Sydney Year 12 student Dhanya Vasanta has received the 2026 Dame Marie Bashir Peace Award, recognising her sustained contribution to literacy, volunteering, community service and youth engagement across Australia and beyond.
Vasanta was presented with the award at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on 28 September as part of the annual awards organised by the National Council of Women New South Wales. The program recognises young women in Years 10 to 12 for contributions to social justice, inclusion, social cohesion, peace and understanding.
A student at Northern Beaches Secondary College’s Manly campus, Vasanta has developed a strong record of community involvement while continuing her secondary education. Her Telugu heritage is also an important part of her family background and connection to the wider Australian Indian community.
One of her most significant initiatives is A Little Library, a project she established when she was just 12 years old. What began with a donation of 200 books to Westmead Children’s Hospital has grown into a large-scale community literacy effort, with more than 10,000 books collected for distribution.
The books have reached regional and remote communities across Australia as well as communities in African countries. Over time, the initiative has expanded through fundraising, partnerships and volunteer participation, allowing Vasanta to extend the project well beyond its original hospital-based beginnings.
Her commitment to community service also includes regular volunteering with children who have physical disabilities and neurodivergence. For around four years, she has volunteered at a music therapy clinic, an experience that has also influenced her interest in communicating the benefits and possibilities of music therapy.
That experience later became part of her writing. In 2024, Vasanta wrote about music therapy for the Los Angeles Times’ High School Insider platform, drawing on her own volunteering experience and her observations of children participating in music-based support programs.
Vasanta has also remained active in youth participation and cultural exchange. Her activities have included the Northern Beaches Youth Advisory Group and Have Your Say Day, while a pen-pal initiative she helped establish has connected students in Australia and Japan.
At school, she has supported younger students through mentoring and peer tutoring and established a Japanese club. Her interest in Japanese language and culture has also been reflected in her academic and extracurricular achievements, including a second-place finish in the 2024 Western Sydney Japanese Speech Contest.
Her volunteering record was recognised earlier when she received a NSW Premier’s Diamond Student Volunteering Award in 2024 after completing more than 115 hours of service. These experiences have contributed to a broader pattern of community involvement that has continued throughout her senior school years.
The Dame Marie Bashir Peace Awards have been presented since 2010 and honour the legacy of Dame Marie Bashir, who became the first woman to serve as Governor of New South Wales. The awards recognise students from government and independent secondary schools for contributions to their communities and efforts connected with peace, inclusion and social cohesion.
This year’s presentation took place in the Jubilee Room at NSW Parliament House, with the National Council of Women NSW hosting the ceremony. NSW Minister for Women Jodie Harrison was listed as the presenter for the awards.
For Vasanta, the recognition brings together several strands of her work: making books accessible to communities, supporting children through volunteering, encouraging young people to participate in community life and creating opportunities for cultural exchange.
Her family background also connects her to the Telugu community in Australia. She is the daughter of Mallika Potluri and Vasanta Harikrishna and the granddaughter of Potluri Bhaskara Rao, president of the Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation.
The 2026 Dame Marie Bashir Peace Award adds another milestone to Vasanta’s growing record of service while highlighting the contribution that young Australians can make through sustained community involvement, literacy initiatives and youth-led programs.
