Sydney Year 12 student Dhanya Vasanta has been recognised with a 2026 Dame Marie Bashir Peace Award for her work in literacy, volunteering and youth engagement, including a book project that has collected more than 10,000 books for communities in Australia and overseas.
Vasanta received the award at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on Monday, September 28, as part of the National Council of Women New South Wales’ annual awards for secondary school students. The awards recognise young women in Years 10 to 12 for leadership in social justice, inclusion, social cohesion and efforts to promote peace and understanding.
Vasanta, who is of Telugu heritage, attends Northern Beaches Secondary College’s Manly campus. Her connection to the school is also recorded in NSW school material and her public student profile.
Much of her community work has centred on A Little Library, which she began when she was 12. The project started with 200 books donated to Westmead Children’s Hospital and has since collected more than 10,000 books, with donations distributed to regional and remote Australian communities as well as communities in Africa.
The project has expanded through fundraising, partnerships and volunteer involvement, while Vasanta’s community work has extended into disability support and youth participation.
For about four years, she has volunteered regularly at a music therapy clinic working with children with physical disabilities and neurodivergent children. That interest has also found its way into her writing. In 2024, Vasanta wrote about music therapy for the Los Angeles Times’ High School Insider platform, drawing partly on her experience volunteering at a clinic.
Her other activities include involvement with the Northern Beaches Youth Advisory Group and Have Your Say Day, along with a pen-pal program connecting students in Australia and Japan. She has also established a Japanese club at school, participated in peer tutoring and mentored younger students.
Vasanta’s interest in Japanese language and culture predates the latest award. Her public student record shows she placed second in the 2024 Western Sydney Japanese Speech Contest, held by Western Sydney University and the Consulate-General of Japan in Sydney. The same record shows she received a NSW Premier’s Diamond Student Volunteering Award in 2024 after completing more than 115 hours of volunteering.
The Dame Marie Bashir Peace Awards have been presented since 2010 and are named after former NSW governor Dame Marie Bashir, the first woman to hold the office. The National Council of Women NSW says recipients are selected from state and independent secondary schools for their contribution to their communities.
This year’s ceremony was held in the Jubilee Room at Parliament House and hosted by the National Council of Women NSW, with NSW Minister for Women Jodie Harrison listed to present the awards.
Vasanta is the daughter of Mallika Potluri and Vasanta Harikrishna and the granddaughter of Potluri Bhaskara Rao, president of the Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry Federation.
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