MELBOURNE’S Kysaiah Pickett has been shortlisted for this year’s AFL Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.

Pickett was announced as a finalist for the award on Friday during the Jim Stynes Foundation’s annual Play It Forward luncheon, an event that recognises the outstanding impact AFL community programs have beyond the game.

Pickett has been acknowledged for his exceptional community leadership, using his profile to highlight one of Australia's most significant public health challenges – the elimination of trachoma.

Trachoma, a preventable eye disease, is the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and in Australia, particularly affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Through the club’s partnership with Melbourne University’s Indigenous Eye Health Unit (IEHU) Minum Barreng, Pickett has become a trusted ambassador, helping drive awareness and behavioural change to eliminate trachoma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

As an ambassador for the Clean Faces, Strong Eyes campaign, he has helped transform important public health messages into conversations that children and families genuinely engage with.

In addition to his ambassadorship, his exemplary leadership has seen him invest his time in visiting remote communities across the Northern Territory and building genuine relationships with children, families and community leaders.

His contribution supported the successful elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Australia, one of the country’s biggest public health achievements. 

Pickett is one of three finalists named alongside Bailey Banfield (Fremantle) and Tom Liberatore (Western Bulldogs).

The recipient of the 2026 AFL Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award will be announced on Monday 21 September during the Charles Brownlow Medal ceremony.