The biennial LIA National Graduate of the Year winners were announced last week, with Jackson Young from Harden Packaging in Victoria taking out the $10,000 LIA Visual Connections Scholarship Prize, and Kathy Doan from Corrective Services Industries in NSW winning the LIA Future Leader Award.
All the State finalists took to the stage for the presentation of this year's LIA Graduates of the Year awards
Mel Ireland, National President of LIA, said: “We warmly congratulate Jackson and Kathy on their wins, especially because the field of candidates this year was as high as it has ever been. Recognising the achievements of our top graduates is not only a fantastic way to encourage and support their career development, but to demonstrate the standard of training and graduates across all sectors of our industry.”
With one of two Victorian and NSW finalists taking out the top honours, the 2025 LIA Graduate of the Year sponsors, Heidelberg Australia, covered the flight and accommodation costs for all of this year’s finalists to attend the ProPrint Awards night in Sydney, where Jackson and Kathy’s winning achievements were formally announced. The other finalists included Robert Neale from Westrock in Sydney), Tommy Mavros from Colemanprint in NT, Queensland’s Ben Reinke from Ultra Labels and Harrison Pascoe from MCC Labels, Audrey Lajo from TAFE SA and Angus Adcroft from MCC representing South Australia, Victoria’s other finalist Imran Yunis from MCXC Labels, and Western Australia finalists Olivia Fortune from Footprint and Lucien Maart from Label Makers. Industry supplier association, Visual Connections, provided the $10,000 scholarship prize.
Ireland added: “We are grateful to Heidelberg and Visual Connections for their ongoing support and their substantial investment in supporting the future of our industry graduates.”
“These are the best and brightest of our industry’s new talent, and it is really important to recognise their efforts and achievements, and to celebrate them in front of their industry peers.”
