GOOD GRACE
LET HER SPEAK ADVOCATE’S TOP HONOURS
A PHENOMENAL group of Tasmanians has been honoured for their work in empowering others and inciting change within the community.
The Tasmanian Australian of the Year award recipients were announced at a small ceremony at Hobart’s Town Hall on Friday afternoon.
Grace Tame won Tasmanian Australian of the Year for her work as an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, Brian Williams won Tasmanian Senior of the Year for his work with Scouts, Toby Thorpe won Tasmanian Young Australian of the Year for his work as an advocate for youth empowerment and climate action, and Edna Pennicott OAM won Tasmanian Local Hero for founding Kingborough Helping Hands.
Speaking at the event, Governor of Tasmania, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AM, said she was always inspired after hearing the stories and contributions of each nominee.
“It really is so inspiring and heartwarming and I’d like to congratulate all of the nominees today. I think we’ve got so much to learn from each of them,” she said.
“Enda, your wonderful giving, your generosity and kindness — how amazing is that?
“Toby, how inspiring you are in relation to activism for climate change.
“Brian, for your work with Scouts and our young people.
“And of course Grace, with your wonderful work you’re doing with empowering sexual assault survivors.
“My background is as a criminologist, so I have learned over the years quite a lot about sexual assault and I’ve realised how important it is to empower survivors, how important it is for them to have the strength to be able to speak about this, to report it initially, and then actually to get through court proceedings which can be extremely harrowing. It’s such an important message.”
Premier Peter Gutwein congratulated the Tasmanians named as this year’s Australian of the Year winners.
“The awards celebrate the remarkable achievements and contributions of individual Tasmanians who help make our state such a great place to live,” he said.
“All four winners epitomise what it means to be Tasmanian and I’m looking forward to January when they’ll be considered against the rest of the nation’s Australians of the year, representing our great state on the national stage.”
Mr Gutwein said Ms Tame had demonstrated extraordinary courage in championing the #LetHerSpeak campaign.
“It takes immense courage for survivors of sexual crimes to speak about their experience, and in recognition of this, the Tasmanian Government amended section 194K of Tasmania’s Evidence Act 2001 to provide victims of sexual assault the right to speak out publicly,” he said.
National Australia Day Council CEO Karlie Brand congratulated Tasmania’s award recipients.
“Their courage, passion, commitment and sense of duty are inspirational,” she said.
The four recipients will represent Tasmania at the 2021 Australian of the Year Awards in Canberra on January 25.