Tony Hoang From Project 180

As part of the study of the Vietnam War in History, Year 10 students had the opportunity to attend a talk given by Tony Hoang, the founder and keynote speaker of Inspire180. This is the second year he has brought his life-changing message to the College. Tony’s parents fled Vietnam at the end of the war but upon arriving in Australia, faced many struggles to find their place in society. These struggles led to many Vietnamese teenagers leaving home, joining gangs and dealing drugs.  

Tony was one of these teenagers and at 13, he was making $10,000 a week dealing heroin. His cousins were members of 5T, a well-known crime gang in Cabramatta, and his adolescence was punctuated by time in and out of juvenile detention, and later, by his own addiction. At 21, Tony hit rock bottom and he returned to the church he'd been to every Sunday as a child and asked God for a sign.

What came next was more literal than he could have imagined. Tony is now a Pastor at a Christian Church in Weatherill Park with six kids of his own and has dedicated the last two decades to actively engaging with young people and delivering compelling speeches in schools nationwide. He has now spoken at over 100 schools across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vietnam, South Africa and the United States.