A 23-year-old Melbourne woman has become the face of a landmark US federal court lawsuit that, if successful, will allow Australians to access a slice of a multi-billion dollar industry.

Last-Tear Poa is one of thousands of Australians athletes attending universities across the US on sports scholarships, but is the sole plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging restrictions on international students from profiting from commercial ventures before they graduate.

In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that for the first time, university-level athletes would be able to make money from their “name, image and likeness” without losing their college eligibility – allowing them to earn millions before they even turned professional. International students, however, were excluded.

Poa’s ca

See Full Page