A community-minded leader and martial arts champion with a passion for public policy has been awarded Western Australia’s Rhodes Scholarship for 2027.
Fatima Merchant, who is completing Honours in Political Science and International Relations at The University of Western Australia, was named WA’s Rhodes Scholar by His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM, Governor of Western Australia, at a ceremony at Government House last Friday.
The Governor, who chaired the judging panel, said it was a challenging task to select a winner from such a competitive field of six finalists.
Image: 2027 Rhodes Scholar Fatima Merchant
The 22-year-old Tapping resident said it was a life-changing opportunity to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar for WA, which will see her travel to Oxford University next year to undertake postgraduate studies.
Her commitment to building stronger communities is reflected in her volunteer leadership roles during her secondary schooling at Perth Modern School and undergraduate studies at UWA.
“A big part of my journey has been volunteering with youth organisations in Western Australia, in particular with the WA Debating League and United Nations Youth Western Australia.
“These are both youth-led and volunteer organisations that do brilliant work supporting young people to develop important skills and deepen their understanding of the world around them.
“The opportunity to both participate in the programs they run as a high school student and also volunteer and give back to these programs while I’ve been at university has been so formative to my journey.”
Awarded a Winthrop Scholarship at UWA, Fatima is motivated to advance public policy that enables people to lead lives of dignity and opportunity and works part-time as a policy officer for the WA Government.
“I have had the opportunity over the past year to work in the Seniors portfolio as part of the WA Government,” she said.
“I’m really excited to see how Australia can develop more ambitious and innovative policy responses, particularly as we have an ageing population which is something that holds many challenges for us as we look to the future.
“At Oxford I hope to focus on developing my capabilities so I can play a part in shaping our policy responses to those challenges.
Fatima paid tribute to her parents and younger brother for their inspiration and support.
“My mother is incredibly selfless and kind, my father is very curious and my brother is exceptionally hard-working,” she said.
Rhodes Scholarships are awarded based on academic excellence, as well as talents including creative or sporting abilities and traits such as courage, kindness and strength of character.