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  • Olivia Colja

    Olivia Colja

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Olivia Colja

Bachelor of Social Science (2009)

Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (2020)

From the age of 12, Olivia Colja was certain she wanted to spend her life helping women and children.

For the past 18 years that’s exactly what she’s done, making such an impact on the lives of others that she was recently awarded the Most Outstanding Youth Worker Award at the WA Youth Awards.

For this 36-year-old dynamo, making someone’s day brighter is her modus operandi. “When you see someone in a better condition, that’s what gives you faith and hope,” Olivia explains.

“Each positive change I can make to a person’s life helps make the community and world a better place. That’s something I want to be part of.”

What makes Olivia’s story so much more extraordinary is how much she’s achieved along the way.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science from ECU in 2008 and has thrown her all into supporting youth from complex backgrounds, developing and implementing life-changing programs for at-risk young people for almost two decades.

But she also managed to complete a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts at ECU and emerge as an exciting new painting talent along the way, combining the two passions by founding and directing WOMXN, a three-year project helping women and non-binary people to create artwork from an autobiographical narrative with universal reach.

"No matter what field I work in, I’ve always wanted to make people’s lives that little bit easier and leave them in a better condition than when they came to me."

Now she’s back at ECU for a third time, this time studying Law. “I really wanted to understand the depths of the law after working on the other side,” she says, of transitioning to this next chapter.

“It feels like an extension of my experience as a community advocate. I hope to work with children and youth in the justice sector going forward.”

A first-generation Australian with a mixed cultural heritage of Middle-Eastern and European descent, Olivia is the first female in her family to graduate from university.

“My relationship with ECU is one of the longest relationships I’ve ever had. I’ve been studying for 16 years so you can imagine how old my student card photo is,” she laughs. “I absolutely love being on campus there, it feels like a second home.”

She feels a real kinship with Edith Cowan, who she learnt more about after enrolling in ECU. “Edith Cowan was all about empathy and helping people in the community, especially women and children.

I knew I was in the right place with her values underpinning my place of study. I’ve always felt such strong support at ECU as a woman.”

Life isn’t about to slow down anytime soon, but that’s exactly the way Olivia likes it. Filling her spare time training in martial arts Brazilian jujitsu and krav magra, she’s just earned her yellow belt.

She’s devoted to her family and friends and is starting to brainstorm her next solo art show. And then there’s a new job in a legal practice, as well as completing the degree she describes as “the hardest one yet.”

But this is the life she always dreamt of. “When you help those at-risk, unfortunately someone is suffering and that’s not always easy to reconcile.

I remember working with homeless young people and it was so hard going home to a safe supportive environment knowing they were going home to the streets,” she explains. “But no matter what field I work in, I’ve always wanted to make people’s lives that little bit easier and leave them in a better condition than when they came to me.”

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