Veena 2026 Australia Day Ambassador

Director of the UNSW SMaRT Centre, Professor Veena Sahajwalla has been appointed the 2026 Australia Day Ambassador for Narrabri Shire Council.

The NSW Government announced the NSW Australia Day Ambassador program has grown from strength to strength with more than 100 remarkable Australians volunteering to participate in Australia Day 2026 activities around the state.

As reported in the Narrabri Courier, Veena, an internationally recognised sustainable material research scientist, engineer and inventor, is today in Narrabri for local celebrations.

She said she is looking forward to visiting the town.

"I'm absolutely thrilled to be a the Narrabri Ambassador," Prof Sahajwalla said.

"I want to chat to the community, hear what they are passionate about, what their concerns are. I'm excited to share stories."

Narrabri Shire Council Oz Day event webpage

Australia Day Council of NSW said: "Each year the Australia Day Council of NSW invites Ambassadors to take part in local Australia Day events across NSW to tell uplifting stories of their personal journeys, share knowledge and insights from their extraordinary achievements, and speak about what it truly means to be Australian. These handpicked Ambassadors immerse themselves in the communities they visit, celebrate our diverse culture, promote community spirit, encourage participation and inspire national pride."

Veena's talks will include highlighting that using recycling innovations such as UNSW SMaRT Centre's MICROfactorie^TM Technologies and its Green Steel^TM Polymer Injection Technology that recover valuable materials from waste and reform them into new manufacturing feedstock and products are central to help achieve the sustainability needed for the future.

She will explain about SMaRT's work on researching solutions for recycling and resource recovery in regional contexts, using innovative, decentralised technologies such as MICROfactories^TM and collaborative opportunities and potential regional applications.