Craig Hollywood (2000) was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and came to Western Australia in 1994 when his father, an electrician, found work here in Perth. The family was looking for a better life than could be had in Glasgow at the time, and came to live in Woodvale, where Craig attended the local primary school.
Craig readily admits he was a rascal, and his parents recognised his need for a fuller and more focused education. They chose Newman College, and he started at Newman Siena, Doubleview, in Year 8, 1996. Getting there from Woodvale involved a bus, a train, and another bus, and the same in reverse to go home. Having walked to school for most of his life until then, Craig says it was a bit of an culture shock! But he settled quickly and, that year, was one of two Catherine Guild Representatives.
From Year 10 in 1998 he attended our Churchlands campus, and signed up for Dario Bottega’s (ICT teacher 1995-2000) Computer Aided Drafting class. Without that, he says, he honestly doesn’t know where he’d be today.
When he was in Year 11, his grandfather, his mother’s father, died back in Glasgow. Craig’s mother was an only child and needed to look after her mother, so the family returned to Scotland. Craig finished his schooling in Glasgow, but he believes his four years at Newman were pivotal to the man he is today, and credits the successes he’s made in life with his parents’ decision to send him here.
After school, Craig put Mr Bottega’s teaching to good use and pursued engineering. In around 2004, when Craig was 21 and qualified, he returned to live in Perth and began establishing his career in civil engineering. The whole family eventually came back, and they even brought his gran to live here!
In 2015 Craig had the seemingly simple idea of offering free haircuts to Perth’s homeless people. In the busy lives most people lead, and the tendency to let ideas be just that, Craig’s idea could well have remained unrealised. Instead, Craig sought the help of some barbering friends and set up a charity called Short Back & Sidewalks in one of Northbridge’s carpark laneways. The first time, he thought they might sit there all day with no customers, but that wasn’t what happened.
After a few times and word began spreading, there was a steady stream of people who travelled long distances to be there – not just for the free haircut and barbering, but for the opportunity to be seen and heard without judgement. The simple service made a huge difference in these people’s lives, and to Craig himself, who was humbled by some of their stories.
In 2022 Craig won an Australian of the Year award as Western Australia’s Local Hero. In 2023 he was awarded the City of Perth Active Citizenship Award and, in 2024, was both a finalist for Volunteer of the Year, and winner of the Australian Hair Industry Award’s Vidal Sassoon Humanitarian of the Year. Most recently Craig was presented with the 2025 Western Australian Council of Social Services (WACOSS) Outstanding Contribution: Going above and beyond award. He is a regular and inspiring motivational speaker and brings smiles to listeners when he recounts talking to (then) Prime Minister Scott Morrison – not so much about securing $450,000 in federal funding for Short Back & Sidewalks, which he did – but more about their mutual love of dogs.
Craig now holds a Non-Executive Board position at Short Back & Sidewalks which, alongside having three paid staff members, has more than 350 skilled barbers and hairdressers in their volunteer workforce, and offers services throughout remote and regional WA as well as in NSW, South Australia, Victoria, and in the Northern Territory. This year, the goal is to deliver 15,000 haircuts. As of early June, they were at just over 10,000 haircuts, so will most likely exceed expectations.
As Craig says, “Giving a free haircut to a person makes more of an impression than you could imagine. An individual truly stands taller when they have received a fresh haircut.”
Outside of Short Back & Sidewalks, Craig continues working in civil engineering. He’s currently the WA Defence Lead at AECOM, a global company which designs infrastructure with a focus on sustainability, the supporting of communities, and the building of a better, more climate-resilient future.
Craig visited us at Newman recently and, in addition to being central to planning the celebration of his cohort’s 25th Reunion this year, hopes to inspire our students to pursue their own journeys in future; to not dismiss, and to always embrace their ideas.
Top left: Catherine Guild, Mrs Marie Grace’s Group, 1998 Back, L-R: Sara Ceccarelli, Tristan Raison, Samantha Mitchell, Sarah See, Nicole Mancini Middle: Bree Blakeman, Kate Mercer, Craig Hollywood, Daniel Berrigan, Ferdinand Tamara, Christine Arnold, Lauren Bowler Front: Matthew Dermody, Sarah Miller, Adam Corrigan, Adam Quigley, Michael Barns, Erin Mill, Joel Adams Middle : Craig and his partner Jo, May 2025 Right: Craig at Newman College, June 2025 Bottom left: Craig at work with AECOM aboard the USS Minnesota
