The 35 winners, aged 26 to 35, show HR careers built through opportunity, coaching and hands-on AI adoption
HRD Australia has named the winners of its 2026 Rising Stars program, recognising 35 HR professionals aged 26 to 35 for reshaping people leadership inside Australian organisations.
The list profiles young leaders from sectors including technology, facilities management and agribusiness who have taken on senior people and culture responsibility well ahead of the traditional career timeline.
According to the winner data, 55 per cent of those who addressed the question said HR found them – rather than the other way around – moving in from law, hospitality, nursing and even reception desks.
Almost half (46 per cent) of submissions centre on coaching frontline or first-time managers through performance and people conversations, while 26 per cent describe direct, hands-on work adopting artificial intelligence or automation inside their own HR function.
Three winners setting the standard
Among this year's cohort is Morgan van Rumund, head of people and culture at Zembl in Australia, who has spent six years at the business building a culture she says the company was once "pretty rubbish at."
She credits Zembl chief executive Jen Bell with teaching her to lead with data. "What sets this role apart is the human element: the ability to stay calm, listen with empathy and help people navigate change," she says of the role, in her full 2026 Rising Stars profile at Zembl.
Sarah Thompson, P&C projects and transitions lead at BGIS in Australia, spent the past year steering the people integration of six newly acquired trades businesses into a workforce of nearly 800 employees.
"Resilience in HR is not just about enduring pressure; it is about staying grounded, making sound judgements and continuing to support outcomes that are fair, compliant and human," she says, a philosophy detailed in her full 2026 Rising Stars profile at BGIS.
Taylah McCormick, human resources business partner at SunPork in Australia, has partnered with leaders across the company's farming, production and corporate functions since July 2024, providing onsite HR support across regional Australia.
Before SunPork, she was the sole HR practitioner at Greenworx, where she implemented the organisation's first HR information system, as outlined in her full 2026 Rising Stars profile at SunPork.
A new standard of HR leadership
HRD Australia's Rising Stars program is designed to surface the professionals shaping the next decade of people leadership – proof, organisers say, that judgement, technology fluency and the ability to hold a workplace culture together are increasingly arriving earlier in HR careers.
