Australian of the Year Awards

Congratulations to the 2010 Australian of the Year
Professor Patrick McGorry

Mental Health Expert

Professor Patrick McGorry is a leading international researcher, clinician and advocate for the youth mental health reform agenda. He is Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH), a world-renowned mental health organisation for young people that has put Australia at the forefront of innovation in the prevention and treatment of mental illness. OYH targets the needs of young people with emerging serious mental illness, including first-episode psychosis and has become the model upon which many other youth mental health services in the world are based.

Professor McGorry is also afounding board member of headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation. He believes that early intervention offers the greatest hope for recovery and therefore takes every opportunity to educate the community to recognise the early signs of mental illness, without stigmatising or discriminating. His extraordinary 27-year contribution to the improvement of the youth mental health sector has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of young people the world over.

2010 Young Australian of the Year
Trooper Mark Donaldson VC

Courageous Soldier

Mark Donaldson enlisted in the Australian Army in 2002 and displayed an early aptitude for soldiering, winning a number of prizes for his skills. As part of the Special Air Service Regiment he was deployed on operations to East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. An incident in Afghanistan led to his being awarded the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest military honour for acts of bravery in wartime. When Mark’s unit was hit by an ambush, nine Australians were wounded.

As the battle raged around him, he deliberately drew enemy fire to himself on several occasions so that wounded soldiers could be moved to safety. Then when he saw a coalition force interpreter lying wounded, he ran 80 metres across exposed ground to rescue him and carry him to safety. This complete disregard for his own safety displayed exceptional courage. Since being awarded the Victoria Cross, Mark has conducted himself in a way that is impressive and makes him a role model for young and old. His bravery in the face of great danger saved lives and won him the highest respect.

2010 Senior Australian of the Year
Maggie Beer

Cook and Restauranteur

Maggie Beer is an Australian culinary icon whose passion for food brings joy to many Australians. Maggie’s focus is on using seasonal ingredients and educating people to make informed food choices. To this end she opened the famed Pheasant Farm Restaurant in 1979. Maggie and her husband ran it for just short of 15 years, winning a host of prestigious awards, before moving on to focus on producing gourmet foods.

In 1996, Maggie opened an export kitchen for the production of preservative-free gourmet foods for the national and international market, and in 1999 she returned to the original site of the Pheasant Farm and, having come full circle, re-opened Maggie Beer’s Farm Shop. She has written seven books, with Maggie’s Harvest winning the Australian Publishers Association’s Illustrated Book of the Year. She also co-hosted the ABC cooking program, The Cook and the Chef, and works with Stephanie Alexander to promote the Kitchen Garden Foundation. Maggie Beer hopes that through sharing her love of food she will inspire Australians to reconnect with food and appreciate what we eat. .

2010 Local Hero
Ronnie Kahn

Food Rescuer

Ronni Kahn is the founder of OzHarvest, a service that collects and delivers surplus food to charities. She originally ran an events business and was horrified by the amount of left over food that was thrown out. She began driving it to a hostel rather than let it go to waste. But she knew there was much more that could be done, and in 2004, OzHarvest was born. Five years later OzHarvest has over 600 food donors and delivers more than 110,000 meals each month to 163 charities in Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong.

Ronni plans to go national next year. Due to the perseverance ofRonni and others,the law has been changed in NSW, ACT, QLD, SA (and soon will be in WA) to ensure that food donors are safe from liability. OzHarvest has had a profound impact on the environment by saving thousands of tonnes of food from landfill, and on clients of charities who are able to eat quality, nutritious food .

About the Australian of the Year Awards

The Australian of the Year Awards, which have been a part of our national celebrations since 1960, acknowledge what individuals can do to inspire national pride, enrich the lives of their fellow Australians and make this the greatest country in the world.

Through these awards all Australians have the opportunity to nominate and recognise those Australians who have inspired or challenged us to participate more fully in the life of the nation to make a better and more vibrant Australia.

The awards are presented in four categories:

• Australian of the Year
• Senior Australian of the Year
• Young Australian of the Year
• Local Heroes

Nominations

Nominations are made by community members around Australia, with the first stage of the awards process being the selection of a state and territory winner in each Award category.

A panel of expert judges select winners in each state who are announced in November. Winners then progress to the national level of judging, held in December. Winners of Australia Day Awards are announced on 25 January at a gala ceremony telecast live on the Seven Network and affiliated stations.

Western Australians who have been honoured to receive the top national awards are:

Australian of the Year 1977
Dame Raigh Roe
Country Women’s Association

Australian of the Year 1979
Harry Butler CBE
Conservationist and Naturalist

Young Australian of the Year 2001
James Fitzpatrick,
An inspiring medical student working in rural Australia

Australian of the Year 2003
Professor Fiona Stanley AC
Dedicated her life to researching the causes of major childhood illnesses and birth defects

Australian of the Year 2005
Dr Fiona Wood AM
Inventor of the revolutionary "spray on skin" burns treatment, which was used to treat seriously burned Bali victims.

Australia's Local Hero 2009
Graeme Drew
Sea Rescuer & Educator from Bremer Bay.

For information on these awards including the current and past Australian recipients of the awards, visit the Australian of the Year website