Young Australian of the Year 2027Queensland Nominee
Byron Waller has been named a Queensland nominee in the 2027 Australian of the Year Awards, presented by the National Australia Day Council.
Patient
to Pilot
Pilot
'Round the
World · 2025
The nomination is for the mission, not just the flight
Byron Waller has been named a Queensland nominee in the 2027 Australian of the Year Awards. The recognition is for what happens around the cockpit: giving young people a reason to look up.
A flight between the poles, and a challenge for everyone
Byron’s next mission is a 2027 pole-to-pole flight for the Teen Pilot Foundation, flown to raise awareness of the young people carrying something heavy — a screen they can’t put down, depression, an illness, a hard start.
His challenge is simple: look up from whatever is holding you down. One thing, today. And if what is holding you down is serious, looking up means telling someone — that counts too.
Look up
with Byron
Byron is a teenager asking his own generation to step away from the screen, reconnect with someone they trust and take one positive step beyond illness, depression, isolation or hardship.
From a hospital bed to the cockpit
Diagnosed with Crohn's disease at fourteen, Byron Waller refused to let chronic illness write his flight plan. By fourteen he had become the youngest pilot to circumnavigate Australia.
A year later, at fifteen, he flew around the world in a four-seat Sling TSi, the youngest supported pilot to fly a plane around the world, with a safety pilot aboard. 39 legs. 5 continents. 19 countries. One teenager flying for the millions of young people living quietly with invisible illness. Now based between Los Angeles, USA and Brisbane, Australia.
Next: North Pole to South Pole, 2027
Byron's next adventure is a pole-to-pole crossing of the planet in 2027, flown for the Teen Pilot Foundation — an Australian charity (ACN 700 252 562 · ABN 31 700 252 562) built for the kids on the other side of the ward door. Planning is underway now, and Byron wants his generation flying it with him. Join the mission today: contact us at ops@byronwaller.com .
Arctic to Antarctic in a single mission. Routes, aircraft and weather windows in planning now.
Hospital programs, STEM lessons and lived-experience mentoring in every host country along the route.
Founding partners, hospitals, schools, country hosts and young people are joining for 2027. There's a seat for you today.
Read the
story
Teen Pilot Down Under — From Patient to Pilot is Byron's own account of the diagnosis, the hospital years, and the flight around Australia that came before the world one. Written for teens, young adults and anyone who has been told no.
Signed copies, school orders and bulk sets for assemblies are available on request — ask when you book a visit.
The books, both of them →Teen Pilot Down Under — From Patient to Pilot. ISBN 9781764082518.
Read it the same day on a phone, tablet or the free Kindle app.
Ordered through the book's own Australian store.