Year of award
|
Name
|
Post nominals
|
Born
|
Died
|
Comments
|
Notes
|
1960
|
Sir Macfarlane Burnet
|
OM
|
1899
|
1985
|
Virologist; 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine co-recipient |
|
1961
|
Joan Sutherland
|
CBE
|
1926
|
2010
|
Opera singer |
|
1962
|
Jock Sturrock
|
|
1915
|
1997
|
Yachtsman |
|
1963
|
Sir John Eccles
|
|
1903
|
1997
|
Neurophysiologist; 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine co-recipient |
|
1964
|
Dawn Fraser
|
|
1937
|
|
Swimmer; gold medal winner at 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympic Games |
|
1965
|
Robert Helpmann
|
CBE
|
1909
|
1986
|
Actor; ballet dancer; director |
|
1966
|
Jack Brabham
|
OBE
|
1926
|
2014
|
Racing driver; Formula One champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966 |
|
1967
|
The Seekers
|
|
N/A
|
|
Music group |
|
1968
|
Lionel Rose
|
MBE
|
1948
|
2011
|
Boxer; first Indigenous Australian to win a world boxing title (1968) |
|
1969
|
Lord Casey
|
GCMG, CH, DSO, MC, PC
|
1890
|
1976
|
Politician, diplomat, Governor-General of Australia (1965–1969) |
|
1970
|
Cardinal Sir Norman Gilroy
|
KBE
|
1896
|
1977
|
Clergyman; first Australian-born Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church |
|
1971
|
Evonne Goolagong
|
|
1951
|
|
Tennis player |
|
1972
|
Shane Gould
|
|
1956
|
|
Swimmer; winner of three gold medals, a silver and bronze in 1972 Summer Olympics |
|
1973
|
Patrick White
|
|
1912
|
1990
|
Author; 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature recipient |
|
1974
|
Sir Bernard Heinze
|
|
1894
|
1982
|
Conductor |
|
1975
|
John Cornforth
|
CBE
|
1917
|
2013
|
Scientist; 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient |
|
MAJGEN Alan Stretton
|
AO, CBE
|
1922
|
2012
|
Australian Army officer; managed Cyclone Tracy cleanup |
|
1976
|
LTCOL Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop
|
CMG, OBE
|
1907
|
1993
|
Military surgeon; World War II prisoner of war |
|
1977
|
Raigh Roe
|
CBE
|
1922
|
2014
|
President of the Country Women's Association |
|
Sir Murray Tyrrell
|
KCVO, CBE
|
1913
|
1994
|
Official secretary to six governors-general |
|
1978
|
Alan Bond
|
|
1938
|
2015
|
Businessman |
|
Galarrwuy Yunupingu
|
|
1948
|
2023
|
Indigenous land rights activist |
[4]
|
1979
|
Neville Bonner
|
|
1922
|
1999
|
First Aboriginal person elected to the Parliament of Australia |
|
Harry Butler
|
OBE
|
1930
|
2015
|
Naturalist |
|
1980
|
Manning Clark
|
AC
|
1915
|
1991
|
Historian |
|
1981
|
Sir John Crawford
|
|
1910
|
1984
|
Economist |
|
1982
|
Sir Edward Williams
|
KCMG, KBE, QC
|
1921
|
1999
|
Judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland; chairman of the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games Foundation |
|
1983
|
Robert de Castella
|
MBE
|
1957
|
|
Marathon runner |
|
1984
|
Lowitja O'Donoghue
|
CBE
|
1932
|
|
Aboriginal health worker; inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (1990–1996) |
|
1985
|
Paul Hogan
|
|
1939
|
|
Actor |
|
1986
|
Dick Smith
|
|
1944
|
|
Entrepreneur |
|
1987
|
John Farnham
|
|
1949
|
|
Singer, entertainer |
|
1988
|
Kay Cottee
|
|
1954
|
|
First female sailor to perform a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world (1988) |
|
1989
|
Allan Border
|
AO
|
1955
|
|
Australian cricket team captain |
|
1990
|
Fred Hollows
|
|
1921
|
1993
|
Ophthalmologist; founder of The Fred Hollows Foundation |
|
1991
|
Peter Hollingworth
|
AO, OBE
|
1935
|
|
Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane; head, Brotherhood of St. Lawrence; governor-general |
|
1992
|
Mandawuy Yunupingu
|
|
1956
|
2013
|
Singer, Yothu Yindi |
|
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
|
Ian Kiernan
|
OAM
|
1940
|
2018
|
Environmentalist; founder of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World |
|
1995
|
Arthur Boyd
|
AC, OBE
|
1920
|
1999
|
Artist |
|
1996
|
John Yu
|
AM
|
1934
|
|
Paediatrician, CEO of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children |
|
1997
|
Peter Doherty
|
AC
|
1940
|
|
Veterinarian; immunologist; 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient |
|
1998
|
Cathy Freeman
|
OAM
|
1973
|
|
Athlete; also Young Australian of the Year in 1990 |
|
1999
|
Mark Taylor
|
AO
|
1964
|
|
Australian cricket team captain |
|
2000
|
Sir Gustav Nossal
|
AC, CBE
|
1931
|
|
Biologist |
|
2001
|
LTGEN Peter Cosgrove
|
AC, MC
|
1947
|
|
|
|
2002
|
Pat Rafter
|
|
1972
|
|
Tennis player |
|
2003
|
Fiona Stanley
|
AC
|
1946
|
|
Epidemiologist |
|
2004
|
Steve Waugh
|
AO
|
1965
|
|
Australian cricket team captain and humanitarian |
|
2005
|
Fiona Wood
|
AM
|
1958
|
|
Plastic surgeon; worked with victims of the 2002 Bali bombings |
|
2006
|
Ian Frazer
|
|
1953
|
|
Immunologist |
|
2007
|
Tim Flannery
|
|
1956
|
|
Scientist; global warming activist |
|
2008
|
Lee Kernaghan
|
OAM
|
1964
|
|
Singer |
|
2009
|
Mick Dodson
|
AM
|
1950
|
|
Indigenous leader |
|
2010
|
Patrick McGorry
|
AO
|
1953
|
|
Psychiatrist |
[5]
|
2011
|
Simon McKeon
|
AO
|
1955
|
|
Philanthropist businessman |
[6]
|
2012
|
Geoffrey Rush
|
AC
|
1951
|
|
Actor and film producer |
[7]
|
2013
|
Ita Buttrose
|
AO, OBE
|
1942
|
|
Journalist and businesswoman, founding editor of Cleo |
[8]
|
2014
|
Adam Goodes
|
|
1980
|
|
Australian rules footballer and Indigenous community leader |
|
2015
|
Rosie Batty
|
|
1962
|
|
Domestic violence campaigner |
[9]
|
2016
|
LTGEN David Morrison
|
AO
|
1956
|
|
Commitment to gender equality, diversity and inclusion |
[10]
|
2017
|
Alan Mackay-Sim
|
|
1951
|
2023
|
Biomedical scientist treating spinal cord injuries |
|
2018
|
Michelle Simmons
|
|
1967
|
|
Scientia professor of quantum physics in the faculty of science at the University of New South Wales |
|
2019
|
Craig Challen
|
OAM
|
|
|
Cave divers who participated in the Tham Luang cave rescue |
[11]
|
Richard Harris
|
OAM
|
|
|
2020 |
Dr James Muecke |
AM |
1963 |
|
Eye surgeon and founder of Sight for All |
[12][13]
|
2021 |
Grace Tame |
|
1994 |
|
Advocate for survivors of sexual assault |
|
2022 |
Dylan Alcott |
AO |
1990 |
|
Paralympic athlete, advocate for disability |
|
2023
|
Taryn Brumfitt
|
|
1978
|
|
Positive body image advocate and founder of the Body Image Movement
|
[14]
|
2024
|
Georgina Long
|
AO
|
|
|
Melanoma researchers |
[15]
|
Richard Scolyer
|
AO
|
|
|