The 24 South Australians to watch in 2024 including Mavournee Hazel, Connor Rozee and Chrissie Mower
An actor with a big break, rising sport stars, entrepreneurs and industry elite. South Australians from all walks of life are sparking change in 2024. Read their stories.
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Let’s be real, South Australia is a hotbed of talent. There’s the award-winning actor Sarah Snook, global music superstar Sia and let’s not forget former Sacred Heart pupil, Kid Laroi.
But if you want to know who is set to become the next big powerplayer on the global stage of superstardom then look no further.
These 24 South Australians are at the start of their journey to the top, and are The Advertiser’s official ones to watch in 2024 and beyond.
Let’s meet the bold, beautiful and down right brilliant …
Mavournee Hazel – Actor
South Australian actor Mavournee Hazel is going from strength to strength in her acting career.
Hazel, who originally hails from the Hills, has recently broken into the longstanding television franchise NCIS, starring as Blue in the Sydney version of the hit show.
The 27-year-old has been acting since she was a child with guest appearances in various television shows, even moving to Melbourne when she was younger for a stint on Neighbours.
With her latest crime show venture already breaking records becoming the most streamed CBS network premiere ever on Paramount+ according to Paramount Global, Hazel is definitely the actor to watch in 2024. Is she our very next Sarah Snook? Very likely.
Chrissie Mower – Model
Chrissie Mower enjoyed her own Kate Moss moment when she was on holiday in Los Angeles with her family and a New York City modelling agent stopped her in her tracks.
The agent told Mower to sign with Adelaide-based modelling agency Finesse Models Australia so she could develop her modelling skills.
Less than a year into her career she has signed to agencies in New York, LA and Melbourne.
Insiders say Mower is the model to watch.
She also fronts an indie rock band called Witch Hunt.
Tamara Hardman – Film maker
Film maker Tamara Hardman has been making waves in the movie world, and already has a long list of awards and accolades.
As she heads into the new year, she has been handed another award nomination for her 2022 short film Are You Really The Universe?
Hardman, who graduated from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Creative Arts in Screen in 2017, wrote, directed, produced and edited the 2022 Adelaide Film Festival Best Short Film.
Now, the award-winning short is having its NSW premiere at the Flickerfest at Bondi Beach.
Hardman created two short films prior to Are You Real The Universe? – including the 2017 short film Space Is Smaller Than The Space Between Us and the 2018 short film They Sleep Inside Your Head.
Every South Australian should keep their eyes peeled for films with the name Tamara Hardman in the credits. She’s going to be huge.
Abby Potter – Fashion designer
Still buzzing from her three 2022 British Vogue features and Views France feature, fashion designer Abby Potter has continued to grow her local brand, House of Campbell.
Having showcased her latest collection at Adelaide Fashion Week, Potter is set for a big 2024 with many more designs and projects up her gorgeous sleeves.
Most recently, a shoot in New York of her most recent designs, already being worn by the influencer elite over the pond in America.
Ren Williams – Actor, theatre maker
One of four co-owners of independent South Australian arts company CRAM Collective, Ren Williams is looking forward to a full-on 2024 and is definitely one to watch.
After premiering her latest 2023 work Rory, the film took home Best Film runner up, Best Sounds Design runner up and Best Writing runner up at the 2023 Adelaide 48 Hour Film Project.
Just over a month ago, Williams announced she would be jetsetting to the US for a couple of months to join the cast of Bluey’s Big Play playing Bluey.
Is Hollywood calling? We’d say so.
Mary Kelly – App designer
Mary Kelly – an innovation ecosystem leader and founder of sustainability app Reusably – is continuing on her one-woman eco mission.
Kelly, who graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, created a cloud-based software which enables cafes, restaurants, stores and consumers to reduce their waste footprint and track their individual combined impact.
Users can lend cups and containers from participating businesses and return them within 21 through the app with the aim is to reduce the need for single use cups and containers.
The founder also works as the customer experience manager at Stone & Chalk, an Australian innovation community.
We predict big things in 2024.
Eloise Hall – social impact entrepreneur
Last year was so huge for Taboo Period Products founder Eloise Hall, we can’t imagine what she will achieve in 2024.
Having graduated from her double Bachelor degree of Business and International Relations from Flinders University, Hall was awarded the Westpac social change fellowship, the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in the impact category and the Flinders early career alumni award.
Hall also joined the board of the SA Social Enterprise Council as treasurer.
With goals to keep kicking in 2024, Hall is someone to keep a firm eye on.
RackaRacka twins – Film directors
Yes, they have already kind of made it. But Adelaide YouTube sensations Michael and Danny Philippou are proving the sky is the limit to their ambitions – and we predict big things in 2023.
The pair – also known as RackaRacka – sold the North American rights to their first feature film, the supernatural thriller Talk to Me, to American film company A24.
The film became the company’s second-biggest debut since Hereditary, raking in $10m at the box office.
This month the twins received 11 nominations at the Australian Academy Cinema Television Arts awards most notably for best picture, best direction and best screenplay.
Having just been signed with talent agency WME, who represent some of the world’s best actors including Hugh Jackman, we know we will keep seeing Michael and Danny’s names in very bright lights.
Daniel Curtin – AFL player
Adelaide Crows new draftee Daniel Curtin is definitely be one to watch in 2024 after the club traded two of its first round picks and a future second round selection to secure him.
The 197cm all-Australian centre half-back, who has also played as a midfielder, was tipped to be available at the Giants’ selection on night one of the draft but the Crows traded and secured the pick and Curtin.
Curtin was widely regarded as the best defender in the 2023 draft pool so supporters of any AFL team are likely to be keeping tabs on this 18-year-old.
Josh Rachele – AFL player
2024 might be the year for star Adelaide Crows medium forward Josh Rachele.
Having his debut in 2022 after he was drafted with pick number six at the 2021 AFL national draft, Rachele is ready for another stellar year.
In 2023, his second season at the Crows, Rachele played 21 games and booted 23 goals.
Connor Rozee – AFL player
AFL fans are pretty excited to see what is in store for Connor Rozee this year, after he was drafted in 2018 to Port Adelaide.
Five years on, the 23-year-old is a dual all-Australian, a best-and-fairest winner and the club’s new captain, one of the youngest in Port Adelaide’s history.
With the pressures of captaincy, it will be all eyes on Rozee in 2024 to see how he will guide his team.
On a personal note Rozee is also expecting his first child with fiancee Maisie Packer, whom he is set to marry in 2024.
A wedding, baby and first year as captain of an AFL team – Rozee will have a lot going on this year.
Nestory Irankunda – Soccer player
Adelaide United young gun Nestory Irankunda made history in 2023 after being signed by German giants Bayern Munich – one of the biggest clubs in world soccer.
Irankunda landed a hefty fee of $1.2m and with achievement-based add-ons, the multi-year deal could eventually rise to around $5m for the club.
The soccer star will play out the current A-League season with Adelaide before heading to Germany in July.
The northern suburbs-raised player is definitely a star to watch in 2024 as he takes the international pitch.
Piper Window – AFLW player
Piper Window, who has been drafted to Port Adelaide in the latest AFLW draft, is one of the youngest on our list of ones to watch in 2024.
The 17-year-old won the SANFLW best-and-fairest in June while playing for Glenelg, and is a sports all-rounder with a strong track record in volleyball, athletics, netball and surf lifesaving.
Window, whose grandfather is Central District great Gary Window, averaged 20 disposals, six clearances and eight tackles per game in her 2023 season.
Rhiannon Pearce – Politician
Assistant Minister to the Deputy Premier Rhiannon Pearce’s popularity is on the up and we’re picking a big 2024 for her.
Whispers around SA parliament say Pearce is likely to jump into the ministerial cabinet if there was to be a shuffle.
Nabbing the swing seat of King in the northeast, previously held by Liberal’s Paula Luethen, Pearce has forged a name for herself in the politician arena.
Tom Robinson – Chef
Tom Robinson and his team at The Lane are heading into 2024 with a plan to grow enough vegetables, fruit and other ingredients to sustain the restaurant and also provide help to the local community.
Having moved to The Lane in 2020, Robinson is clearly making it his own with new initiatives and is definitely one to watch this year.
Jimmy Toone – Chef
Jimmy Toone developed two not-so-secret dining clubs during arguably one of hospitality’s toughest periods – lockdown.
Toone, along with his partner Jo Leal, developed a secret pizza pop-up and later pasta pop-up during Covid when Toone had a break from the Salopian Inn.
With a plethora of creative ideas always up his sleeve, this iconic chef will likely give us something to indulge in this year.
DEM MOB – Musician
DEM MOB has spent the last year dominating the music industry cleaning up five of the top accolades at the SA Music Awards.
They also made their international debut at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona, Spain in June where they performed alongside the world’s biggest music names including Kendrick Lamar.
The hip hop trio is set to perform at a remote desert festival in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands to mark the region’s 40 year anniversary.
This group is definitely one to keep an ear out for in 2024.
Xanthe Strudwick – Researcher
Xanthe Strudwick has been researching ways to achieve wound regeneration through her research at the University of South Australia Future Industries Institute.
Dr Strudwick is studying a protein present in high amounts in both burns and diabetic patients and seems responsible for their impaired healing.
Working to understand how it works Dr Strudwick wants to discover ways to reduce its detrimental effects and promote healing.
She is also working with a multidisciplinary team to create a new smart wound dressing that clears infections and jump-starts the body’s own healing process.
Erica Panagakos – Lawyer
Considered one of the state’s best family lawyers is Erica Panagakos, who is a director at Clark Panagakos.
Clark Panagakos is a collaborative family law practice which Ms Panagakos set up in partnership with veteran Adelaide lawyer Bev Clark.
Driven to succeed Ms Panagakos is set to take 2024’s legal world by storm. We’ll be watching.
James Caldicott – Lawyer
Following in his father Craig Caldicott’s footsteps, James Caldicott is set to continue to become a name to watch in the legal industry.
Although he jokingly credits “nepotism” to his rise to his current position as partner at Caldicott + Isaacs, Mr Caldicott has definitely put in the work.
He took advantage of UniSA’s trimester system to graduate faster than his cohort and took on a variety of legal roles along the way.
Mr Caldicott has worked on a number of high profile cases, most notably the case of Alexander Campbell who was found not guilty of causing the death of Sophia Naismith by dangerous driving and pleaded guilty to aggravated driving without due care.
Laura Eadie – Researcher
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is one of the largest causes of non-traumatic death in children and 30 per cent of those who do eradicate the disease relapse within five years.
Laura Eadie is working to identify effective therapies tailored to each patient.
One of her projects is sequencing the genetic codes of a patient’s leukaemia cells to identify the mutations that caused the cancer.
Dr Eadie is a Cancer Council South Australia Beat Cancer Fellow based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). She is also a senior affiliate lecturer at the University of Adelaide.
Supriya Dixit – Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur Supriya Dixit has reached incredible heights within the tech space over the last few years.
Her start-up eDON, which has developed an app to ease the shortage of nurses in Australian hospitals, is being deployed across a group of private hospitals across Adelaide with plans to rollout interstate as well.
eDON helps hospitals bridge shortfalls in staffing by directly connecting them to qualified nurses.
Nurses sign up to the app and create a profile. The app will post available shifts across its network, allowing nurses to take shifts that suit them.
Those in the medical industry will likely be seeing Ms Dixit’s name more often in 2024 and the years that follow.
Harrison Box – Entrepreneur
In March 2023, Harrison Box founded Paladin Space – a space development company that has created the world’s first reusable space debris removal satellite.
With a prototype made, Mr Box is in final stages of negotiations with investors to secure funding for 2024 activities including the development of an artificial intelligence capability.
He has received investment from the SA government and letters of recommendation from defence and space agencies.
Mr Box will be the man to watch in 2024 and beyond to see how he influences the space industry.
Chanel Martin – Lawyer
Partner at all-female law firm Resolve Divorce, Chanel Martin has achieved what only a handful of family lawyers in SA have, holding a Masters of Law (family law) – the highest qualification available for a family lawyer.
She is also a certified divorce coach.
Ms Martin built Resolve Divorce with co-founder Rose Cocchiaro which is continuing to grow.
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