on july 4, 2022, riley was introduced as one of the seven miss universe australia 2022 candidates from new south wales. on september 9, 2022, riley competed against 36 other candidates at the miss universe australia 2022 at the warner bros. movie world in gold coast, queensland. in the competition, riley advanced to the top 10 and later the top 5, before being announced as the competition's winner and was succeeded by daria varlamova.