Jason Ball

Jason Ball has become a role model for young Australians after dedicating his career to highlighting the damaging impact of homophobia on the mental health of the LGBT+ community. He is passionate about working with the public sector and various media organisations to promote sustainable societal change.

After coming out in 2012, Jason uses his platform to champion greater reform within the Australian sporting industry. He was a leading advocate that inspired AFL’s first Pride Game between St Kilda and Sydney in 2016. Jason also went on to co-found Pride Cup Australia, a non-profit organisation delivering education programs to increase LGBT+ visibility and engagement.

Jason has since expanded his role as an ambassador for different organisations, including with Beyond Blue, the Safe Schools Coalition, the Victorian Pride Centre, Midsumma Festival and the Melbourne Queer Film Festival. He also campaigns for greater awareness on a range of Australian media programs, including The Project, Sunrise, FoxFooty, The Herald Sun, 3AW and triple j.

A prolific and outspoken advocate, he frequently works with non-profit and government organisations to promote social campaigns. He has worked as a government relations officer with the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre, exploring new technologies to improve the mental health of youths.

Jason is also heavily involved in the public sector, working alongside politicians in Canberra to provide stronger investments in equality and mental health. He has stood as a Greens candidate for the Federal seat of Higgins in 2016 and 2019, where he campaigned for action on climate change, LGBT+ equality, and compassion for people seeking asylum.

Jason has garnered the support of many leading Australian professionals, including former High Court Justice Michael Kirby, human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, and former Beyond Blue Chairman Jeff Kennett.

For his advocacy work, Jason was named the 2016 Young Australian Humanist of the Year, honoured with the Arts Alumni Rising Star Award by the University of Melbourne, and was included in The Age’s Top 100 Most Influential Melburnians in 2012. Named the LGBTI Sports Person of the Year, he was also a finalist for LGBTI Person of the Year in the 2015 GLOBE Community Awards.

More recently, Jason was named the Young Australian of the Year for Victoria in 2017, and was presented with the Out Role Model Award for Sport in the Australian LGBTI Inclusion Awards.

A highly engaging public speaker, Jason continues to present at sporting clubs and conferences across the country, opening a conversation for greater focus on inclusion and mental health awareness across Australia.