From left: Daniel Bartholomaeus, Hannah Costello, Vanessa Brettell, Megan Gilmour, Marilyn Ralston, Peter Ralston OAM.
14 November 2024
In brief:
- The winners of the 2025 ACT Australian of the Year Awards have been announced.
- The four categories recognise people who go above and beyond for their communities.
- They are now finalists in the national awards, to be announced on 25 January 2025.
The winners of the 2025 ACT Australian of the Year Awards have been announced.
They will join the other state and territory recipients as finalists for the national awards announcement on 25 January 2025.
Read on to find out more about the winners.
Clockwise from top left: Megan Gilmour, Marilyn and Peter Ralston, Daniel Bartholomaeus, and Vanessa Brettell and Hannah Costello
2025 ACT Australian of the Year recipient – Megan Gilmour
Social innovator Megan Gilmour wants to create a world where all children are seen and heard.
In Australia, 1.2 million children are at risk of missing school due to complex medical and mental health challenges.
Megan advocates for change in education systems for these vulnerable children.
She drew on her lived experience to co-found MissingSchool. The organisation develops school solutions that help students continue learning alongside their peers.
MissingSchool launched the world’s first national telepresence service, allowing children in hospital or at home to join lessons in real time.
It has restored school connections for some 6,900 students since 2018.
2025 ACT Senior Australian of The Year recipients – Marilyn and Peter Ralston OAM
Peter and Marilyn Ralston support people with vision impairment or other disabilities to run, walk and be active.
They began Achilles Running Club Canberra in 2013. Peter is President of the club.
Through Achilles Canberra, volunteer guides team up with people with disability. Together, they join fun runs, club training and the weekly Parkrun.
In the past three years, Peter has guided blind athletes 120 times at Parkrun. Achilles Canberra has enabled several blind members to each achieve hundreds of Parkruns.
Peter and Marilyn also serve the community through other charity work.
2025 ACT Young Australian of the Year recipient – Daniel Bartholomaeus
Daniel Bartholomaeus is an artist and neurodiversity advocate.
Daniel, who has autism and ADHD, inspires and motivates others. This is especially the case within the neurodiverse community.
He not only uses his art to express himself, but also to forge common pathways for people with mental ill-health and those of different abilities.
His art and lived experience help bridge the gap between neurotypical and neurodiverse people.
Daniel is a mentor with The With Friends Initiative, a social group for neurodivergent young people.
2025 ACT Local Hero recipients – Vanessa Brettell and Hannah Costello
Vanessa Brettell and Hannah Costello use hospitality to empower vulnerable women.
Their business, Cafe Stepping Stone, operates as a social enterprise. It employs women who experience significant barriers to employment. These women are mostly from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
The café’s two locations offer culturally and linguistically diverse women employment pathways, on-the-job training and qualifications. These help them enter or return to the workforce.
Hannah and Vanessa’s inclusive employment practices assist female workers who:
- are the sole income earners in their household
- are new arrivals to Australia
- have limited English or minimal employment history
- are experiencing homelessness.
Find out more about the awards and other ACT nominees on the Australian of the Year website.
Read more like this:
- Meet the 2024 ACT Australians of the Year - Our Canberra
- Meet the 2024 ACT Women's Awards winners - Our Canberra
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