Today I am grateful for the amazing people who have been named as Australians of the Year for 2016.
Today I am grateful for the outgoing Australian of the Year Rosie Battie.
Rosie is giving a voice to victims of domestic violence. She has set up the Luke Batty Foundation called Never Alone. She has also just launched Luke’s Champions.
Today I am grateful for Australia’s Local Hero 2016 Dr Catherine Keenan. She is the cofounder and executive director of the Sydney Story Factory. The Sydney Story Factory is an organisation that helps children develop writing skills, cultivate their creativity and find their own voice.
Today I am grateful for the two Young Australians of the Year 2016 Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett. They set up Orange Sky Laundry to help homeless people do their laundry. They have five vans in Brisbane, Melbourne, South East Victoria, Sydney and the Gold Coast. Run by over 270 volunteers, the custom fitted vans with two commercial washing machines and two dryers, service over 36 locations and wash over 350 loads each week. Not only do they provide a wonderful service that helps to restore an individual’s dignity but they are facilitating many hours of conversations per week.
Today I am grateful for The Senior Australian of the Year 2016 Professor Gordian Fulde. He is the Director of Emergency at St Vincent’s Hospital and Sydney Hospital. He is passionately outspoken about the ‘ice’ and alcohol-fuelled violence present in our society and works tireslessly to educate about the dangers of a binge drinking culture.
Today I am grateful for The Australia of the Year 2016 David Morrison AO. He is a former Chief of Army to be recognised internationally for his commitment to gender equality, diversity and inclusion. His video about equality in the army started a cultural shift that has changed Australia’s armed forces forever.
He is a champion of human rights in his new role as the Chair of the Diversity Council Australia.
All these people are improving our conversations. Our conversations about violence against women, our conversations with children, our conversations with those less fortunate than ourselves, our conversations about alcohol and drugs in our community and our conversations about equality and diversity in our communities. I am excited and grateful that these conversations are occuring and I wish all these people all the best for their new roles in 2016.
Most of this information was sourced from http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/