An Adelaide woman whose struggle to accept her body inspired millions of people worldwide is the 2023 Australian of the Year.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese awarded the honour to Taryn Brumfitt at a ceremony in Canberra on Wednesday night.
Socceroo star Awer Mabil, who works to improve other refugees' lives, was named the Young Australian of the Year.
Professor Tom Calma, who has spent decades improving the lives of Indigenous people, was named the Senior Australian of the Year.
And Amar Singh, a Western Sydney Sikh who feeds the needy and champions tolerance, was named Australia's Local Hero.
Brumfitt is a director whose 2016 documentary Embrace explored how she learned to love her body, and why so many women are unsatisfied with how they look.
The film has been shown in 190 countries and is streamed on Netflix.
The 45-year-old mother of four has also written four best-selling books, and her latest documentary, Embrace Kids, aims to help children appreciate and understand their bodies.
Brumfitt's films, books and speeches are estimated to have reached more than 200 million people.
That public life had a sudden beginning in 2013, when she posted a simple "before-after" photo on Facebook, showing how her body had changed.
The photo — an expression of self-acceptance — went viral.
Brumfitt continues to campaign to change body-image culture in Australia and globally.
"We weren't born into the world hating our bodies, this is something the world has taught us," she said.
"Body-shaming is a universal problem, and we have been bullied and shamed into thinking our bodies are the problem.
"What if, instead of spending precious time and energy at war with their bodies, our young people were free to become the leaders, big thinkers and game changers the world needs more of right now?"
She said promoting a healthy body image was not about encouraging obesity.
"It's about the way that we feel about all of ourselves: our skin colour, our height, our age, our gender, our unique selves — and it is learning to move, nourish, respect and enjoy our bodies.
"Because you can't look after something you don't love.
"It is not our bodies that need to change, it is our perspective."
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Refugee advocate Young Australian of the Year
Socceroo Awer Mabil, who fled civil war in Sudan to become one of Australia's top footballers, was named Young Australian of the Year at the same event on Wednesday.
Mabil, who represented Australia at the World Cup, came to the country aged 10.
The 27-year-old's rise in football is well known in the sport.
He was a star winger at A-League club Adelaide United before moving overseas. He now plays for Czech team Sparta Prague.
However, Mabil also poured his energy into the not-for-profit Barefoot to Boots, an organisation he co-founded.
The charity aims to improve health, education and gender equality among refugees.
It also provides sports equipment to refugees around the world; as a child, Mabil had been forced to play in bare feet with a rolled-up sock as a ball.
After his family escaped Sudan, Mabil grew up in a camp in Kenya before coming to Australia.
A year after he achieved his dream of playing for the Socceroos, his sister died in a car accident in 2019.
Mabil said he felt the hardships he had experienced, and his sister's death, made him "unbreakable".
He said knowing he was a role model to young people, especially refugees, drove him to work harder.
Mabil had commitments in Europe with his football club this week, so his mother and uncle accepted the honour in Canberra on his behalf.
In a pre-recorded message, he said his "most important" goal was helping the next generation.
"Australia gave me and my family that opportunity to follow our dreams," he said.
"We are on a mission to keep helping the less fortunate, and it fills my heart when we help people."
Mabil singled out young people's mental health, and urged them to talk about their problems when they were struggling.
Indigenous campaigner Senior Australian of the Year
A university chancellor who has spent decades improving the lives of Indigenous people is the 2023 Senior Australian of the Year.
Professor Tom Calma, a 69-year-old Kungarakan elder born in Darwin, has worked for more than 45 years as a champion of human rights.
His landmark social justice report in 2005 prompted Australia's ongoing Closing the Gap efforts to address the deep levels of poverty and ill health in Indigenous communities.
He has led anti-smoking campaigns, co-chaired Reconciliation Australia and helped design the Voice to Parliament initiative.
Professor Calma has been chancellor of the University of Canberra for the past eight years, and was the first Indigenous Australian fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.
He said his father was always his great inspiration, and he believed education was the key to tackling Indigenous disadvantage.
Accepting the honour, the professor said Indigenous Australians had been continually let down by policymakers, and treated as problems.
He referred to the upcoming referendum on the Voice, saying an "enduring partnership" with Indigenous communities — that allowed them to advise on the decisions that affected their lives — was vital.
"I want to particularly address senior Australians, because you are the demographic being targeted with misinformation by pundits who are either ill-informed or have malicious intent regarding the Voice," he said.
"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.
"Policies are too often made for First Nations people, rather than with us."
Founder of food charity named Local Hero
A Sikh from Western Sydney who feeds the needy and champions tolerance has been named this year's Australian Local Hero.
Amar Singh, 41, is bearded and wears a turban, like most men of his faith.
He founded the charity Turbans 4 Australia after suffering racial slurs based on how he looked and dressed.
He said he wanted to help people see beyond religious and cultural stereotypes.
So Mr Singh began organising hampers for people who were struggling to pay their bills— and, in doing so, helped bridge divides in his community.
Each week, Turbans 4 Australia packs and distributes up to 450 food and grocery hampers for people in Western Sydney.
Mr Singh became more widely known when his charity began supplying disaster-struck communities — farmers in drought, flood victims in Lismore, bushfire-stranded families on the New South Wales South Coast, and central Queenslanders hit by Cyclone Marcia.
Accepting the honour, he said it "didn't feel real".
"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 — and here am I today," he said.
"For every kid, I want them to be proud of their food, their language, their culture and their appearance.
"As a practising member of a religious community, it's my dream to see Australians from all faiths, religions and backgrounds treated equally.
"I don't want someone judged for their hijab or turban — we are all human beings, we all bleed red."
This is the 20th year that a Local Hero has been named during the annual Australian of the Year ceremony.
