Equality advocate and former Chief of Army, David Morrison AO, has been named as the 2016 Australian of the Year.
The announcement was made by the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who presented the Australian of the Year trophy at a ceremony held on the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra.
The former Lieutenant-General Morrison, now retired from the Army, was awarded the honour for his commitment to gender equality, diversity and inclusion.
David Morrison was the first head of the Australian Army to take a public stand against the military's ingrained culture of gender discrimination.
His 2013 video message, ordering misbehaving troops to 'get out' if they couldn't accept women as equals, went viral.
Since then, the number of women joining the army has grown by two per cent.
Mr Morrison retired in 2015 after 36 years in the Australian Army, and four years as its Chief.
