholic Health Australia finds public hospitals are under severe pressure, leading to sliding performance in recent years. Only 67% of patients were seen on time in 2025, down from 71% in 2021. Only 53% of ED visits were completed within four hours in 2025, down from 67% in 2021. In some states, patients wait more than a year after the clinically recommended deadline for their surgery.…

  • Education Training, Telecommunication
  • 12/12/2025
  • 07:30
Monash University

Monash experts: Supporting students’ mental health at school and online

The Victorian Government has released new resources in schools to help students, teachers and parents navigate the impacts of social media and screentime. Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll announced the new ScrollSafe resources – designed to help secondary school students look after their mental health and stay safe online – will be available at schools across the education state. Available to comment: Professor Mary Ryan, Dean of EducationContact: +61 9903 4940 [email protected] Internationally recognised education leader and researcher with major contributions in teacher education, reflexive learning, writing pedagogy, and the design of innovative programs that enhance education…

  • Education Training, Union
  • 11/12/2025
  • 14:59
National Tertiary Education Union

University Senate report highlights landmark reform options: NTEU

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has urged the federal government to implement the recommendations from a historic Senate inquiry into university governance. The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee on Thursday released its final report, which has a further eight recommendations building on the 12 from September’s interim findings. The final report calls for measures to address major crisis points in the sector including casualisation and wage theft. The bipartisan committee recommends: Enhanced power for academic boards to set the staffing profile for courses so they are guided by pedagogy not profits Mandatory reporting of the proportion of teaching…

Media Outreach made fast, easy, simple.

Feature your press release on Medianet's News Hub every time you distribute with Medianet. Pay per release or save with a subscription.