Selected by a panel of Olympians from almost 1000 year 10, 11 and 12 students across the country and representing every state and territory, the youngsters have made positive change in their communities from Thursday Island to Launceston and Perth to Deniliquin.

The students were awarded Olympic Change-Maker gold medals produced by the Royal Australian Mint, at a ceremony with Olympians, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) chief executive Matt Carroll and Royal Australian Mint chief executive Leigh Gordon.

The ceremony capped a two-day summit in which the Change-Makers shared their community initiatives and collaborated with each other and Olympians including Melissa Wu, Cedric Dubler, Jemima Montag, Beki Smith, Brooke Hanson and Rohan Chapman-Davies on workshops exploring the role of sport to drive positive change.

As part of the summit, Change-Makers were given the task of providing recommendations on how to maximise the impact and engagement with young Australians on the ten-year Green and Gold Runway to Brisbane 2032, which they presented to Carroll at a session.

The students' recommendations focused on the themes of equality and diversity, sustainability, regional and rural opportunities, and wide reaching community benefits of sport.

Carroll said yet again he was inspired by the Change-Makers' ideas, insights and commitment to improving their communities through sport.

"The Australian Olympic Change-Maker program shines a light on inspiring work by young Australians," Carroll said.

"These 24 young Change-Makers selected for the National Summit and the thousand more who have been part of the program this year embody the Olympic spirit.

"The students of today will have an incredible impact on the next decade as we build towards Brisbane 2032, and these young Change-Makers have already shown insight and initiative that will be vital to harness and amplify the opportunities that this Green and Gold decade can deliver for Australia."

Dual Olympic decathlete Cedric Dubler worked with the students across two days of the summit.

"Sport isn’t just about the final placings or the number next to your name - sport can bring people together, can inspire those around you and can create positive change," Dubler said.

"I've been so inspired by these students, everyone was excited to share stories but also excited to listen and learn from each other's experiences.

"Everything they're doing to build up their own communities and give back is really special."

Tagai State College student Kailu Luffman from Thursday Island in the Torres Strait helped promote positive health outcomes and school engagement through sport.

"Working firsthand with the Olympians has been incredible - they’ve been there, done that, and still doing it.

"They’ve worked so hard to achieve greatness.

"I just want to be a sponge to take in as much as I can to bring back to my community.

"All of us Change-Makers come from different parts of Australia, but we’ve all connected instantly, because we’re young people who want to do good things in their community.

"We all love sport and that drives us, that’s the vehicle for us to do good work."