NSW Young Australian Of the Year Dr Nikhil Autar Dies Aged 32

Dr Nikhil Autar. Photo: Instagram

Dr Nikhil Autar, the 2024 NSW Young Australian of the Year and disability advocate, whose improbable journey from a teenage leukaemia diagnosis to a medical degree and nationally recognised innovator inspired many Australians, has died. He was 32.

Autar died on Monday, May 18, 2026.

A memorial service will be held this Saturday, May 23, at Castlebrook Chapel, Rouse Hill, from 12 pm to 1:30 pm, followed by a wake at Kellyville.

The announcement on his verified Instagram account, which drew more than 1,200 responses within hours, described him as "the brightest candle that was extinguished too quick." 

A cause of death has not been formally announced, but Autar had written candidly and publicly about living with serious, ongoing health complications - including a life-threatening chronic illness - that followed years of intensive cancer treatment.

Dr Nikhil Autar - From Cancer Survivor To Doctor

Dr Nikhil Autar was diagnosed with leukaemia at 17. Photo: Supplied

His story was one of the most remarkable in recent Australian public life. Diagnosed with leukaemia at 17, he was given a 10 to 20 per cent chance of survival. 

What followed was 12 years of 22 rounds of chemotherapy, a near-fatal dose of radiation, two bone marrow transplants, open-heart surgery, second and third cancer diagnoses, partial blindness in one eye, and multiple admissions to intensive care. 

He graduated as a doctor from Western Sydney University in December 2023, winning the Richardson and Wrench Prize for Personal and Professional Development.

"Twelve years ago, I didn't know if I'd be alive in five years," he said at the time. "Today I get to wake up every day and work on things that can make a difference to vulnerable people like me."

His father, who had been a constant presence through those years, did not live to see him graduate.

NSW Australian Of The Year: An Innovator And Disability Advocate

Dr Nikhil Autar (right, seated) with his family. Photo: Supplied

Born in Fiji on 12 August 1993 and raised in Sydney from the age of three after his family migrated from Fiji with Indian roots, Autar channelled everything his illness put him through into building things that would outlast the pain. 

He founded Bheem Health, a social enterprise developing affordable medical devices — including BheemUP, which converts any household bed into a hospital bed, and BheemSense, a sensor mat designed to track sleep and prevent pressure sores. 

He also founded Knia Maps, an accessibility platform mapping wheelchair and disability access across hospitals, universities, and public venues — described widely as the "Google Maps of accessibility." 

Alongside this, he co-founded Doctors Against Violence, a coalition of more than 750 doctors committed to addressing intimate partner violence. He had raised nearly $500,000 for medical research.

Tributes poured in overnight. "There will never be another Nikhil," wrote one friend on Instagram. "He did more in his life, whilst carrying so much pain and disability, than most people would do with lifetimes of health, wealth and privilege."

Another wrote, "I am happy you are no longer in pain. I am happy you are with your dad."

Dr Autar is survived by his mother and brother. Vale, Nikhil.

A memorial service for Dr Nikhil Autar will be held on Saturday 23 May at Castlebrook Chapel, 712/746 Windsor Rd, Rouse Hill NSW 2155, from 12 pm to 1:30 pm.