In March he was presented with the NSW PCYC Young Person of the Year Award for 2021, in part for his work with Indigenous youth in the Upper Hunter during COVID lockdowns, before joining the NSW government's Regional Youth Taskforce in Dubbo in April as one of two representatives for the Hunter region.

Although he has achieved so much already in his career, Nick said social work and community advocacy wasn't always something he had been interested in pursuing.

"I think a turning point was my older sister (who) was the first in the family to go to uni studying law," Nick said.

"To see her go out there and linking with community and working with our community... she's been to Uluru, she's been overseas as a proud Aboriginal woman from Wiradjuri Country spreading her message and her passion for what she wants to do and that drove me to move into doing what I've done."

Nick said another turning point in his life had been experiencing the loss of a friend to suicide while in high school.

"Ever since then it was a passion for me to give back to my community and to try to give those kids that are going through a tough time a role model or mentor to check up on them and make sure they're doing alright," he said.

After working as an Aboriginal outreach worker in Newcastle, Nick joined the PCYC as a youth mentor in Singleton and Muswellbrook as part of a pilot program in 2021, just before the second wave of the COVID pandemic in NSW.

Unable to meet in person due COVID restrictions, Nick quickly pivoted to find ways to engage with Aboriginal youth in the community online.

"I started my own podcast, Mind Your Mob, where I was talking to role models in the community on their story and their upbringing and what they do in the community was well," he said.

"I don't like using COVID as an excuse... I couldn't see my clients and the kids that I work with but I pivoted and adapted to be able to work with them in a way that was COVID safe."

After a successful year working with the PCYC in the Upper Hunter, Nick said he hopes the Aboriginal youth mentor pilot program can be implemented across NSW.

"The mission of the PCYC is to have a youth worker in every club across the state and being able to lay the groundwork to see that mission be achieved is very exciting and I feel like I'm achieving that in a way."