Embrace’s Taryn Brumfitt named 2023 Australian of the Year

Cumberland Park mum and global body-image crusader Taryn Brumfitt is the 2023 Australian of the Year, with fellow South Aussie Awer Mabil taking the Young Australian gong.

Global body-image crusader Adelaide’s Taryn Brumfitt is the 2023 Australian of the Year.

The 45-year-old was awarded the honour by the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a ceremony at the National Arboretum in Canberra on Wednesday evening.

The mum-of-three, who lives in Cumberland Park, is the founder of The Body Image Movement – an Adelaide-based organisation teaching people worldwide to love their bodies.

“I’m mostly looking forward to having an opportunity to have a national platform to talk about body image,” Brumfitt said in the lead up to the ceremony.

“Because everyone has a body across Australia, and we need to get this right for our kids.”

PROFILE: Who is Taryn Brumfitt?

Brumfitt’s work has reached 200 million people and is recognised by the UN; she was highlighted by The Advertiser in its Power 50 list profiling the most influential South Australians of 2022.

And she isn’t wasting any time as the 2023 Australian of the Year. Ms Brumfitt says she had spoken to Mr Albanese within an hour of receiving the award on Wednesday evening to ask for a meeting.

2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt with her award on Wednesday night. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Taryn Brumfitt. Picture: Instagram

A writer and public speaker, she rose to international prominence as the director of the 2016 documentary film Embrace.

Calling for an end to body hating and shaming, while also exploring Brumfitt’s own journey towards self-acceptance, it was seen by millions of people in 190 countries and is available on Netflix.

A spin-off doco, Embrace Kids, was released in September 2022.

Exploring why 70 per cent of Australian schoolchildren say body image is their greatest concern, its primary audience is children aged nine to 14.

Again, it aims to encourage body positivity.

The author of four best-selling books, Brumfitt also collaborated with body image expert Dr Zali Yager on the Embrace Kids companion parenting book and Embrace Hub, a free resource for schools and the broader community.

“No child was born hating their body – it’s a learned behaviour,” Brumfitt previously told The Advertiser.

“I want to undo what’s been done.”

She has also said: “And we know that adolescents who experienced body dissatisfaction are 24 times more likely to develop depression and anxiety.

“So it’s beyond just a hashtag love your body issue. This is something that we really need to start taking seriously for the wellbeing of every Australian.”

Accepting the award on Wednesday night, Ms Brumfitt called on Australians to spend their energy on bigger things than the size of their waists. “There is so much despair in this nation for children and adults when it comes to what we think and how we feel about our bodies,” she said.

Taryn Brumfitt is the Australian of the Year. Picture: Supplied

Awer Mabil is the Young Australian of the Year. Picture: FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images

Brumfitt was one of two South Australians recognised.

The title of Young Australian of the Year was awarded to Socceroo and Barefoot to Boots co-founder Awer Mabil, of Walkley Heights.

Also featured in The Advertiser’s Power 50 list, the 27-year-old came here from Africa as a child refugee at age 10.

He and businessman Ian Smith established Barefoot to Boots, the not-for-profit organisation striving for better health, education, policies and gender equality for refugees.

Currently in Europe for soccer commitments, Mabil was unable to attend the Canberra ceremony.

His mother Agot Dau Atem and uncle Michael Matiop Dau Atem accepted his award on his behalf.

Human rights and social justice advocate Professor Tom Calma, of Canberra, was named Senior Australian of the Year.

Chancellor of the University of Canberra, the 69-year-old Kungarakan Elder has dedicated himself to advancing Indigenous peoples.

Professor Tom Calma, centre, with his wife Heather and son Thom. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

During his more than 45-year career, Calma called for Australia to address the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, which led to the Close the Gap campaign.

He was also a key figure in establishing the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples and co-chaired Reconciliation Australia for more than a decade.

Amar Singh is Australia’s Local Hero. Picture: Supplied

Sydney’s Amar Singh, 41, who is the founder of Turbans 4 Australia, was named Australia’s Local Hero.

A Sikh-led not-for-profit organisation, which specialises in disaster aid, Turbans 4 Australia has delivered hay to farmers in drought-affected regions and supplies to people impacted by floods and bushfires, as well as assisting those in need with food hampers during Covid-19 lockdowns.

National Australia Day Council chair Danielle Roche said the award recipients were “great examples of the Australian spirit”.

“Individually brilliant, Taryn, Tom, Awer and Amar share a common bond – using their life experience as a power for good, helping others around them and making the world a better place,” she said. “These are an extraordinary group of Australians of whom we can all be incredibly proud.”