illuminate Challenge | Central Coast | November 2025

Introducing the illuminate Enterprise Challenge

At the heart of the illuminate Challenge is a bold mission: to empower young Australians to be confident, creative and capable – ready to lead change in their communities right now. Our programs brings together high school students in a dynamic, hands-on environment, guided by passionate facilitators and industry-leading experts.

Across five days, our focus in the program is to build capacity in innovation, collaboration, resilience, creative thinking and critical skills in a dynamic, hands-on environment. Across the challenge, high school students will:

• Look at new ways to address challenges in our community, and change them for the better with a focus on impact,
• Be exposed to a range of business skills to help create sustained impact and growth,
• Introduced to innovation approaches, problem solving skills and measuring impact,
• Learn from industry experts & academics, bringing real-world knowledge into the mix,
• Apply their skills & capacity in new ways that are aligned to the Victorian Curriculum,
• And do it all in a team based, problem solving focused innovation environment.

By the end of the challenge, teams will present novel solutions to current challenges they have identified, with financial forecasts, business strategies, marketing materials, prototypes and a pitch for investment – with all of the skills developed and introduced across the challenge even if students have never been part of a design process, business program or community impact immersion previously can thrive.

With over +25,000 young Australians from +300 different schools impacted and inspired by our programs, we cannot wait to see what students in the City of Hume come up with in our 2025 program!

Who Should Do The Challenge?

This Challenge is designed for a wide range of students. To help you consider which students to get involved, we recommend you consider the following cohorts;

• Students who have shown strong interest in community action, local leadership and activism, and driving community impact,
• Students interested in business and entrepreneurship or regularly display the skills of initiative and leadership,
• Students who are disengaging for learning and seeking authentic ways to apply and build knowledge in a real-world environment,
• Students considering if further study is an option for them, especially those who can attend in person,
• Students that are excelling, as the challenge’s self-directed approach allows them to apply these skills in the flexible environment.

And if you aren’t sure, please just use our expression of interest form to ask any questions that you have, and we’ll help you out!

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity that is supported by the University of Newcastle’s Ourimbah Campus – which means you can access the illuminate Challenge experience at no cost to the school! The following form is only an expression of interest and we’ll discuss any questions or comments that you have to help you prepare for this incredible opportunity that kicks off on Monday November 17 at the Ourimbah Campus.