Premier's Spirit of Anzac Prize

The program offers Victorian students in Years 9-12 the opportunity to explore Australia’s significant war and peacekeeping history.

About the Premier's Spirit of Anzac Prize

The Premier's Spirit of Anzac Prize (SOAP) is an annual competition open to students enrolled in Years 9 to 12. SOAP offers young Victorians the opportunity to:

  • explore Australia's wartime and peacekeeping history
  • join a fully funded study tour to significant war heritage sites
  • connect with veterans and the ex-service community
  • understand and remember the contribution of Victorian service women and men.

The Premier's Spirit of Anzac Prize began in 2005. Since then:

  • over 4000 applications have been received
  • more than 500 students have been awarded the Prize
  • Prize recipients and teachers have joined study tours exploring sites of military and historical significance:
    • overseas - visiting the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan, Türkiye, Greece, Malaysia, Netherlands, Thailand, and South Korea
    • in Australia - visiting Darwin and Canberra.
  • 40 students have received scholarships to support their education goals.

SOAP connects young Victorians with the legend of Anzac, which was born on the beaches of Gallipoli, Türkiye on 25 April 1915 and grew to symbolise the courage and sacrifice of Australian service women and men.

The Prize encourages students to explore the Anzac legacy post-World War I and its relevance in our diverse, multicultural twenty-first-century society.

SOAP promotes a continued understanding of the Spirit of Anzac as representing the resilience of our united nation in times of crisis and loss, through demonstrations of support, courage, endurance and resourcefulness, mateship, and humour.

2023 Premier's Spirit of Anzac Prize

We received 100 entries for the 2023 Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize. 12 students have been awarded the prize and will embark on a trip to Türkiye to retrace the steps of the Anzacs.

The recipients are:

Baylasan Almosa – Mount Ridley P-12 College

Devansh Attrey – Caroline Chisholm Catholic College

Disha Awasthi – East Doncaster Secondary College

Lauren Baker – Mullauna College

Vedat Can Bozkurt – Ilim College of Australia

Olivia Campbell - Presbyterian Ladies' College

Alexander Large – Mentone Grammar School

Cassie Lenné – Catholic College Sale

Bayden Matthews – Swan Hill College

Zachary Melvaine – Mill Park Secondary College

Kirwan Schoenborn – Wesley College Melbourne

Roman Young – Oxley Christian College

Learn more about SOAP

To learn more about the Premier's Spirit of Anzac Prize, you can:

Access online resources

Contact us

Email the SOAP team with your query. You can also request a call back (during business hours).

If you need an interpreter: Please email the SOAP team to request a call back, advising us of your preferred language.

If you are deaf, hearing impaired, or speech impaired: Please email the SOAP team to request a call back and tell us the National Relay Service you would like us to use to contact you.

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