Sydney-based Krystle Bourne is new to the world of pageants but an old hand at raising money for good causes.

It was the chance to help a favourite charity that convinced Ms Bourne to take part in her first-ever pageant.

The 26-year-old was told of the Miss Australia International contest and encouraged to enter it by a Myer work colleague impressed by her efforts to help others.

At Hornsby, Sydney City, Blacktown and Castle Hill stores she has joined committees and helped staff raise money for charities, with Myer providing matching money.

The annual exercise has nurtured a charitable bent in the young woman who entered the pageant for one reason.

"We got to choose a charity to promote during our time in the pageant," Ms Bourne said.

"I chose the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). I've always had a love of animals".

Pets were aplenty in the Dubbo household of Ron and Margaret Bourne, parents of a young woman "proud to be their daughter and grateful for their constant support".

The couple brought their daughter to Dubbo where she was about six months old.

She was educated at St Pius X Primary School, Buninyong Public School and Dubbo College's South and Senior campuses.

After completing her secondary education, Ms Bourne worked for a year at Dubbo's Comfort Inn Blue Lagoon and Shoe Shuffle.

In 2009, with a puppy rescued from the city's animal shelter under her arm, she moved to Sydney to study for a degree in fashion design at the Whitehouse Institute of Design.

Paris the Chihuahua is still her treasured companion and a reminder of the goals of the IFAW to "rescue individual animals, protect entire populations and preserve precious habitat".

Ms Bourne is accepting donations for the IFAW at www.gofundme.com/missaust4ifaw.

She is also seeking at least one sponsor to optimise her chance of winning the title and representing Australia at the Miss International pageant in the United states next year.

Entrants in the Miss Australia International contest get 20 bonus points if they "have been active in the community and located sponsors".

"The sponsorship goes to the overall pageant and running of the pageant," Miss Bourne said.

Potential sponsors of Miss Bourne should contact pageant director Ferial Youakim on 1300 595 898.

The contest's "crowning ceremony" will be held at the King's School theatre at Sydney on November 7.

Miss Bourne believes judges are looking for "someone who is dynamic and passionate about the charity they have chosen and really believe in what they are doing".

"I think it's really important to be well-rounded," she said.

Currently a sales manager at Myer Castle Hill, a grounded Miss Bourne is planning for her future beyond the pageant.

"I have aspirations to be an assistant store manager, then hopefully a store manager or maybe a buyer," she said.

Mrs Australia International and Miss Teen International will also be crowned at the November 7 ceremony.