Since 2002 the Queensland Community Achievement Awards have been recognising the contributions of individuals, communities and businesses throughout the state.

The awards seek to encourage and reward those that work to improve the social, economic and environmental prosperity of their communities. 

Nominees include the likes of Hair Aid, an non-profit organisation founded in Brisbane that works to make a difference in the lives of people living in poverty or hardship across the globe through ‘the power of hairdressing.’

Hair Aid’s  primary mission is to recruit and send volunteer hairdressers to countries such as Philippines, Cambodia, and Indonesia, in order to provide free haircutting training to people living in severe poverty. These free five-day courses empower individuals with the ability to earn an income to support themselves and their families. 

Hairdressing as a trade is easily transportable and requires little in terms of start-up costs, particularly with the help of donated hair-cutting kits supplied through Hair Aid. 

Since its inception in 2010 Hair Aid has equipped more than 6,700 individuals with sustainable hairdressing skills, fostering dignity, confidence, and economic independence.

In 2010 Hair Aid founder and CEO Selina Tomasich was holidaying in the Philippines when she struck up a conversation with two nuns. They told her of their work with children abandoned on the streets of Manila, sheltering them in safe environments and attempting to reunite them with their parents.

Often, the nuns explained, the parents had abandoned their children because they could not afford to feed them. Long term the nuns hoped to be able to provide the parents with skills they could use to generate reliable incomes for themselves and their families. 

 Tomasich, at the time an academic at the University of the Sunshine Coast, was inspired by this and returned to Manila with a few student volunteers, two seamstresses and an array of donated sewing machines in order to help teach sewing skills.

The next year she returned with more volunteers. As the project grew, Tomasich asked locals for other skills that would be useful in order to expand the offered programs. Haircutting was introduced and quickly became so popular that by 2013, Tomasich pivoted to focus entirely on it, registering Hair Aid as a not-for-profit organisation in Australia. 

Hair Aid has since grown, with seven international trips per year and an increasing cadre of volunteer hairdressers. In addition to its international projects Hair Aid also introduced a local offshoot – Hair Aid Community Cuts.

Working within 85 communities around Australia, Hair Aid Community Cuts sends volunteer hairdressers to various locations every six weeks in order to provide free haircuts to all comers. This service provides a sense of dignity and normalcy, bolstering the mental well-being of individuals who may be struggling financially. 

As a result of its continuing commitment to making a lasting positive impact in the lives of many, Hair Aid has been nominated for the Bendigo Bank Community Group of the Year Award which recognises groups, organisations and not for profits that share a strong sense of team spirit and play a vital role in enhancing meaningful connections and social wellbeing in their community.

If you know of people or organisations that you would like to see recognised, nominations for The Queensland Community Achievement Awards are open until August 14. Learn more here.