2023 Australian of the Year Awards: meet the finalists for Senior Australian of the Year

From nominations submitted by the public, there are 32 people in the running to be named 2023 Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero.

The national finalists for Senior Australian of the Year include a palliative care volunteer, an Aboriginal rights activist, a child health expert and a suicide prevention campaigner.

One of these inspiring Aussies will be named Senior Australian of the Year at the Australian of the Year Awards to be presented in Canberra on January 25.

Human rights and social justice advocate

Professor Tom Calma AO is one of Australia's most respected human rights and social justice campaigners.

The Kungarakan Elder has worked for more than 45 years at local, community, state and international levels championing the rights, responsibilities and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

His call for Australia to address the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples was the catalyst for the Close the Gap Campaign. He was instrumental in establishing the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples; has led the Tackling Indigenous Smoking program; co-chaired Reconciliation Australia for over a decade; and co-led the co-design of a Voice to Parliament initiative.

Currently Chancellor of the University of Canberra, 69-year-old Tom is an active volunteer, consultant and the first Indigenous Australian inducted as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Tom believes education is the key to advancing Indigenous peoples and says his father remains his inspiration behind his life's work.

Palliative care pioneer and advocate.

Former nurse Teresa Plane is recognised as a pioneer of modern palliative care in Australia.

Her devotion began late one night during a drive home from hospital as she listened to a life-changing interview with psychiatrist Elisabeth Kbler-Ross. As she heard her discuss the five stages of dying, Teresa realised she'd always been a death-denying nurse.

She was inspired to study palliative care methods overseas before opening a hospice and palliative care unit at Mt Carmel Hospital in western Sydney in 1978.

Teresa admitted patients on a needs basis rather than their ability to pay. She also launched a home care program, supported by a charity she'd established to advocate on behalf of the dying.

She later established Macquarie Hospice, a home care and day care centre and spoke many times at international forums, universities and national conferences.

Now aged 89, Teresa continues advocating and volunteering as she approaches 90 years.

Suicide prevention campaigner.

Tiwi Island elder Bernard Tipiloura is a suicide prevention campaigner whose efforts over 20 years have led to a dramatic drop in suicide rates.

The Tiwi Islands had one of the highest suicide rates in the world in 2006, reflecting the impacts of colonisation and deepening problems with 'gambling, gunja and grog'.

Bernard began his work to strengthen cultural identity and connection to country. He and wife Lynette Johnson visited schools each week to encourage young people to be proud of who they were and draw strength from their homeland.

He was a key contributor to the Healing Foundation's Stories from Community report that analysed the fall in suicide rates in the Tiwi Islands and at Yarrabah in Queensland as a result of community-led programs.

Now aged 83, Bernard donated a kidney when he was 60, volunteered and worked at the Red Cross until he was 80 and remains an avid anti-smoking campaigner.

Child protection campaigner and Bravehearts fundraiser

Many would excuse 77-year-old former gardener Claude Lyle Harvey OAM if he put his feet up after a lifetime of hard work.

Instead, Claude is spending his retirement trekking around Australia to increase awareness of child protection and raise funds for Bravehearts, a not-for-profit dedicated to preventing child sexual abuse and assisting survivors.

Over the past 17 years, he has pushed his trusty lawnmower 'Moyra' tens of thousands of kilometres around Australia. He's brought in more than $1.5 million for Bravehearts, with the aim of hitting $2 million by the end of 2024.

Claude's commitment came after learning that two girls just three and four years old had been sexually abused by their 16-year-old neighbour.

He keeps walking, saying: "If I can save just one child from this crime, that harms one in five Australian children, I will have achieved what I've set out to do."

Aboriginal rights activist and advocate for Indigenous health and welfare

Sandra Miller, a proud Wirangu woman from the Ceduna area, has been a trailblazer, breaking down barriers for Aboriginal women aspiring to leadership roles at a time when they were under-represented.

Sandra trained as a social worker and in the early 1980s worked for the Department of Community Welfare in Adelaide. She pushed to change government policies that were detrimental to Aboriginal children and encouraged Aboriginal people to become foster parents.

She went on to play an important part in policy development and service design across key state government portfolios, including Aboriginal health, ageing and welfare.

Sandra, who turns 75 this month, continues to be a strong voice for her community since leaving the public service. She's had leadership roles in Aboriginal health and legal rights groups and holds multiple board and executive appointments. She has represented her community in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Alliance and at the United Nations.

Doctor, frontline COVID-19 worker and prisoner advocate

Dr Frances Donaldson began her lifelong commitment to health care as a young nurse in Hobart, rising to become Director of Nursing before switching to study medicine in her 40s. She's since spent four decades working to improve health care standards in Tasmania.

Dr Frances spent 12 years navigating Tasmania's under-resourced prison health service, advocating for better health outcomes for prisoners and other disadvantaged Tasmanians.

Most recently, the 81-year-old has served at the frontline of Tasmania's COVID-19 response and has been one of the lead doctors working in the COVID@homeplus service from the beginning. Working sometimes seven days a week, she's consistently shared her knowledge as the stalwart of the team.

Before borders were reopened in December 2021 she volunteered to look after seasonal workers in hotel quarantine, requiring a significant on-call commitment.

Paediatrician and founding director of the Centre for Community Child Health

Professor Frank Oberklaid AM is an internationally recognised authority and advocate for children's health.

The paediatrician was director of the Centre for Community Child Health at The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne for 25 years and is co-group leader of Child Health Policy, Equity and Translation at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Frank has focused on helping children with developmental and behavioural problems through research-based programs.

He recently developed the Mental Health in Primary Schools Program, which upskills experienced teachers to become mental health and wellbeing coordinators. The aim is to reduce children's mental health issues through prevention and early intervention in the school setting. The program is now in more than 100 Victorian schools.

Frank also helped develop the parenting website raisingchildren.net.au, which receives one million visits each week. At 77, he is an Honorary Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, a sought-after speaker and winner of many prestigious awards.

Community advocate

With a background in social work, Theresa Kwok has been helping migrants settle in Australia from the moment she arrived from Hong Kong 35 years ago.

For most of this time, she has supported older migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities at Perth's Chung Wah Community and Aged Care. Theresa is now CEO of the organisation, which delivers a range of community care programs for clients, their families and ethnic communities. She looks after about 800 clients.

Theresa helps elderly members of CALD communities to live independently and has created more equitable access to culturally appropriate migrant and aged-care services across all communities.

Recognised with multiple awards for her efforts, 69-year-old Theresa is constantly reshaping how aged and community care services are delivered to meet changing demands.

Her advocacy continues to raise awareness of the unique challenges and strengths of CALD older people within government, service providers and CALD communities.