Australian of the Year nominee Hetty Johnston doesn't play elite sport.
Fellow nominee Rosie Battie doesn't sing, act or dance and neither woman is rich or, in the usual sense, famous.
What these two people do is work tirelessly to bring attention to confronting, difficult and often hidden or ignored issues.
This year's Australian of the Year candidates list is notably dominated by women: six of the eight finalists are female.
But the list is also populated by people who are agitators for action on social issues.
Ms Johnston, the Queensland finalist for Australian of the Year, is a veteran campaigner against child sexual abuse.
Ms Battie, Victoria's finalist, is tragically new to confronting domestic violence - opting into the fight after her 11-year-old son Luke was murdered by her ex-partner last year.
Amid the Australia Day party atmosphere, on January 26 Australians will likely find themselves considering a national award recipient whose work is not glamorous or high-profile but is aimed squarely at creating meaningful social change.
As National Australia Day Council CEO Jeremy Lasek says, all contenders are remarkable people "making a real difference to our nation".
Actor Deborra-Lee Furness, the NSW finalist, enjoys a high public profile courtesy of her career in film and that of her husband, Hugh Jackman.
But it's her passionate campaign to change Australia's adoption laws and culture that has landed her on the nominees list.
Gill Hicks lost her legs when she was caught in an underground train explosion in the 2005 London terrorist bombings.
The former designer barely survived but now, back in her home town of Adelaide, she campaigns for peace and an end to violent extremism through her charity MAD (Making a Difference) and has been named South Australia's Australian of the Year finalist.
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, from the Northern Territory, has been an actor and a nun but has dedicated her life for decades to humanitarian work and ending divisions between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
Tasmania's nominee, Rodney Croome, has been fighting for 26 years to end discrimination in all its forms against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people.
ACT nominee Glenn Keys is a wealthy, successful businessman but he is also working to improve the lives of intellectually disabled Australians with an innovative home ownership initiative.
And Professor Lyn Beazley is a scientist with 30 years' research in neuroscience but the WA nominee has also advised governments, set up a healthy waterways program and another to put microscopes in primary schools.
Mr Lasek says the Australian of the Year award has often gone to agitators, many of them controversial - including 2014 recipient Adam Goodes whose outspoken challenges to racist attitudes angered some commentators.
However, social researcher Hugh Mackay thinks the 2015 candidates list demonstrates a growing concern in Australia about the strength and health of social structures: families, neighbourhoods and communities.
Disillusioned with the negativity of politicians, Mr Mackay says Australians are paying more attention now to social activists.
"We're starting to listen to other voices and look to other sources for people who have some visionary message about what sort of society we want to be," he said.
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