List of Australian of the Year Award recipients

The Australian of the Year Award is given annually on Australia Day. The announcement of the award has become a major public event in Australia, and is televised nationwide. The award "offers an insight into Australian identity, reflecting the nation's evolving relationship with world, the role of sport in Australian culture, the impact of multiculturalism, and the special status of Australia's Indigenous people".^[1] The award is unique in that it is sponsored by a national government and commands broad public support.

The following is a list of the recipients of the Australian of the Year award.^[2][3]

The post-nominals listed for each individual are as they were on the day they were named the Australian of the Year.

Year of award	Name	Post nominals	Born	Died	Comments	Notes
1960	Sir Macfarlane Burnet	OM	1899	1985	Virologist; 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine co-recipient
1961	Joan Sutherland	CBE	1926	2010	Opera singer
1962	Jock Sturrock		1915	1997	Yachtsman
1963	Sir John Eccles		1903	1997	Neurophysiologist; 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine co-recipient
1964	Dawn Fraser		1937		Swimmer; gold medal winner at 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympic Games
1965	Robert Helpmann	CBE	1909	1986	Actor; ballet dancer; director
1966	Jack Brabham	OBE	1926	2014	Racing driver; Formula One champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966
1967	The Seekers		N/A		Music group
1968	Lionel Rose	MBE	1948	2011	Boxer; first Indigenous Australian to win a world boxing title (1968)
1969	Lord Casey	GCMG, CH, DSO, MC, PC	1890	1976	Politician, diplomat, Governor-General of Australia (1965–1969)
1970	Cardinal Sir Norman Gilroy	KBE	1896	1977	Clergyman; first Australian-born Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
1971	Evonne Goolagong		1951		Tennis player
1972	Shane Gould		1956		Swimmer; winner of three gold medals, a silver and bronze in 1972 Summer Olympics
1973	Patrick White		1912	1990	Author; 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature recipient
1974	Sir Bernard Heinze		1894	1982	Conductor
1975	John Cornforth	CBE	1917	2013	Scientist; 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient
	MAJGEN Alan Stretton	AO, CBE	1922	2012	Australian Army officer; managed Cyclone Tracy cleanup
1976	LTCOL Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop	CMG, OBE	1907	1993	Military surgeon; World War II prisoner of war
1977	Raigh Roe	CBE	1922	2014	President of the Country Women's Association
	Sir Murray Tyrrell	KCVO, CBE	1913	1994	Official secretary to six governors-general
1978	Alan Bond		1938	2015	Businessman
	Galarrwuy Yunupingu		1948	2023	Indigenous land rights activist	[4]
1979	Neville Bonner		1922	1999	First Aboriginal person elected to the Parliament of Australia
	Harry Butler	OBE	1930	2015	Naturalist
1980	Manning Clark	AC	1915	1991	Historian
1981	Sir John Crawford		1910	1984	Economist
1982	Sir Edward Williams	KCMG, KBE, QC	1921	1999	Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland; chairman of the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games Foundation
1983	Robert de Castella	MBE	1957		Marathon runner
1984	Lowitja O'Donoghue	CBE	1932	2024	Aboriginal health worker; inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (1990–1996)
1985	Paul Hogan		1939		Actor
1986	Dick Smith		1944		Entrepreneur
1987	John Farnham		1949		Singer, entertainer
1988	Kay Cottee		1954		First female sailor to perform a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world (1988)
1989	Allan Border	AO	1955		Australian cricket team captain
1990	Fred Hollows		1921	1993	Ophthalmologist; founder of The Fred Hollows Foundation
1991	Peter Hollingworth	AO, OBE	1935		Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane; head, Brotherhood of St. Lawrence; governor-general
1992	Mandawuy Yunupingu		1956	2013	Singer, Yothu Yindi
1993	No award made: period of award changed from the previous year to the year ahead in 1994; i.e. Mandawuy Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year for 1992 in 1993 and Ian Kiernan was named Australian of the Year for 1994 in 1994
1994	Ian Kiernan	OAM	1940	2018	Environmentalist; founder of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World
1995	Arthur Boyd	AC, OBE	1920	1999	Artist
1996	John Yu	AM	1934		Paediatrician, CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children
1997	Peter Doherty	AC	1940		Veterinarian; immunologist; 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient
1998	Cathy Freeman	OAM	1973		Athlete; also Young Australian of the Year in 1990
1999	Mark Taylor	AO	1964		Australian cricket team captain
2000	Sir Gustav Nossal	AC, CBE	1931		Biologist
2001	LTGEN Peter Cosgrove	AC, MC	1947		Commander of the International Force for East Timor (1999-2000) Chief of Army (2000–02) Chief of the Defence Force (2002–05) Governor-General of Australia (2014–2019)
2002	Pat Rafter		1972		Tennis player
2003	Fiona Stanley	AC	1946		Epidemiologist
2004	Steve Waugh	AO	1965		Australian cricket team captain and humanitarian
2005	Fiona Wood	AM	1958		Plastic surgeon; worked with victims of the 2002 Bali bombings
2006	Ian Frazer		1953		Immunologist
2007	Tim Flannery		1956		Scientist; global warming activist
2008	Lee Kernaghan	OAM	1964		Singer
2009	Mick Dodson	AM	1950		Indigenous leader
2010	Patrick McGorry	AO	1953		Psychiatrist	[5]
2011	Simon McKeon	AO	1955		Philanthropist businessman	[6]
2012	Geoffrey Rush	AC	1951		Actor and film producer	[7]
2013	Ita Buttrose	AO, OBE	1942		Journalist and businesswoman, founding editor of Cleo	[8]
2014	Adam Goodes		1980		Australian rules footballer and Indigenous community leader
2015	Rosie Batty		1962		Domestic violence campaigner	[9]
2016	LTGEN David Morrison	AO	1956		Commitment to gender equality, diversity and inclusion	[10]
2017	Alan Mackay-Sim		1951	2023	Biomedical scientist treating spinal cord injuries
2018	Michelle Simmons		1967		Scientia professor of quantum physics in the faculty of science at the University of New South Wales
2019	Craig Challen	SC, OAM			Cave divers who participated in the Tham Luang cave rescue	[11]
	Richard Harris	SC, OAM
2020	Dr James Muecke	AM	1963		Eye surgeon and founder of Sight for All	[12][13]
2021	Grace Tame		1994		Advocate for survivors of sexual assault
2022	Dylan Alcott	AO	1990		Paralympic athlete, advocate for disability
2023	Taryn Brumfitt		1978		Positive body image advocate and founder of the Body Image Movement	[14]
2024	Georgina Long	AO			Melanoma researchers	[15]
	Richard Scolyer	AO

Plaque for the 1971 recipient Evonne Goolagong on the Australians of the Year Walk

See also

• List of Senior Australian of the Year Award recipients
• List of Young Australian of the Year Award recipients
• List of Australian Local Hero Award recipients
• List of South Australian of the Year Award recipients
• List of Queensland Australian of the Year award recipients

References

1. "Awards History - Australian of the Year".
2. Australian of the Year - Recipients
3. Lewis, Wendy (2010). Australians of the Year. Pier 9 Press. ISBN 978-1-74196-809-5.
4. Garrick, Matt; Gibson, Jano (3 April 2023). "Trailblazing Aboriginal land rights leader Yunupingu dies in Arnhem Land, aged 74". ABC News. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
5. "Professor Patrick McGorry - Australian of the Year". Archived from the original on 6 August 2020.
6. "Simon McKeon - Australian of the Year". Archived from the original on 6 August 2020.
7. "Geoffrey Rush - Australian of the Year". Archived from the original on 6 August 2020.
8. "Australian of the Year 2013 recipients announced" (Press release). National Australia Day Committee. 2013.
9. "Australian of the Year: Rosie Batty awarded top honour for efforts to stop family violence". ABC News. Australia. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
10. "Former Army chief David Morrison named Australian of the Year". ABC News. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
11. Zhou, Naaman (25 January 2019). "Australian of the year 2019: Thai cave rescue divers win rare joint award". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
12. McCauley, Dana (25 January 2020). "Australian of the Year calls for sugar tax to fight diabetes-caused blindness". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
13. Australian of the Year 2020 awarded to eye surgeon Dr James Muecke, with Ash Barty, youth advocate and obstetrician also honoured, Elise Pianegonda, ABC News Online, 2020-01-25
14. Sakkal, Paul (25 January 2023). "Body positivity advocate Taryn Brumfitt named Australian of the Year". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
15. "Who are Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer, the 2024 Australians of the Year?". SBS News. 25 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.