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Graduate is State’s Young Aussie of the Year
University of the Sunshine Coast graduate Chris Raine, 24, has been named as Queensland’s Young Australian of the Year for 2012.
Since graduating from USC with a combined degree in Arts and Business, the former Caloundra resident has developed an anti-binge drinking program to help change the drinking habits of young people.
Chris is now the founder and CEO of Hello Sunday Morning (HSM), an organisation that challenges young people to give up alcohol for three, six or 12 months at a time.
Chris said his not-for-profit organisation’s goal was to help break his generation’s unhealthy obsession with binge drinking.
In 2009, Chris decided to abstain from alcohol for a year and began writing a blog to record his journey. This led to the development of his Hello Sunday Morning blog and website, which are now encouraging people to reconsider their drinking habits.
To change Australia’s drinking culture, Chris said young people needed to believe in an alternative that would improve their lives, provide a sense of purpose and help build meaningful relationships.
HSM has so far helped more than 2,330 people share their short-term abstinence experiences.
Chris was thrilled to have received the Queensland Young Australian of the Year award at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane last night. He will travel to Canberra on 26 January for the announcement of the Young Australian of the Year award.
“Winning this award is a good opportunity to promote what we’re doing with HSM and get more people involved,” he said. “It’s a great honour and a good platform for the message that we’re trying to get out there.”
Chris said his ability to create a message that had resonated with so many people stemmed from what he learned at USC, where he majored in Public Relations and minored in Communication.
“At USC I also had a unique opportunity to be really nurtured by some excellent teachers who are still good friends and mentors of mine,” he said. “USC was small enough to be homely and to nurture my aspirations.”
Three years ago another USC graduate, Jonty Bush, was Queensland’s Young Australian of the Year. Jonty, an anti-violence campaigner who was CEO of the Queensland Homicide Victims’ Support Group at the time, went on the win the Young Australian of the Year award for 2009.
— Terry Walsh