'I wanted to help build bridges.' Meet our incredible Australians of the Year 2023.

Australia is full of some pretty incredible advocates, championing causes close to many of our hearts.

And on January 25, some of these people were recognised for their hard work, announced as the recipients for the Australian of the Year 2023.

Of course there were big shoes to fill considering the stellar lineup over the past few years, including Grace Tame, Dylan Alcott and Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann.

But 2023 has also delivered big time. 

Here's everything we know about the four Australians of the Year: Taryn Brumfitt, Professor Tom Calma, Amar Singh and Awer Mabil.

Taryn Brumfitt - Australian of the Year 2023.

Australian writer and film director Taryn Brumfitt is determined to help others love the skin they're in, convinced that people weren't born hating their own bodies.

"This is something the world has taught us. Body shaming is a universal problem and we have been bullied and shamed into thinking our bodies are the problem," she said on Wednesday night. "It is not our life's purpose to be at war with our body."

Watch some of Taryn Brumfitt's speech here. Story continues below.

The documentary maker was named 2023 Australian of the Year for her work on body positivity, which stemmed from her 2016 film Embrace. Her work has since been seen in almost 200 countries and watched by millions of people on Netflix.

She has released a companion documentary, Embrace Kids, that targets children aged between nine and 14-years-old. Brumfitt has also teamed up with experts to create a companion parenting book and free research hub.

Accepting the award at a ceremony in Canberra, Brumfitt said it was critical to address body-image issues among young people.

"We're facing a paediatric health emergency with rates of suicide, depression, eating disorders, anxiety and steroid use related to body dissatisfaction soaring," she said. "It is not our bodies that need to change, it is our perspective."

Brumfitt also said she was optimistic that kids growing up would be able to learn to grow without the shame of their bodies.

"This is not about encouraging obesity, this is not what I do, and this issue is not simply about weight or size, it's about the way that we feel about all of ourselves. When you take your final breath on this earth, what thoughts will be going through your mind? What will you be thinking about? And no one has ever said to me the size of their bum."

As she said to Mamamia recently: "We want our kids to learn to move, nourish, respect and enjoy their bodies as they grow up and I want to help them build foundations and values that focus on who they are, what they do and how they feel - not what they look like." 

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Professor Tom Calma - Senior Australian of the Year 2023.

For decades, Indigenous elder Professor Tom Calma has been instrumental in fighting for social change.

After being named the Senior Australian of the Year for 2023, his attention now turns to delivering a voice to parliament.

"Australians have only ever known a system where Indigenous peoples are treated as problems to be solved, not as partners and active participants in determining their destiny," he said on Wednesday night. "We must have enduring partnerships so that Indigenous communities can help inform policy and legal decisions that impact their lives and we can recognise the special place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia's history."

Professor Calma said the referendum would allow for both changes to the constitution and for improvement in the lives of Indigenous people.

"A voice is symbolic as it includes all of our First Nations in the foundation document of our country. It addresses the injustice of their past exclusion and provides healing for the future," he said.

"Enshrinement will mean our fate will no longer be determined by the whims of politics and ever changing governments."

For more than 40 years, Profesor Calma has helped champion the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, from helping set up National Congress of Australia's First Peoples to being one of the co-chairs of Reconciliation Australia.

His calls to decrease the life expectancy divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians also helped deliver the Close the Gap campaign. And appointed University of Canberra chancellor, he was just the second Indigenous person in such a position anywhere in Australia.

Still serving in the role, Professor Calma says education remains key to advancing First Nations communities. 

Image: Getty.

Awer Mabil - Young Australian of the Year 2023.

Awer Mabil was forced to flee a war-torn African nation before spending his early childhood in a refugee camp.

Eventually finding safety in Australia, he has since gone on to represent his new nation in the green and gold on soccer's biggest stage. As well as the winger's efforts on the football pitch, where he was part of Australia's World Cup efforts in Qatar, Mabil is the founder of not-for-profit Barefoot to Boots, which aims for better health and education for refugees.

The soccer star grew up in the Kenyan camp after his family fled from civil war in Sudan, before arriving in Australia aged 10.

Mabil is driven by the memory of his sister, who died in a car crash in 2019, as well as being a role model in the migrant community. And it's his sporting journey and refugee advocacy work that led to him being named Young Australian of the Year.

In a pre-recorded acceptance speech, Mabil said he wanted to make the most of the opportunity he was given through his position as an advocate and Socceroos player. He was unable to attend because he was overseas playing football, and advocating for refugees.

"It has become something more than football. Football is a foundation but through that we help hospitals and equality rights," he said. "For me the most important thing is to help the next generation and also inspire them to be themselves and follow their dreams."

Mabil paid tribute to his family in his acceptance speech, noting the sacrifice his mother made in bringing the family to Australia.

"We moved across the world to give us this opportunity to pursue our dreams and for me, she's the biggest inspiration," he said.

"I'm representing kids in the refugee camp that don't get a chance. The title of 'refugee' is just a name because, as I've said before, as long as we're born into this world, it's all our home. If we can all just help each other one by one, this world will be a better place for all of us."

Image: Getty.

Amar Singh - Local Hero 2023.

Amar Singh has said he used the experience of being racially abused for his turban and beard to create change in his community. Singh founded an organisation called Turbans 4 Australia, which works to put an end to food insecurity.

Founded in 2015, the group delivers up to 450 food and grocery hampers each week to vulnerable residents across Sydney's west.

Turbans 4 Australia has also played a pivotal role outside of Sydney in disaster relief efforts, helping to bring crucial supplies to affected areas. The charity has helped deliver supplies to flood victims in Lismore, bushfire survivors on the NSW south coast, as well as vulnerable people during COVID-19 lockdowns.

And Singh has used the organisation to help promote multiculturalism and religious tolerance in the wider community - making him a deserving recipient of Australia's Local Hero for 2023.

"I'm a man who fought to find his place in Australia, against lonely and isolating times, coming to a new country with a suitcase as a 15-year-old," he said. "I wanted to play a role in bringing our communities together, make it a more harmonious place. I wanted to help build bridges."

The Local Hero winner said Australians from all backgrounds deserved to be treated equally with respect and proud of their cultural identity.

"I don't want somebody judged go for their turban or hijab. We're all human beings. We all bleed red," he said. "What we want to do is create not just an understanding of our culture but the cultures around us... I want every kid to be proud of their food, their language, their culture and their parents."

Image: AAP.

One of the figures behind the awards, Danielle Roche OAM, congratulated the 2023 Australian of the Year Award recipients.

"The 2023 Australians of the Year are great examples of the Australian spirit. Their courage, determination and fearlessness are an inspiration to us all. Individually brilliant, Taryn, Tom, Awer and Amar share a common bond - using their life experience as a power for good, helping others around them and making the world a better place."

Feature Image: AAP.