Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced the recipients of the 2015 Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero on Sunday in a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra.
Australian of the Year
Rosie Batty has been named 2015 Australian of the Year after rising above devastating personal tragedy to fight domestic violence, following the murder of her son Luke.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the 52-year-old Victorian has won the respect and hearts of Australians for the strength of character she has shown since Luke, 11, was killed by his father at a cricket ground in Melbourne almost a year ago.
"Rosie's story jolted Australia into recognising that family violence can happen to anyone and she has given voice to many thousands of victims of domestic violence who had until then remained unheard," Mr Abbott said on Sunday.
Her courage and willingness to speak out will make Australia a far better and safer place, he said.
Read full article: Rosie Batty, a 'remarkable victim', named 2015 Australian of the Year
Rosie Batty as 2015 Australian of the Year at the Australian of the Year Awards at Parliament House forecourt in Canberra, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015. (AAP Image/Wayne King) NO ARCHIVING
Senior Australian of the Year
Author Jackie French believes a book can change a child's life, give them the power to dream and to change the world for the better.
The Australian classic The Magic Pudding inspired her childhood life and dreams, she says.
Her passion for telling stories and tireless advocacy for children with learning difficulties has made her 2015 Senior
Australian of the Year.
Overcoming dyslexia herself, French believes in the transformational power of storytelling in the lives of young Australians.
"A book can change the world," she said.
"Every book a child reads creates new neurons in that child's brain," she told the crowd on the lawns of Parliament House on
Sunday as she received her award.
"If you want intelligent children give them a book. If you want more intelligent children give them more books."
The 61-year-old from NSW was living in a shed when she wrote her first children's book in 1991.
She's now published 140 books, for both adults and children, in 32 languages and received more than 60 literary prizes for
children's classics such as Diary of a Wombat.
As the current national Children's Laureate, French is travelling the country to promote literacy.
She is also passionate about the conservation of wildlife and is a director of The Wombat Foundation which raises funds for research into the preservation of the endangered northern hairy nosed wombat.
Senior Australian of the Year Jackie French.
Young Australian of the Year
Drisana Levitzke-Gray can't hear but it's obvious she wants to be heard.
The 21-year-old has travelled the world advocating for deaf rights and pushing for deaf children to have access to Auslan - the sign language of the Australian deaf community - from birth.
Last year, she became the first Auslan user to be accepted into jury duty. Her number wasn't called from the ballot but she
believes she's paved the way for other deaf Australians to fulfil their civic duty.
Now Ms Levitzke-Gray can add the title of 2015 Young Australian of the Year to her already extensive resume.
In accepting the award at a ceremony at Parliament House, the 21-year-old thanked the deaf community for their support.
"It's the deaf community that gives me the drive and the passion," she said, before encouraging the crowd to all learn
Auslan.
Ms Levitzke-Gray is the fifth generation of her family to be born deaf and has deaf parents. She was given access to Auslan as
her first language.
"It's a human right for deaf children to be able to access their language," she said.
"When you delay that language, they have a delay in cognitive abilities.
"I consider myself quite an intelligent person and it's sad for me to see other deaf children who don't have those opportunities
because they're denied a language at birth."
Ms Levitzke-Gray dreams that all children will one day have Auslan from the day they're born and to spread the message "it is
OK to be deaf".
"We need the support of the Australian government to ensure that deaf children have access to Auslan," she said.
Ms Levitzke-Gray beat out other indigenous NBA basketball player Patrick Mills along with business mentor Adam Mostogl, community leader Chantal Ober, film maker Genevieve Clay-Smith, environmental activist Thomas King and engineer and social advocate Yassmin Abdel-Magied.
Last year's Young Australian of the Year, paralympian Jacqueline Freney was at the Parliament House ceremony to hand over her title to Ms Levitzke-Gray.
Young Australian of the Year Drisana Levitzke-Gray.
Local Hero
Local Hero Juliette Wright's initiative made a big difference alleviating poverty and distributing goods to the needy during the Queensland floods.
Ms Wright founded GIVIT, in 2009, a website that allows people to safely donate goods and connect to those who are most in need.
It was used heavily after the 2011 floods.
More than 126,000 items have been gifted through the site including more than 30,000 given to those affected by Queensland's devastating floods.
Accepting the award on Sunday, Ms Wright said the beauty of GIVIT was that it allows every Australian to be a local hero.
"The simple act of giving ... builds a bridge between the haves and the have nots," she told the crowd on the lawns in front of
Parliament House in Canberra.
GIVIT ensures local donors give to vulnerable local residents within their community with the aim of changing the face of how
society helps its most vulnerable and marginalised people.
The 41-year-old Queenslander from Camp Mountain, northwest of Brisbane, has just launched GIVIT Kids, a safe online platform for children to give new or pre-loved belongings.
She urged parents on Sunday to teach their children about giving.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott and 2015 Local Hero Juliette Wright.
History-making awards
The Chairman of the National Australia Day Council, Ben Roberts-Smith VC, MG, said in a statement that it is a great moment in the 55-year-history of these Awards to honour four women.
"Rosie, Jackie, Drisana and Juliette remind us of the many ways in which women contribute to our nation - that women are a force for change, a voice for rights, influencers, educators and the heart of our communities.
"Most of all, they are admired and respected by their fellow Australians - they are people we can be proud of and look to as examples of the good in us all."
Rosie Batty, Jackie French, Drisana Levitzke-Gray and Juliette Wright will take part in Australia Day activities by attending the National Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony in Canberra tomorrow morning and will attend various functions in Melbourne and Sydney in the afternoon and evening.
