Ms Chia received this impressive recognition at a dental health symposium in Darwin, and came away with a $5000 prize.

At the same event she gave a 10 minute presentation on her volunteering. She wowed the jury and audience, before receiving the prize for her leadership in a social responsibility project as part of her final year subject Global Perspectives on Oral Health.

"As a team, me and my cohort decided to do the project on outreach, so we went out to homeless organisations," Ms Chia said.

"We provided free toothbrushes, toothpaste, inter-dental brushes, and all kinds of hygiene tools for homeless people.

"And we also spent time connecting with them, and just providing education and teaching them how to take care of their teeth."

The oral health student and project leader competed against nominees from every state for the award.

She is in her final month of her degree so is eagerly awaiting results and finishing off final assessments and exams.

After graduating, she plans to return to her home state of South Australia.

"I'm going to go back to South Australia to work in regional practice and then I'm also looking into going to work in the Northern Territory in rural remote areas," she said.

"It's not set in stone yet but those are my plans for now."

The $5000 award is intended to be used for a study tour, to attend a conference or to do more volunteering, and Ms Chia is planning to continue her generosity.

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"My plan would be to use it to help disadvantaged communities - so I'm planning to join a not-for-profit organisation to go out into the remote areas of Australia, as well as planning a trip to Africa to do more volunteering," she said.

But the student is keen to continue her work with Orapact - the project her cohort started at La Trobe.

"We went out to local organizations (in Bendigo) that help with homeless people or people who are facing financial challenges," she said.

"Initially, it was very hard because of COVID and people didn't want a group of 20 people to just go in for an education session.

"But in the end, we got to reach out to four organizations in total, just within five months on top of our university work.

"People were so grateful that we went out to them and they were saying if we didn't come out, they wouldn't have known the information because they don't have the financial ability to go and see a dentist."

Ms Chia said the project has motivated her cohort to spend time outside of work to reach out to those people who don't have the opportunity to go to the dentist.

She is also keen for Orapact to become an established not-for-profit so students can continue to give back while also gaining skills in communication, promotion as well as teaching and sharing information to help address the oral health gap in the wider community.

"We currently work in Bendigo Hospital and the waitlist is quite long for people to come in," she said.

"And as with every other hospital public hospital, the dental is only for eligible individuals.

"We really want to focus on the prevention side of things because dental is quite expensive.

"And it's not just going to a dentist when you're in pain, because that's when you can't save your teeth anymore."

If you are interested to join Orapact projects and make a difference to dental health in the community, you can contact the team at orapact@outlook.com

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