SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens nominated for Australian of the Year 2025

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has been nominated for the 2025 Australian of the Year – but he says his wife, Emma, deserves the honour as much as him.

South Australia’s top cop has been nominated for the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards for transforming challenging times into opportunities to advocate for positive change in the state.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens was acknowledged as a veteran police officer with more than 40 years in the job, serving with good-humoured leadership during good times and bad.

During his lengthy career, he has launched and overseen a variety of significant policing initiatives, and managed to lead South Australia during the turbulent time of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was during the pandemic that he first become a household name.

South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has been nominated in the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards Picture: Supplied

Additionally, Mr Stevens was commended for his bravery in sharing the pain and devastation their family went through after losing their youngest son Charlie in a car crash last year.

Mr Stevens and his wife Emma chose to keep engaging with the community and advocate for organ donation, youth engagement and road safety during their bereavement

The family had also asked mourners to donate money to Operations Flinders Foundation – which aims to help disadvantaged youths in SA – instead of laying flowers.

This request generated more than $217,000 for the youth organisation.

Mr Stevens said on Friday it was an honour to be nominated for the prestigious award.

“You can’t help but feel honoured that people have thought to recommend or nominate me for Australian of the Year,” he said.

Mr Stevens admitted his personal experience of facing the consequences of losing Charlie in a road incident had given him a deeper understanding of the pain many South Australian families face every year.

“What we’ve experienced, given my role, it’s given me a perspective on the consequences of not making good decisions on the road I never had before,” he said,

“I wish I didn’t have that perspective but it’s given me some insights to understand exactly what families go through when they lose one of their family members.

“It’s no longer words on a piece of paper when you stand up and talk about the consequences of people losing their lives on the road.”

However, Mr Stevens added that the nomination wouldn’t be fair without acknowledging his wife Emma, who was the driving force for the positive change after losing Charlie.

“This element that is incorporated in the nomination that relates to how we’ve chosen to go forward having lost Charlie, a huge amount of that credit goes to Emma,

“She’s the strong one out of the two of us. She’s the one who really pushed some of those things that we’ve been able to achieve in terms of building some awareness, organ donation, Operations Flinders Foundation, that’s all about Emma.

“She deserved as much recognition as me.”

Earlier, on breakfast radio, he revealed he didn’t quite believe it when he got the call telling him about the nomination.

“I was pretty overwhelmed when I received the phone call advising me that I had been nominated; so much so that I thought it was one of my staff members having a lend of me,” Mr Stevens said

Teen Parliament scholarship winner Denzel James has been nominated for Young Australian of the Year. Picture: Ben Clark

Alongside Mr Stevens, several other South Aussies have been nominated, including Denzel James for Young Australian of the Year for South Australia.

The aspiring politician from Avenues College, who has previously been an Advertiser Teen Parliament scholarship recipient, has now been recognised for his environmental advocacy.

Originally published as SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens nominated for Australian of the Year 2025