A university student from the Sunshine Coast has been awarded a prestigious scholarship to study and represent First Nations Australians at NAIDOC week in Rome.

Drew Campbell, 19, grew up in Nambour, but she’s been studying speech pathology at Australian Catholic University’s Brisbane campus since 2024.

The second-year student recently travelled to Rome as one of two ACU Francis Xavier Conaci Scholars.

Named in honour of an Indigenous boy who travelled from Nyoongar Country in Western Australia to the Eternal City to study in the 1850s, the Conaci Scholarship offers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students the opportunity to learn at ACU’s Rome Campus.

A proud Wiradjuri (white Celtic) woman, Ms Campbell said she was honoured to be named a recipient of the scholarship and a representative of First Nations Australians.

“It genuinely means so much,” she said.

“This is my heritage, it’s my culture, and being able to represent that and make sure it lives on I think is extremely important.”

As Conaci Scholars, Ms Campbell and Kamilaroi man Jacob Lasserre will represent Aboriginal First Nations people during NAIDOC Week in Rome, hosted by Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, His Excellency Keith Pitt.

Jacob, 19, is a proud Kamilaroiwhite  man, originally from Cambooya, 40 minutes south of Toowoomba. He is in the second year of a Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Secondary Education at ACU's Brisbane Campus.