South Australia 2023 Australian of the Year Award winners announced
From activists to athletes and local heroes – 2023’s South Australia Australian of the Year Award winners have been announced. See who has been honoured.
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The South Australia 2023 Australian of the Year Awards have been announced, with Taryn Brumfitt winning the top spot.
Ms Brumfitt, of Cumberland Park, is a body image activist, director, writer and speaker who has reached over 200 million people with her work on fostering body positivity.
Ms Brumfitt’s work is recognised by UN Women.
She leads the Body Image Movement, an Adelaide-based organisation that teaches people to love the skin they’re in.
Her documentary Embrace, released in 2016, detailed the serious issue of women’s body loathing and Ms Brumfitt’s own experience in body acceptance.
The documentary was seen by millions and is available on Netflix.
Ms Brumfitt has also released four best-selling books and in September released Embrace Kids, a companion parenting book with body image expert Dr Zali Yager.
Ms Brumfitt and Dr Yager also created the Embrace Hub, a research-based resource for parents, children and communities on embracing body positivity.
Aboriginal rights activist and advocate for Indigenous health and welfare Sandra Miller won South Australia Senior Australian of the Year.
Ms Miller, of Glandore, is a proud Wirangu woman from the Ceduna area and has broken barriers for Aboriginal women aspiring to leadership roles.
For decades, Ms Miller has pushed to change government policies for Aboriginal children and Aboriginal people.
She has represented her community in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance and at the United Nations.
Her huge influence continues being a strong voice in her community as well as leadership roles in Aboriginal health and legal rights groups.
Socceroo and Barefoot to Boots founder Awer Mabil won South Australia Young Australian of the Year.
Barefoot to Boots is a not-for-profit organisations with an aim for better health, education, policies and gender equality for refugees.
Mr Mabil, of Walkley Heights, grew up in a Kenya refugee camp after his family fled Sudan, and came to Australia aged 10.
After reaching his dream to play for the Socceroos, his sister died in a car accident. In his hardships, he said he feels “unbreakable” and the knowing young people see him as a role model drives him to perform.
South Australia Local Hero winner is Christine Robertson, co-founder of Lost Pets of South Australia and creator of the Chipblitz program.
Ms Robertson, of Ridleyton, co-founded Lost Pets of South Australia in 2013 to reunite lost pets with their owners. Over 65,000 pets across the nation have received a microchip thanks to Ms Robertson’s efforts developing Chipblitz, which cut the cost of microchipping pets to just $10.
Chipblitz is the biggest pet microchipping program in the Southern Hemisphere and over 44,000 pets in SA have been microchipped.
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