He's won many golds in the pool. Now Ian Thorpe is the proud owner of a Human Rights Medal.
Thorpe finished in front of three other finalists for the work his organisation does with Indigenous children in twenty communities with a focus on literacy and health.
“Very honoured and also humbled to receive this award for the work I guess I've been doing for over a decade with fountain for youth,” says Thorpe.
He also launched the Close the Gap campaign in 2007 with champion runner Cathy Freeman.
Other winners include Pat Anderson who took home the award for Community Individual.
She co-authored the 2007 'Little Children Are Sacred' report and has worked tirelessly toward closing the gap for decades in the Indigenous education and health sector.
“Winning a human rights award where a lot of Aboriginal people or most of us spend all of our lives working in that area; it's a bit humbling to be singled out,” Anderson says.
The Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia was named best community organisation and 21 year old Ngoongar lawyer Krista McMeeken won the Young People's Human Rights Medal.
“I hope it serves as an example to other young people particularly Indigenous Australians to show them they can make a difference and be heard,” she says.
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