Unlocked Graduates’ Founder and CEO named Young Australian of the Year in the UK

Unlocked Graduates is delighted that our Founder and CEO Natasha Porter OBE has been named Young Australian of the Year in the UK. Natasha was presented with the award at a ceremony in London on 25 January in recognition of her achievements throughout her career in education and criminal justice, and most notably her outstanding contributions to the prison service with Unlocked.

Natasha founded Unlocked Graduates in 2016 after developing the concept while working on the Coates Review of prison education. Unlocked has now placed nearly 900 prison officers in 38 different prisons across England and Wales, since we were founded. We are incredibly proud of the impact that these officers have had – and continue to have – breaking cycles of reoffending in prisons and throughout society.

Accepting the award, Natasha said: “I am so proud and grateful to receive this award. Many people said that what we were trying to do at Unlocked was impossible, but we made [it] work by following a true Australian value: fairness.

“With high expectations and high support, regardless of background or circumstance, people really can achieve their true potential. The more disadvantage we encounter, the higher our expectations need to be.”