2022 Australian of the Year Awards Live from Perth
On the eve of Australia Day, Auspire – Australia Day Council WA hosted an exclusive event to stream the 2022 Australian of the Year Awards live from Canberra. Nearly 200 guests supporting the WA finalists attended the event at Crown Perth to celebrate and honour the WA finalists, who due to Covid restrictions were unable to travel interstate.
The Awards Ceremony was broadcast live on ABC with WA amongst the action with ABC Radio Perth’s Geoff Hutchison as Emcee and an ABC camera crew capturing the night as Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced each category.
Prior to the live cross to Canberra, Dr Robert Isaacs delivered the Welcome to Country, followed by an address from Peter McNally, Managing Counsel of Chevron Australia (National Diversity and Inclusion Partner of the Australian of the Year Awards) and Mr David Michael MLA, representing the WA Premier.
“This event means that our WA recipients who can’t make it to Canberra for the national final are able to celebrate with their nearest and dearest,” said Auspire Chairman, Bradley Woods. “Congratulations to all of the finalists and recipients.”
The 2022 Australians of the Year are:
Australian of the Year – Dylan Alcott OAM (VIC)
Dylan Alcott’s leadership and commitment to developing opportunities for people with a disability is making an impact for thousands of Australians. With 23 quad wheelchair Grand Slam tennis titles and a Newcombe Medal, Dylan Alcott recently became the first male in history, in any form of tennis, to win the Golden Slam. Outside tennis, he founded the Dylan Alcott Foundation to provide scholarships and grant funding to marginalised Australians with a disability.
Senior Australian of the Year – Valmai Dempsey (ACT)
Starting as a cadet volunteer while still in primary school, for more than 50 years Valmai (Val) Dempsey has dedicated her life to St John Ambulance. She’s one of the Australian Capital Territory’s longest-serving volunteers and, year after year, she still dedicates more hours than any other volunteer.
Young Australian of the Year – Dr Daniel Nour (NSW)
Identifying a gap in the healthcare of vulnerable people in New South Wales, Dr Daniel Nour founded Street Side Medics in August 2020. It’s a not-for-profit, GP-led mobile medical service for people experiencing homelessness.
Local Hero – Shanna Whan (NSW)
Shanna Whan is single-handedly creating radical social impact and change around how we discuss and use alcohol in rural Australia. What began as volunteer work to help others locally, evolved into a grassroots charity called Sober in the Country (SITC) which now has a national reach and offers peer support, powerful broadscale advocacy and education.