Each year, four individuals from each state and territory are named as Australian of the Year nominees.
Read on to learn all about the state and territory nominees, including each winning finalist as they are announced, for the 2026 Australian of the Year award.
Who are the nominees for the Australian of the Year 2026?
Northern Territory (NT)
Tanya Edgerton
In 2016, Tanya Edgerton founded the Remote OpShop Project, a social enterprise that aimed to support self reliance and economic self-determination in First Nations communities.
The op shops are community owned, making not only clothing and household goods more affordable, but also creating employment opportunities and business skill development. In addition, the op shops generate revenue that then goes toward comumunity-identified cultural projects.
Tanya has called on retailers along with everyday Aussies to contribute any excess stock or quality second-hand clothing and housegold goods. This means that these goods are now being saved from landfill, aiding a circular economy.
In 2024, the project opened the first Reuse Hub in Darwin. This is a model Tanya is aiming to expand into a network of reuse and recycling hubs across the NT.
Adam Drake
The founder of the Balanced Choice Program – a values driven initiative that combines theatre, fitness and personal development – Adam Drake is aiming to inspire positive change.
The program was first created at a Darwin detention centre in 2014 to empower young people to feel strong and find healing and hope. Today it’s expanded nationwide into school groups, remote communities, government departements, sporting organisations and corporates whilst still also continuing to work with prisoners.
Adam also partners with a local community organisation in Tennant Creek through the Indigenous Skills and Employment Program and runs justice sector leadership programs and workshops. Through this, he helps people connect with their values and wellbeing before they step into employment, while working with educators nation wide to help lead people towards purposeful futures.
WINNER: Dr Felix Ho ASM
In addition to serving remote communities in the Northern Territory as a medical practicioner, Dr Felix Ho is a volunteer paramedic and youth program builder.
Having joined the St John Youth Program as a cadet in 1995 aged 13, Felix has volunteered thousands of his hour building the program as well as helping at public events as a St John first responder. He also served overseas as an Intensive Care Paramedic on a United Nations mission to Timor-Leste.
In 2020, Felix took on national leadership of the youth portfolio for St John Ambulance Australia, guiding over 3000 young people and equipping a new generation of first responders with his interactive, accessible and engaging training for young cadets across the nation.
Jonah Ryan
Proud Bininj man Jonah Ryan is from Maningridi in Wstern Arnhem Land. An indigenous land management leader and mentor, Jonah is the first ranger dedicated to the Northern Land Council’s Learning on Country program. In this capacity, Jonah guides students towards purposeful, achievable futures in their transition from school into accredited training and employment.
Helping students understand what is possible through hands-on marine operations, conservation projects and traditional ecological knowledge, Jonah was appointed to the Maningrida Learning on Country Steering Committee to help guide the strategic direction and governance of the program across 14 remote communities in Northern Australia.
Speaking multiple Indigenous languages including Burrarra, Kune, Kriole and Djinang as well as English, Jonah is helping improve school attendance and outcomes whilst connecting with students, elders, educators and rangers alike.
Victoria (VIC)
WINNER: Carrie Bickmore
While she’s built a name in both TV and radio, for Carrie Bickmore, her work towards funding brain cancer research has become her greatest passion.
Brain cancer kills more Australian children than any other disease, and more people aged under 40 than any other cancer – including Carrie’s late husband Greg, who passed away in 2010. Since 2015, Carrie has raised over $27 million. In 2021, she established The Brain Cancer Centre to bring together the brightest minds in research to find a cure.
Leveraging investment by Carrie’s Foundation, The Brain Cancer Centre has secured another $45 million of research funding. This supports research projects across the country and is delivering specific clinical trials for brain cancer patients that are the first of their kind in the world.
Hugh van Cuylenburg
Mental health leader Hugh van Cuylenburg has worked in education for more than 20 years. However, a 12-month stint volunteering at an underprivileged school in the Himalayas would change his life; leadingand to his founding The Resilience Project in Melbourne upon his return home.
Today, The Resilience Project partners with 1,200 schools a year to provide preventative and evidence-based programs to help young people feel happier, improve their mental health and cope better in a challenging time.
Hugh has also worked closely with top-tier sporting teams, including the Matildas, the Diamonds, Queensland Maroons, the Australian Cricket Team, the Australian Olympic Team and over 600 workplaces nationwide.
In addition, Hugh is a best-selling author and co-host of the popular podcast The Imperfects.
Professor Arnold Dix
International tunnelling expert Professor Arnold Dix became a global hero when he helped to rescue 41 Indian workers from a tunnel high in the Himalayas in 2023. During the rescue, Arnold’s optimistic attitude and calm approach built the confidence that the workers would come out alive as the world watched on.
Having established Underground Works Chambers, which offers expert advice on high-risk subterranean infrastructure and safety regulation, Arnold has worked as a geologist, lawyer and barrister. In addition, he’s dabbled as a flower farmer, truck driver and welder.
Leila Sweeney-McDougall
Tragically, an Australian farmer dies by suicide every 10 days. Concerned about mental health in her small community, Leila Sweeney-McDougall made a film depicting the pressures that push farmers to suicide, as well as the trauma confronting those left behind.
Despite having no previous film experience, she raised $2 million to write, produce and co-star in Just A Farmer. Releasing in 2024, the film has received national distribution along with critical and festival success and opening much needed community conversation.
New South Wales (NSW)
Professor Nadia Badawi
Co-head of the Grace Centre for Newborn Care at The Children’s Hospital, Westmead, Professor Nadia Badawi is a pioneering neonatologist who is helping thousands of critically ill newborns survive and live healthy lives.
Under her leadership, survival rates for critically ill newborns at the Grace Centre are over 96 per cent, which is among the best in the world. Beyond survival, Nadia is helping these babies thrive by championing early intervention and long-term developmental care.
In addition, Nadia is the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Chair of Research, reshaping our understanding of cerebral palsy, a leading cause of childhood disability.
Dr Jennifer Matthews
Marine biologist Dr Jennifer Matthews has seen her pioneering research unravel life-saving nutrient interactions in corals to better inform management strategies. Jennifer developed a breakthrough coral “baby food” that more than doubles young coral survival. This is now being adopted by aquaculture and reef restoration programs across Australia.
In addition, Jennifer has designed innovative microplastic removal technologies for wastewater and aquatic systems. Jennifer has also founded Big Blue Conservation in Thailand, training hundreds of volunteers and local communities in reef protection and restoration and a landmark citizen science and research program, the Sydney Coral Project, uncovering NSW’s unique coral ecosystems – the southernmost coral communities in the world.
Nicholas Stewart
An LGBTIQ+ rights advocate, Nicholas Stewart is a renowned human rights lawyer. By providing legal services and representation to LGBTIQ+ clients, particularly in criminal and mental health proceedings, as well as representing clients facing discrimination, bullying, and vilification for their sexual orientation or gender identity Nicholas’s work ensures victims of LGBTIQ+ hate crimes receive justice.
After meeting with members of the NSW Parliament, community leaders and victims, Nicholas successfully campaigned for the 2018 and 2019 NSW parliamentary inquiries into LGBTIQ+ hate crimes. He also pushed for the 2022 Special Commission of Inquiry into institutional responses to LGBTIQ+ hate crimes and homicides.
And to support witnesses through the process of giving evidence to the inquiries, Nicholas established a pro bono clinic for families and victims of hate crimes.
WINNER: Dr Alison Thompson OAM
To date, global humanitarian Dr Alison Thompson has deployed over 30,000 volunteers to the world’s worst disaster zones – bringing humanitarian assistance and medical aid to over 18 million people.
Her mission started while working as an investment banker in New York. On September 11, 2011, Alison rushed to the World Trade Centre with her first aid kit before staying on for nine-months to offer disaster relief.ed to develop the program after her brother, a carpenter, lost his life to suicide.
Queensland (QLD)
Nicole Dyson
An entrepreneurial former teacher, Nicole Dyson is the driving force behind award-winning educational provider Future Anything, which provides in-curriculum programs, student workshops, and teacher professional development.
Every year, the flagship Future Anything program, Activate, supports primary and secondary school students in tackling real-world problems using entrepreneurial skills. This then culminates in a Grand Final where students from across the nation pitch their ideas in order to win a share in $100,000 in funding and support to launch their ideas in the real world.
To date, the program has been adopted by hundreds of schools across Queensland and wider Australia. Currently, Activate is one of the largest youth innovation and enterprise competitions in the southern hemisphere.
Mark Forbes and Gayle Forbes
Founders of endED, Mark and Gayle Forbes, have used their lived experience of eating disorders in the family to address this critical illness, dedicating themselves to helping families and individuals impacted by eating disorders.
A not-for-profit organisation, endEd supports grassroots support as well as education and advocacy for people in eating disorder recovery. A major initiative is the pioneering Wandi Nerida residential recovery centre for eating disorders. Mark and Gayle enlisted the support of local businesses and community organisations on the Sunshine Coast to fund and build this purpose-designed facility. Here, people recovering from eating disorders can find support, education and treatment in a caring environment.
WINNER: Dr Rolf Gomes
Witnessing for himself how different cardiac patients are treated in rural and remote Australia, Dr Rolf Gomes took it upon himself to do something to address the problem. And so the health pioneer designed and launched the first Heart of Australia mobile ‘Heart Trucks’ to visit these communities.
Today, the Heart Trucks bring regular specialist clinics to over 30 towns in rural Australia, providing early diagnostic services that would otherwise be out of reach. Since 2014, the trucks have treated more than 20,000 patients and saved countless lives. By 2027, the truck fleet will expand to 11 trucks by 2027 to provide services nationally. In addition, they will add new diagnostic services for a wide range of early intervention health screenings, including for lung cancer.
Distinguished Professor Ben Matthews
One of Australia’s leading experts on how to prevent, detect and respond to child abuse and neglect, Distinguished Professor Ben Matthews has presented groundbreaking research into child maltreatment in Australia through his work at Queensland University of Technology.
Ben led the research team behind the 2023 pioneering Australian Child Maltreatment Study. Interviewing 8,500 Australians about their childhood experiences of maltreatment, the project identified how many Australians had been exposed to abuse and neglect, and the consequences for them and society at large.
Ben’s research has played a vital role in determining how governments and legal systems can best identify and combat child abuse. His work has influenced major reform of legislation, policy and practice in multiple jurisdictions in Australia and overseas.
Western Australia (WA)
Dr Gareth Baynam
Clinical geneticist Dr Gareth Baynam is the Medical Director of the Rare Care Centre at Perth’s Children’s Hospital as well as its remote region hub in the Pilbara. Through his work, he is developing precision medicines for Australia’s rarest and trickiest diseases.
He also founded the Undiagnosed Diseases Program to find answers for families without a diagnosis. In addition, through his role at Rare Voices Australia, Gareth contributed to the development of Australia’s first National Strategic Action Plan for Rare Diseases.
Kennedy Lay
The founder of Fly2Health Group, Kennedy Lay, is combining both aviation and healthcare to bring quality allied services to rural and remote Australians.
Having worked as a physiotherapist, in 202,0 Kennedy pursued his commercial pilot’s license. Soon afterwards, he used this new skill to fly to a town almost 200km from Perth to deliver his services. Now, Kennedy has a team of 145 professionals who are helping over 6000 families in over 95 rural and remote communities across Australia, including Aboriginal communities, so they don’t have to drive hundreds of kilometres for care.
WINNER: Dr Daniela Vecchio
Head of mental health and addiction services at Fiona Stanley Hospital, Dr Daniela Vecchio, is a digital addiction and gaming disorder specialist. In 2022, she established the first publicly funded gaming disorder clinic. Unique worldwide, the clinic provides early intervention and detection in an acute hospital setting.
Daniela has fostered extensive collaborations both locally and internationally with experts in the field and has driven the development of holistic assessments as well as a wide range of personalised treatments for her clients. In addition, as director of the Australian Gaming and Screens Alliance, she is promoting education and research into harmful online use and is influencing national policy.
Dr Tracy Westerman AM
The first Aboriginal person to earn a master’s and PhD in clinical psychology, Dr Tracy Westerman founded Indigenous Psychological Services, funding Australian-first programs and assessments, including the only culturally and clinically valid screening tool for at-risk Aboriginal youth.
A multi-award-winning psychologist, Tracy published the first Indigenous youth mental health and suicide behaviours clinical database. She has also trained over 50,000 practitioners, ensuring exponential reach into Australia’s highest-risk communities.
Having funded the Dr Tracy Westerman Indigenous Psychology Scholarship, enabling greater access to Indigenous psychologists, Tracy founded her charity, Jilya, which employs her graduate students. Jilya has supported 64 Indigenous psychology students, achieving Australian record graduation rates.
To date, Tracy has personally raised over $9 million and donated 15,000 volunteer hours. Her bestselling, award-winning memoir Jilya chronicles her journey.
South Australia (SA)
WINNER: Katherine Bennell-Pegg
The first Australian to qualify as an astronaut under Australia’s space program, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, is making history.
Having dreamt of becoming an astronaut since she was a young girl, as a space engineer, she has advanced multiple space missions and technologies.
“It combines a sense of adventure and inspiration with helping our society through the scientific discoveries we can make up there,” she told The Weekly last year. “There’s nothing I’d rather do.”
In addition, Katherine is a champion for Australia’s space program, regularly presenting to audiences of schoolchildren and industry leaders to inspire the next generation and create new opportunities.
Paul Broadbridge
Paul Broadbridge is the driving force behind Australian Partners of Defence (APOD), founded by his fiancée, Rebecca Waller, who tragically passed away from cancer. Together they envisioned an organisation that supports defence personnel, veterans and their families throughout service life and in their transition to civilian life, ensuring they get the recognition they deserve.
Today, Paul continues this legacy by connecting defence families with the wider community to improve their lives. More than 195,000 members nationwide use APOD to access everyday savings, career opportunities and wellbeing support.
Professor Marion Eckert
A groundbreaking health researcher, Professor Marion Eckert’s work is transforming health outcomes across Australia and driving innovation in nursing and midwifery practice. Major advances in healthcare Marion has made through her evidence-based research include online wellbeing tools supporting midwives and nurses and cutting-edge, pioneering skin cancer detection services in remote regions, led by specially trained nurses using AI.
Marion was the leading force in establishing the Australasian Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Trials Network. The inaugural director of the internationally acclaimed, award-winning Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre, Marion leads one of the world’s foremost hubs for evidence-based nursing and midwifery research.
In addition, she mentors students and clinical researchers and is an inspiring advocate for the essential, evolving role of nurses and midwives in shaping the future of healthcare.
Dr Mohammad Afzal Mahmood
Dr Mohammad Afzal Mahmood has spent more than two decades tirelessly working in public health both in Australia and Southeast Asia. His expertise has helped transform health service delivery throughout the region, as well as in his local community in Adelaide.
By working with local authorities, Afzal has helped introduce long-lasting changes amongst healthcare practitioners in developing countries, decreasing maternal and infant mortality. In Adelaide, he has also long been active in many community programs and cultural organisations, instigating public health programs to promote vaccination uptake, and providing outreach services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ACT
Lauren Cannell
Humanitarian, advocate and changemaker Lauren Cannell founded not-for-profit Educación Diversa, a community of international volunteers who design art-based programs that teach human rights, sexual and reproductive health and conflict resolution.
In addition, Lauren is also the founder of ArtFullness, an organisation that harnesses creativity for healing, connection and mental health prevention.
Serving on the board of Build Like a Girl, Lauren initiated the Period Poverty, Period Dignity project to place free sanitary products in public toilets. She is also a member of the Policy Advisory Committee for Women with Disabilities ACT.
Sarah McGoram
Having overcome the challenges of living with cancer, Sarah McGoram is using her voice to raise awareness about the difficulties faced by people living with rare cancers.
Sarah was diagnosed with gastrointestinal stromal tumours at a young age and given only months to live. However, she defied the odds to raise a family and embark upon a 20-year teaching career.
To date, she has supported and campaigned on behalf of cancer patients, including for Rare Cancers Australia (RCA), highlighting systemic inequities in access to treatment, support, and information. Sarah has successfully led efforts to secure access to a life-saving cancer therapy, extending many patients’ lives over the past four years.
In addition, Sarah advocates and fundraises for multiple charities, including climbing Mount Kosciuszko in the RCA Kosi Challenge while herself undergoing treatment.
WINNER: Professor Rose McGready
After arriving as a young doctor, Professor Rose McGready has spent three decades providing health services to displaced people in the border region between Thailand and Myanmar.
Having discovered that refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar were having difficulty accessing the medical treatment they needed in Thailand, Rose established training for local staff to focus on services for expectant mothers and during the critical period of childbirth. To date, she has built a network of locally run clinics and outpatient services, which have saved thousands of lives.
In addition, Rose’s research has led to new treatments being developed to tackle maternal malaria. Her findings have been adopted by the World Health Organisation as the global standard for combating the disease, helping to treat millions of women around the world.
We spoke to Rose about her work last year. Read her story HERE.
Karen Schlage has used her own experience of pregnancy loss as the catalyst to dedicate herself towards advocating for better support for grieving families experiencing perinatal loss. Karen lost her only children, Charlie and Sophia, during the second trimester of each pregnancy.
Karen’s presentation to an inquiry into maternity care led to important changes in the Australian Capital Territory health system, including the opening of a dedicated early pregnancy loss unit at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children.
As a result of Karen’s advocacy, there have been significant policy developments in maternity care, locally and nationally. Based on Karen’s Churchill Fellowship recommendations, an in-hospital perinatal bereavement companion program is being implemented.
Tasmania (TAS)
Mitch McPherson
After Mitch McPherson’s younger brother died by suicide in 2013, he wanted to spare other families the same trauma and grief. And so Mitch founded SPEAK UP! StayChatTY to increase mental health awareness and promote suicide prevention.
Since 2014, Mitch has spoken to more than 1200 community groups, schools and workplaces to share his lived experience and spread the message that “nothing is so bad that you can’t talk about it”. SPEAK UP! StayChatTY has grown into a major mental health initiative in partnership with Relationships Australia Tasmania, delivering awareness programs, hosting events and encouraging discussion about mental health and suicide.
Dr Rosie Nash
One of Australia’s leading health literacy experts, Dr Rosie Nash, is passionate about helping people be better informed to help improve health and educational outcomes and overcome health inequity. A registered pharmacist and senior lecturer in public health at the University of Tasmania, Rosie develops health promotion and prevention programs which forefront health literacy.
In 2016, she co-designed world-leading HealthLit4Kids to help schools develop health-literate citizens. Spinning from this research, Rosie founded HealthLit4Everyone, a social enterprise organisation that aims to improve health literacy in the community through education, consultation and advocacy.
Tyler Richardson
You may know him as the lead singer of Luca Brasi, but Tyler Richardson is also a successful campaigner and fundraiser for lifesaving cancer treatments.
When his son was being treated for neuroblastoma, Tyler joined forces with other families to lobby for an expensive and potentially lifesaving cancer treatment from the USA to be added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. As a result of their work, patients can now use it for free.
In addition, Tyler has raised funds to support children and families affected by cancer and donated his musical talents to help bushfire victims and Guide Dogs Tasmania. He is also Tasmania’s first Lifeline Ambassador, working to raise awareness about mental health and suicide prevention.
WINNER: Dr Jorian (Jo) Kippax
Emergency doctor Dr Jorian (Jo) Kippax was part of a specialist team of rescuers tasked to free a whitewater rafter who was trapped in perilous rapids on the Franklin River in 2024.
Lithuanian whitewater rafter, Valdas Bieliauskas, was retrieved from freezing water by Jo and his team. The clinical team operated to amputate Valdas’s leg underwater, allowing him to be freed and ultimately saving his life. Throughout the rescue, Jo was instrumental in guiding the team with professionalism, courage and remarkable calmness under pressure.
For this life-saving act, the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, awarded the country’s Life Saving Cross award to Jo, which he humbly accepted on behalf of his team.
How does someone get nominated for Australian of the Year?
Pretty much anyone can nominate anyone for Australian of the Year.
As per the Australian of the Year’s website, “The National Australia Day Council calls on all individuals, groups and organisations to nominate an Australian who makes them proud for the Australian of the Year Awards.
“Our selection panel is looking for people who demonstrate excellence in their field, make a significant contribution to the community and are role models for all Australians.”
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