Announcing the Winner of the 2026 Lesley Hall Scholarship

We are proud to announce this year's winner of the Lesley Hall Scholarship is Nathan Borg!

Nathan Borg is an Australian Deaf queer actor who is recognised for his roles on Channel 10, SBS, and Stan. Over the last five years, Nathan has worked on iconic Australian TV productions such as Neighbours and BONDS. He is currently a writer and co-creator on SBS and Screen Australia Digital Originals development program, and also works regularly as a Cast Driver in Transport for American productions.

Nathan said, “Receiving the Lesley Hall Scholarship Award is exciting because throughout all of my twenties, I have never won a scholarship or tattslotto. Now, my thirties are the era of winning. I am honoured to be part of the Lesley Hall Scholarship family. To receive the award from respected Deaf community member Irene Holub is also an honour.

With the scholarship funding, I will use it wisely to support the first stage of development for my Australian Deaf Crime series, ‘The Mastermind’ with an industry mentor to start the process of getting it greenlit with a production company so I can create more industry opportunities for Deaf and hard of hearing filmmakers in Australia.”

Through this scholarship, we honour the activism and legacy of our late Board Chair Lesley Hall. Lesley was a tireless advocate for the human rights of Deaf and Disabled people. She became famous for protesting the Miss Australia Quest in 1981. And she influenced the formation of the NDIS, amongst many other achievements.

The scholarship supports a Deaf or Disabled artist, arts workers and creatives living in Victoria who use their creative practice to advocate for Deaf and Disabled people.

Congrats Nathan and thank you to all our applicants!