Students, industry professionals, academics and mentors came together at Murdoch University's 2026 AI Hackathon to tackle one of today's most pressing challenges: identity fraud and theft.

Over two intensive days, participants collaborated across disciplines to develop innovative, practical, and ethical AI-driven solutions designed to protect individuals from the growing threat of identity crime.

The challenge was inspired by the growing impact of identity fraud on the community, with participants hearing from industry experts and representatives from Consumer Protection WA about the real-world consequences of scams, impersonation, and identity misuse. Teams were tasked with creating practical, innovative and implementable solutions that could make a meaningful difference.

The event was officially launched by former Hackathon champions AngelPhish team members Jadenipit Tamjarion, William Temby and Annabelle Lewkowski, who shared how their 2025 winning idea continued to gain momentum through recognition from CERI and the INCITE Awards, demonstrating the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration between law and technology.

For many participants, the hackathon provided a unique opportunity to apply their skills to genuine challenges while working alongside students and professionals from diverse backgrounds. As one participant reflected,

What made the AI Hackathon so valuable was the opportunity to tackle genuine problems, build innovative solutions, and learn from others along the way. The connections and teamwork formed during the event highlight why initiatives like this are so important.

After two days of intensive collaboration, mentoring and pitching, Team Law Tea (Sofia Peeva, Tali Godin, Soumia El Mellaki, Md Rakibul Islam Rakib and Aiden Druce) were awarded the Grand Prize for their outstanding solution addressing identity fraud. Judges praised the team's innovative approach, technical capability and real-world application.

The Stan Perron Ethical AI Design Award was presented to Team Legal Byte (Raihan Romeo, Rishabh Kandhari, Saiful Islam and Sambidh Rai) for demonstrating excellence in responsible AI development, with a strong focus on ethics, privacy and human-centred design. The award was supported by the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation.

Team Statutes and Signs (Ela Yavuz, Brendon Orutwa, Aimee Barton, Abdul Khalek Alve and Bhavya Patel) received a Judges' Honourable Mention for their creativity and contribution to the challenge.

A key feature of the event was the involvement of mentors from industry, entrepreneurship and the legal profession, who worked alongside participants to refine ideas, challenge assumptions and strengthen proposed solutions.

The 2026 Murdoch University AI Hackathon was made possible through the support of the Law Society of Western Australia, Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, WA Data Science Innovation Hub (WADSIH), CERI, ACS, Zenias and OLI-Tutor/Olympus Insights. Together, they helped create an environment where emerging innovators could apply technology, ethics and creativity to solve real-world problems.

The event once again highlighted the value of bringing together students, industry, and community partners to develop practical solutions with the potential to create lasting social impact, while equipping participants with the collaboration, problem-solving and innovation skills needed to address the challenges of tomorrow.