2023 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Tayla Scarcella was awarded the title for her advocacy work with young people. Photo: Supplied.
It was the call Tayla Scarcella had been waiting for. Someone from ACT Housing was on the phone, telling her she had a house.
For this young woman it was something she had been wanting to hear for so long that she couldn’t believe it – and hung up on the caller.
Today, she can laugh about it. But back then, it was the biggest of deals.
“For me to finally have a stable place to live, it was massive. I guess when they rang I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “You wait for that call from Housing for ages and then when you get it all you can do is hang up on them,” she laughed.
Tayla, 19, has just been named 2023 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Awards for her advocacy and community volunteer work.
More than most, she knows what it’s like to be a young person facing life’s challenges. Originally from Melbourne, she came to Canberra in 2016. Unable to live with her family, she experienced life with foster parents and group homes.
“It was hard,” she said.”Everything was constantly changing all the time. It was hard for me to engage in education and in other aspects of my life.
“But if I could go back to my younger self and show her a photo of my life now, she wouldn’t believe it.”
Everyone, Tayla says, has a story. And her story, she reckons, has got her where she is today.
“Winning this award is amazing,” she said. “It helps give me more of a platform to work with other people, get young people’s voices out there, but there are so many other people out there who deserve to be heard. They have a voice just as much as I do.
“It was mind-blowing to win. It still doesn’t feel quite real to me. It was only a couple of years ago when my life was completely different. I hope it shows other young people that you don’t have to live the life given to you, you can always turn it around.”
Tayla wants to use this new platform to give other young people a voice. “It’s not often,” she said, “for a young person who has lived a life full of adversity to be in a position to help other people. I just find it sad that people whose voices should be heard, often aren’t.”
Tayla received the award for her volunteer work in the CREATE Foundation, Speak Up, Youth Advisory Group and CREATE Your Future program, Youth Care Packages Committee and the ACT Youth Advisory Council. She is also studying community service and youth work as well as holding down a job in the hospitality industry.
“I just love helping people,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like work to me. It’s my passion.”
The Young Canberra Citizen of the Year Award recognises a person aged 12 to 25 who has made an outstanding contribution to the Canberra community.
Other 2023 reward recipients were: Ananth Ravi (Young Achiever Award), Jana Ayad (Personal Achievement Award), Rhianna Connors-Johnston (Community Service Award), Telopea Park School (Environment and Sustainability Award), Daniel Bartholomaeus (Art and Multimedia Award), and the ANU Auslan Club (Group Achievement Award).
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