The Australian of the Year Award is given annually on Australia Day. The announcement of the award has become a major public event in Australia, and is televised nationwide. The award "offers an insight into Australian identity, reflecting the nation's evolving relationship with world, the role of sport in Australian culture, the impact of multiculturalism, and the special status of Australia's Indigenous people".[1] The award is unique in that it is sponsored by a national government and commands broad public support.
The following is a list of the recipients of the Australian of the Year award.[2] [3]
The post-nominals listed for each individual are as they were on the day they were named the Australian of the Year.
| Year of award | Name | Post nominals | Born | Died | Comments | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Sir | 1899 | 1985 | Virologist
| ||
| 1961 | 1926 | 2010 | Opera singer | |||
| 1962 | 1915 | 1997 | Yachtsman | |||
| 1963 | Sir | 1903 | 1997 | Neurophysiologist
| ||
| 1964 | 1937 | |||||
| 1965 | 1909 | 1986 | Actor; ballet dancer; director | |||
| 1966 | 1926 | 2014 | Racing driver; Formula One champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966 | |||
| 1967 | N/A | Music group | ||||
| 1968 | 1948 | 2011 | Boxer; first Indigenous Australian to win a world boxing title (1968) | |||
| 1969 | 1890 | 1976 | Politician, diplomat, Governor-General of Australia (1965–1969) | |||
| 1970 | Cardinal Sir | 1896 | 1977 | |||
| 1971 | 1951 | Tennis player | ||||
| 1972 | 1956 | |||||
| 1973 | 1912 | 1990 | Author; 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature recipient | |||
| 1974 | Sir | 1894 | 1982 | Conductor | ||
| 1975 | 1917 | 2013 | Scientist; 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient | |||
| 1922 | 2012 | Australian Army officer; managed Cyclone Tracy cleanup | ||||
| 1976 | LTCOL Sir | 1907 | 1993 | |||
| 1977 | 1922 | 2014 | President of the Country Women's Association | |||
| Sir | 1913 | 1994 | ||||
| 1978 | 1938 | 2015 | Businessman | |||
| 1948 | 2023 | Indigenous land rights activist | [4] | |||
| 1979 | 1922 | 1999 | ||||
| 1930 | 2015 | Naturalist | ||||
| 1980 | 1915 | 1991 | Historian | |||
| 1981 | Sir | 1910 | 1984 | Economist | ||
| 1982 | Sir | 1921 | 1999 | Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland; chairman of the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games Foundation | ||
| 1983 | 1957 | Marathon runner | ||||
| 1984 | 1932 | 2024 | Aboriginal health worker; inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (1990–1996) | |||
| 1985 | 1939 | Actor | ||||
| 1986 | 1944 | Entrepreneur | ||||
| 1987 | 1949 | Singer, entertainer | ||||
| 1988 | 1954 | First female sailor to perform a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world (1988) | ||||
| 1989 | 1955 | Australian cricket team captain | ||||
| 1990 | 1921 | 1993 | Ophthalmologist | |||
| 1991 | 1935 | Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane | ||||
| 1992 | 1956 | 2013 | ||||
| 1993 | No award made: period of award changed from the previous year to the year ahead in 1994; i.e. Mandawuy Yunupingu was named Australian of the Year for 1992 in 1993 and Ian Kiernan was named Australian of the Year for 1994 in 1994 | |||||
| 1994 | 1940 | 2018 | ||||
| 1995 | 1920 | 1999 | Artist | |||
| 1996 | 1934 | |||||
| 1997 | 1940 | Veterinarian; immunologist; 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient | ||||
| 1998 | 1973 | Athlete; also Young Australian of the Year in 1990 | ||||
| 1999 | 1964 | Australian cricket team captain | ||||
| 2000 | Sir | 1931 | Biologist | |||
| 2001 | 1947 | |||||
| 2002 | 1972 | Tennis player | ||||
| 2003 | 1946 | |||||
| 2004 | 1965 | Australian cricket team captain and humanitarian | ||||
| 2005 | 1958 | |||||
| 2006 | 1953 | Immunologist | ||||
| 2007 | 1956 | Scientist; global warming activist | ||||
| 2008 | 1964 | Singer | ||||
| 2009 | 1950 | Indigenous leader | ||||
| 2010 | 1953 | Psychiatrist | [5] | |||
| 2011 | 1955 | Philanthropist businessman | [6] | |||
| 2012 | 1951 | Actor and film producer | [7] | |||
| 2013 | 1942 | Journalist and businesswoman, founding editor of Cleo | [8] | |||
| 2014 | 1980 | Australian rules footballer and Indigenous community leader | ||||
| 2015 | 1962 | Domestic violence campaigner | [9] | |||
| 2016 | 1956 | Commitment to gender equality, diversity and inclusion | [10] | |||
| 2017 | 1951 | 2023 | Biomedical scientist treating spinal cord injuries | |||
| 2018 | 1967 | |||||
| 2019 | [11] | |||||
| Richard Harris | ||||||
| 2020 | 1963 | Eye surgeon and founder of Sight for All | [12] [13] | |||
| 2021 | 1994 | Advocate for survivors of sexual assault | ||||
| 2022 | 1990 | Paralympic athlete, advocate for disability | ||||
| 2023 | Taryn Brumfitt | 1978 | Positive body image advocate and founder of the Body Image Movement | [14] | ||
| 2024 | Melanoma researchers | [15] | ||||
| Richard Scolyer | ||||||