Earlier this month, I was honoured to be recognised as an HRD’s Best Young HR Professionals in Australia | Rising Stars 2026, with the award to be formally presented at HR Fest later this year. This award celebrates emerging HR leaders who are shaping the future of the profession through capability building, innovation, and meaningful impact. Receiving this award has been both grounding and energising.

For me, this recognition marks a significant milestone in a year defined by transformation, consulting growth, and deep engagement with the evolving HR and ER landscape in Australia.

What the HRD Rising Star Award Represents

The HRD Best Young HR Professionals In Australia | Rising Stars award highlights HR professionals who demonstrate:

• strong industry impact

• leadership potential

• commitment to human‑centred practice

• contributions to organisational capability

• influence across HR, ER, and people development

Being recognised in this cohort reflects the work I’ve been doing across HR consulting, capability building, employment relations, and organisational development, particularly with SMEs navigating complexity and change.

A Transformative Year in HR and ER Practice

2026 has been a year of balancing multiple professional identities: HR consultant, ER practitioner, tutor, founder, parent, PhD candidate, and community contributor. It has been a year of momentum, recalibration, and growth — one that has stretched me, grounded me, and clarified the kind of HR professional I want to continue becoming.

Receiving this award during such a dynamic period has reminded me that meaningful HR work is rarely linear. It often looks like curiosity, persistence, and showing up even when the path feels messy.

Strengthening My HR Capability and Deepening My Academic Foundations

Much of my work this year has centred on strengthening HR capability within organisations through:

• HR consulting and organisational development

• employment relations support

• capability and learning program design

• coaching leaders through change

• building human‑centred HR systems

Alongside this practice‑based work, I also commenced my PhD at the University of Wollongong, where I am teaching HR and Employment Relations. Stepping into research has expanded my perspective in ways I didn’t anticipate. It has reinforced how essential it is for HR practitioners to stay close to emerging trends, evolving workforce dynamics, and the evidence base that shapes our profession.

I not only want to continue contributing to HR and ER practice, but also to the literature, the research, and the thinking that informs it. My goal is to help bridge the gap between practice and academia, ensuring that insights flow both ways: from organisations into research, and from research back into organisations.

The HR profession is evolving rapidly; technologically, socially, and structurally. Our responsibility as HR practitioners is to evolve with it, to ask better questions, and to build workplaces that are evidence‑informed, fair, and future‑ready. This award reinforces the importance of that work.

About My Professional Focus: HR, ER, and the Future of Work

My professional practice focuses on helping organisations navigate:

• employment relations challenges

• organisational capability building

• automation and workforce change

• psychological contract shifts

• leadership development

• human‑centred HR design

Whether through consulting, teaching, or capability building, my goal is to support organisations in creating environments where people can thrive, and where HR is a strategic, trusted partner. My research will continue to deepen and inform that work.

Gratitude for the People Who Shaped My Path

I’m deeply grateful for the mentors, colleagues, and HR leaders who have shaped my thinking over the past decade.

A special thank you to Rebecca Coombes and Michelle East. These two exceptional HR professionals and women have provided guidance, challenge, and belief have been foundational to my development. Their influence has shaped not only my career, but the way I show up in this profession.

I also want to acknowledge Chris Fonoti, whose recognition of my capability and support of my nomination made this award possible.

And I want to thank my mother, Tricia Pye. Her unwavering support, and her contributions to my education and business acumen, have been paramount. She has been one of the greatest constants in my professional journey.

Who This Work Supports

My HR and ER practice aims to support:

• HR professionals seeking capability uplift

• SME leaders navigating employment relations and organisational change

• organisations building human‑centred HR systems

• students entering the HR and ER profession

• practitioners wanting to bridge evidence with real‑world practice

If you work in any of these spaces, this award is as much about the future of your work as it is about mine.

Looking Ahead: Continuing to Shape HR Practice

Being recognised as one of Australia’s Best Young HR Professionals is not an endpoint — it’s a marker along the way. There is so much more I want to contribute to the HR and ER community through:

• consulting

• capability building

• organisational development

• teaching

• research‑informed practice

• community engagement

I’m proud, humbled, and excited for what comes next.

If you’d like to connect

If you’re interested in HR capability building, employment relations support, or organisational development consulting, you can explore more about my work through Epton Connections or reach out directly.