Public speaking champion Brayden Sim may be the youngest anti-domestic violence campaigner in the country.
The 11-year-old Schofields Public School pupil recently received the top gong in the NSW Multicultural Perspectives Public Speaking Competition for two compositions, one of which addressed the global issue of violence against women.
"That was the most nerve-racking thing of all time," Brayden told the Blacktown Sun .
Seated quietly waiting to take his turn, the Schofields resident knew he had to think on his feet to take out the title.
It was his third year entering the competition, for NSW primary school pupils, but he had never won before.
"Brayden spoke about domestic violence and made the point that people need to remember that children who live with it need a second chance at happiness"
- Gregg Josey
"Everyone is just sitting in a room waiting to go into the room to hear what the topic is ... we were all just sitting in silence," he said.
"Then someone would get chosen and we'd all think 'oh no, one of us is next'."
But in the crucial moment, his nerves didn't show.
Schofields Primary School principal Gregg Josey said there wasn't a "dry eye in the house" after Brayden's speech.
"Brayden spoke about domestic violence and made the point that people need to remember that children who live with it need a second chance at happiness," he said.
"He then went on to encourage everyone to think about the need to have more safe houses, and that it's not a women's issue, it's a man's issue because they are usually the perpetrators."
The year 6 pupil had got through to the final round on the back of a prepared speech that looked at the different cultural attitudes towards Australia Day.
"I just thought that with Australia Day, everyone thinks of it as something that is so great, when really in reality it isn't to such an extent," he said.
His argument centred around giving more credence to indigenous people's views of Australia day, which they sometimes refer to as"Invasion Day".
"I hope the people in the audience think about how not everything is always as it seems, that it's not really helping the Aboriginals," he said.
With a passion for English and drama, Brayden loves to perform and plans to enter more public speaking competitions in high school.
