Hilary Brettell Scholarship
The Hilary Brettell Scholarship, in honour of our late esteemed colleague and past President of the ACT History Teachers’ Association, financially supports educators who wish to attend the annual National History Conference. The ACT HTA is now accepting nominations for the Hilary Brettell Scholarship.
This year’s conference will be held at the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane from the 8-9 July 2026. The 2026 focus for the National Conference is ‘Many Stories, Many Voices’.
The ACT HTA will provide the following to TWO early career educators (first five years of teaching) and ONE experienced educator:
- Registration to the conference and conference dinner (in person)
- Individual Association Membership until the end of 2027
Conditions:
Recipients of the scholarship are expected to engage with and support the ACT HTA in 2026 and 2027. Support could be through presenting at a professional learning event, supporting the judging and organisation of competitions, or representing the ACT HTA at events promoting history education and the association.
Successful recipients of the 2026 Hilary Brettell Scholarship can apply to the ACT HTA for a bursary of $500 to support with travel costs if they wish to attend in person. This application will be assessed by the Committee for final approval.
This year’s scholarship applications will close on Monday 16 March 2026. Complete your application here: https://forms.gle/NfU2dUpxXbzuK3tK7
Past Recipients:
The recipients of the 2025 Hilary Bretell Scholarships were Samantha Endall (Melba Copland Secondary School), Stuart Latter (Melba Copland Secondary School) and Jamie Sibley (Wanniassa School).
The recipients of the 2024 Hilary Bretell Scholarships were Caitlin Cullen (Melba Copland Secondary School) and Patrick O’Dea (Melrose High School).
In 2023, as the HTAA National Conference was held locally we had 8 Hilary Brettell Scholarships recipients.
- Oscar Jolly, Melrose High School
- Pearl Harbour, Campbell High School
- Beth van der Kolk, Melba Copland Secondary School
- Mary Clare Woodforde, Wanniassa School
- Marina Leko, Kingsford Smith School
- Andrew Grimmett, Amaroo School
- Natasha Davies, Radford College
- Alyssa Markmann, Merici College
The recipient of the 2022 Hilary Bretell Scholarship was Libby Whitbread-Bourne (Amaroo School).
City News: https://citynews.com.au/2022/young-history-teacher-makes-her-own-history/
EDU Article: https://www.education.act.gov.au/about-us/all-news-and-news-alerts/news-items/june-2022/historic-recognition