9 amazing Australians you should know about

UPDATE: Geoffrey Rush has been named 2012 Australian of the Year.

They’re here. Announced, official, and all the rest.

The State and Territory finalists for the Australian of the Year Awards have been released and it’s a mix of, well, pretty brilliant people. They come from all walks of life but they have one thing in common: general awesomeness. Oh, and they’re Australians. So, without further ado, let’s meet them!

QUEENSLAND – Bruce and Denise Morcombe

Scarcely a person in this country wouldn’t be aware of this amazing couple. Bruce and Denise have been in the public eye since their son Daniel went missing in 2003. For the next eight years they waged a war on awareness. They travelled to schools, spoke to students and parents. They put the ache of not knowing and the grief that comes with it to the side so that Daniel’s disappearance wouldn’t be in vain. The work continues with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to this day. A man has been charged with Daniel’s murder after his remains were found earlier this year.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA – Professor Donna Cross

Donna is the Foundation Professor of Child and Adolescent Health at the Child Health Promotion Research Centre. She is recognised internationally, having conducted research throughout the USA as well as Canada, Russia, Estonia, Japan and Israel, and with organisations including WHO, UNICEF and the American Health Foundation. She is a child advocate of the first order, campaigning for wellbeing in schools, against bullying and for better health awareness over the years.

TASMANIA – Robert Pennicott

Robert set up his own eco-tourism business in Tasmania but has himself personally donated $100,000 to conservation projects since 2007. Robert also set up the Pennicott Foundation which looks beyond conservation projects. Its first involvement is in Polio Plus, a global project in conjunction with Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to eradicate the crippling disease of poliomyelitis. By October 2011, 46 year old Robert had raised almost $300,000 through his ‘Follow the Yellow Boat Road’ circumnavigation of Australia in two inflatable dinghies. Robert funded the entire cost of the voyage himself, with every cent raised going to the eradication of the disease.

NORTHERN TERRITORY – Dr John Boffa

When John graduated from medicine he wanted to work overseas with the disadvantaged. But while waiting for his Visa to India in Tennant Creek, he realised he was needed just as much at home. And so began a 23-year career working in Indigenous health in the Northern Territory. He’s still there today advocating for policies that help, especially focusing on alcohol dependence. Now 49, he is a general practitioner and the public health medical officer at the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress in Alice Springs, where he has devoted his career to changing alcohol use patterns in Indigenous communities. Campaigns such as ‘Beat the Grog’ and ‘Thirsty Thursday’ highlighted the need to look beyond the individual to focus on the systems and structures that contribute to people’s behaviour.

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY – Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston AC AFC

After migrating from Scotland when he was 21, Angus joined the Royal Australian Airforce in 1970 where he forged a career that earned him the informal title ‘an officer and a gentleman’. In 2001 he was appointed Chief of Air Force and four years later was promoted to the pinnacle of the military hierarchy, Chief of the Defence Force. Retiring this year, his legacy includes improved control and command systems, a better understanding of service men and women suffering mental illness and the rehabilitation of ADF casualties for them to continue serving in the defence force.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA – Robyn Layton, QC

Co-chair of Reconciliation South Australia and Adjunct Professor at the University of South Australia School of Law, Robyn is a social justice advocate and former Supreme Court Judge. She’s spent a career working closely with Aboriginal figures to improve services – particularly legal services – wherever they may be. She worked pro bono for many facing charges and has also lobbied strongly in the realm of child protection.

VICTORIA – Geoffrey Rush

The man probably needs no introduction as acclaimed actor, Oscar, Tony and Emmy (all three) winner, theatre star and so on. But there’s a bit more below the enviable acting credits as well. While working internationally, he has always maintained a commitment to Australian film and theatre and he has been instrumental in helping many young artists get started in their careers, including Cate Blanchett whom he chose to star alongside him in a theatre production not long after she graduated from NIDA. As a measure of his passionate commitment to Australia’s performing arts, Geoffrey recently accepted the appointment as foundation President of the newly established Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.

NEW SOUTH WALES – Father Chris Riley AM

Here is a man with a mission. Twenty years ago, Chris founded Youth Off The Streets (YOTS) with a single food van delivering meals to young homeless people in Kings Cross. Today it is a major agency assisting young people aged 12 to 21 who are homeless, face drug and alcohol dependency, exclusion from school, neglect and abuse. Chris estimates the organisation has helped over 50,000 young people with accommodation, education, psychological services and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. It is his determination, unstinting hard work and respect for both the clients and his 250 staff, that has guaranteed the success and effectiveness of YOTS. He believes that no child is ‘born bad’ and also founded Key College in 1997 which now has a number of campuses and aims to get homeless people back into an education. And life.

What an amazing group of people. Who do you know who could join them? Who does amazing work near you?