Two outstanding regional Australians will each receive $50,000 in the second year of the Tim Fischer Fellowship after an exceptionally strong field of applications left Country Education Foundation (CEF) unable to select just one recipient.
North Queensland agricultural business owner and Link 2 Country co-founder Nicole Chiesa and La Trobe University rural health academic Associate Professor Erin Smith, have been named the 2026 Tim Fischer Fellows, with both receiving access to a national CEF support network to bring ambitious education projects with the potential to create lasting change across rural and regional Australia to life.
Established in honour of former Deputy Prime Minister and CEF founding Patron Tim Fischer AC, the Fellowship backs people with the vision, passion and practical ideas to create meaningful opportunities for rural and regional communities. Following the success of the inaugural Fellowship in 2025, the calibre of applications in its second year convinced the selection panel there should be two recipients.
CEF CEO Wendy Mason said the decision reflected both the strength of this year's applications and the enormous potential of Nicole and Erin's projects.
"The Tim Fischer Fellowship was created to back people who understand regional Australia, who see an opportunity to make a difference and have the determination to turn an idea into something practical," Ms Mason said. "This year we were presented with two exceptional projects addressing very different, but equally important, challenges facing regional communities. Rather than choose between them, we are delighted to invest in both.
"Nicole and Erin share the qualities this Fellowship is designed to support - strong connections to rural and regional communities, a genuine commitment to education and a clear vision for creating change that can extend well beyond the life of the Fellowship.
Wendy MasonCEF CEO
Nicole Chiesa, from Ingham in North Queensland, will use her Fellowship to expand the Agri Life Skills Program developed through social enterprise Link 2 Country, creating a repeatable model that can be delivered through agricultural shows, field days, careers expos and community events across rural and regional Australia.
Drawing on a career with experience across cattle stations, agricultural education, rural merchandise and her family's sugarcane harvesting business, Nicole has seen first-hand the difficulties regional businesses can face attracting the next generation of workers.
The Agri Life Skills Program gives young people hands-on exposure to agriculture and other regional industries while connecting them directly with employers, education providers and training pathways. More than 1,000 young people have already participated in Link 2 Country initiatives, developing practical and employability skills while discovering careers they may otherwise never have considered.
Nicole will use the Fellowship to develop a digital platform supporting school registrations, compliance, resources and communication, together with a repeatable program model that communities can adapt to their own industries, workforce needs and opportunities.
"For me, this is about giving young people the chance to have a go, discover what interests them and meet the people who can help open doors for their future," Ms Chiesa said. "There are incredible careers and opportunities in rural and regional Australia, but young people need the chance to see and experience them. By bringing education, industry and community together, we can help young people make informed choices about their future while building stronger, more connected regional communities.
Nicole Chiesa2026 Tim Fischer Fellow
Associate Professor Erin Smith will use her Fellowship to develop Rural Ready: Preparing the Next Generation of Rural Health Professionals for Disasters, an innovative education project designed to better prepare paramedicine, nursing and allied health students to respond to disasters and major emergencies in rural and regional communities.
Head of the Department of Rural Allied Health at La Trobe University, Associate Professor Smith has more than 25 years' experience across higher education, research, disaster health and rural workforce development. Her work has focused extensively on improving health, wellbeing and resilience in rural and regional communities.
Her project will expand an existing award-winning game-based, mass-casualty simulation into additional immersive rural disaster scenarios, including an industrial mass-casualty incident and a severe weather event affecting a rural hospital.
Students will be able to practice critical decision-making, communication, leadership, teamwork and disaster management in realistic but psychologically safe learning environments before they enter the workforce. The resources will be embedded within La Trobe Rural Health School programs and have the potential to be adapted and shared across other rural health education settings in Australia.
"Rural health professionals are often at the frontline when disasters strike, and they may be required to make complex decisions with limited resources and support. By giving students the opportunity to experience realistic disaster scenarios before they enter the workforce, we can help build their confidence, strengthen teamwork across health disciplines and better prepare them to support rural communities when they need it most.
Erin Smith2026 Tim Fischer Fellow
CEF Chair Nick Burton Taylor said both projects reflected Tim Fischer's belief in the transformative power of education and opportunity for people living outside Australia's major cities.
"Tim understood that where you live should never determine the opportunities available to you," Mr Burton Taylor said. "These two Fellows are taking that principle and putting it into action - Nicole by opening young people's eyes to the extraordinary career opportunities available across regional industries, and Erin by ensuring the health professionals who will serve rural communities are better prepared for some of their greatest challenges."
Tim Fischer's wife Judy Brewer said she believed her late husband would have been immensely proud to see the Fellowship supporting two projects with such strong connections to regional people and communities.
"Tim was passionate about regional Australia and particularly about giving people, wherever they live, the education, confidence and opportunities they needed to build their futures," Ms Brewer said. "He believed strongly in people who were prepared to have a go and turn good ideas into practical action. Nicole and Erin are doing exactly that, and I think Tim would be enormously pleased to see the Fellowship bearing his name helping their ideas reach more people and more communities.
Judy Brewer AO2025 Tim Fischer Fellowship
Together, the projects demonstrate the breadth of innovation happening across regional Australia, from addressing workforce challenges and connecting young people with regional careers to strengthening the ability of rural health services and communities to respond to disasters.
The two $50,000 Fellowships will allow Nicole and Erin to develop models designed not simply for their own organisations or communities, but with the potential to be scaled, shared and adapted across rural and regional Australia, extending the legacy of Tim Fischer's lifelong commitment to education, opportunity and the future of regional communities.
