From a soccer player leading the way for change to a woman dedicated to helping pets, the 2023 South Australia Australian of the Year Awards had some fantastic nominees!
16 people were in the running to be named the SA Australian of the Year, SA Senior Australian of the Year, SA Young Australian of the Year, and SA Local Hero.
Today, the 2023 recipients have been revealed!
Body image activist, director, writer and speaker, Taryn Brumfitt, has been awarded SA Australian of the Year.
Documentary director Taryn Brumfitt leads the Body Image Movement, an Adelaide-based organisation that teaches people to love and appreciate their bodies. Her 2016 documentary Embrace tackled the serious issue of women’s body loathing and Taryn’s path to body acceptance. It was seen by millions of people in 190 countries and is available on Netflix.
Taryn’s big sister, Justine Branson, posted on social media last night, sharing how proud she was of Taryn’s fantastic achievement.
“Out of the 1.8 million people who live in this amazing state of South Australia, my little sister Taryn, has won the South Australian Australian of the Year award,” said Justine on Facebook.
“I am so proud of her for everything that she has achieved up until this moment, and can only imagine what amazing things lie ahead.”
Aboriginal rights activist, advocate for Indigenous health and welfare, Sandra Miller, has been awarded SA Senior Australian of the Year.
Sandra Miller, a proud Wirangu woman from the Ceduna area, has been a trailblazer, breaking down barriers for Aboriginal women aspiring to leadership roles at a time when they were under-represented. She went on to represented her community in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance and at the United Nations.
Sandra continues to be a strong voice for her community since leaving the public service. She’s had leadership roles in Aboriginal health and legal rights groups, and holds multiple board and executive appointments.
Professional soccer player and co-founder, Barefoot to Boots, Awer Mabil, has been awarded SA Young Australian of the Year.
Socceroo Awer Mabil is co-founder of the not-for-profit organisation Barefoot to Boots, which aims for better health, education, policies and gender equality for refugees.
His own unique way of celebrating a goal is a message to those struggling with their mental health: you are not alone and you can speak up.
The winger knows something about trying times. Awer grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp after his family fled civil war in Sudan, before coming to Australia at 10. Only a year after reaching his dream to play for the Socceroos, his sister died in a car accident in 2019.
Awer says that he now feels ‘unbreakable’. It is his experience of hard times, the memory of his sister and the knowledge that young people see him as a role model that drives him to perform. It’s what he does that Awer wants to be known for – not his background.
Finally, Co-founder of Lost Pets of South Australia and creator of Chipblitz program, Christine Robertson, has been awarded SA’s 2023 Local Hero.
More than 65,000 pets across Australia have received a microchip thanks to Christine Robertson, but that wasn’t what she initially set out to achieve.
Christine co-founded the Lost Pets of South Australia charity in 2013 to reunite lost pets with their families. The volunteer organisation uses social media and its connections with the RSPCA and other animal welfare groups to get lost animals back home.
However, it soon became apparent that many pets were being lost because their owners couldn’t afford to get them microchipped. Microchip fees generally start at about $65.
So Christine developed the Chipblitz program in 2015, allowing trained implanters to microchip a pet for just $10. Chipblitz is now the biggest pet microchipping program in the Southern Hemisphere.
Stream the SA Australian of the Year Awards on ABC iview.
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