List of Australian of the Year Award recipients

The following is a list of the recipients of the Australian of the Year award.

Year of award	Name	Post Nominals	Born	Died	Comments
1960	Sir Macfarlane Burnet	OM	1899	1985	virologist; 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine co-recipient
1961	Joan Sutherland	CBE	1926	2010	opera singer
1962	Jock Sturrock		1915	1997	yachtsman
1963	Sir John Eccles		1903	1997	neurophysiologist; 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine co-recipient
1964	Dawn Fraser		1937		swimmer; gold medal winner at 1956, 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympic Games
1965	Robert Helpmann	CBE	1909	1986	actor; ballet dancer; director
1966	Sir Jack Brabham	OBE	1926		racing driver; Formula One champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966
1967	The Seekers		N/A		music group
1968	Lionel Rose	MBE	1948	2011	boxer; first Aboriginal Australian to win world boxing title (1968)
1969	The Rt. Hon. Lord Casey	GCMG CH DSO MC PC	1890	1976	politician, diplomat, Governor-General of Australia (1965–1969)
1970	Cardinal Sir Norman Gilroy	KBE	1896	1977	clergyman; first Australian-born Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
1971	Evonne Goolagong		1951		tennis player
1972	Shane Gould		1956		swimmer; winner of three gold medals, a silver and bronze in 1972 Summer Olympics.
1973	Patrick White		1912	1990	author; 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature recipient
1974	Sir Bernard Heinze		1894	1982	conductor
1975 (joint recipients)	John Cornforth MAJGEN Alan Stretton	AO CBE	1917 1922		scientist; 1975 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient Australian Army officer; managed Cyclone Tracy cleanup
1976	LTCOL Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop	CMG OBE	1907	1993	military surgeon; World War II prisoner of war
1977 (joint recipients)	Raigh Roe Sir Murray Tyrrell	CBE KCVO CBE	1922 1913	1994	president of the Country Women's Association Official Secretary to six Governors-General
1978 (joint recipients)	Alan Bond Galarrwuy Yunupingu		1938 1948		businessman native title activist
1979 (joint recipients)	Neville Bonner Harry Butler	OBE	1922 1930	1999	first Aboriginal elected to the Parliament of Australia naturalist
1980	Manning Clark	AC	1915	1991	historian
1981	Sir John Crawford		1910	1984	economist
1982	Sir Edward Williams	KBE KCMG QC	1921	1999	judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland; chairman of the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games Foundation
1983	Robert de Castella	MBE	1957		marathon runner
1984	Lowitja O'Donoghue	CBE	1932		Aboriginal health worker; inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (1990–1996)
1985	Paul Hogan		1939		actor
1986	Dick Smith		1944		entrepreneur
1987	John Farnham	AO	1949		singer, entertainer
1988	Kay Cottee	AO	1954		first female sailor to perform a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world (1988)
1989	Allan Border	AO	1955		Australian cricket team captain
1990	Fred Hollows		1921	1993	ophthalmologist; founder of The Fred Hollows Foundation
1991	Peter Hollingworth	AC OBE	1935		bishop; Governor-General of Australia (2001–2003)
1992	Mandawuy Yunupingu		1956		singer, Yothu Yindi
1993	No award made: award dating system changed
1994	Ian Kiernan	OAM	1940		environmentalist; founder of Clean Up Australia and Clean Up the World
1995	Arthur Boyd	AC OBE	1920	1999	painter
1996	John Yu	AM	1934		paediatrician
1997	Peter Doherty	AC	1940		veterinarian; immunologist; 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recipient
1998	Cathy Freeman		1973		athlete; also Young Australian of the Year in 1990
1999	Mark Taylor	AO	1964		Australian cricket team captain
2000	Sir Gustav Nossal	AC CBE	1931		biologist
2001	General Peter Cosgrove	AC MC	1947		Chief of the Australian Army (2000–2002); leader of the International Force for East Timor; Chief of the Australian Defence Force (2002–2005)
2002	Patrick Rafter		1972		tennis player
2003	Fiona Stanley	AC	1946		epidemiologist
2004	Steve Waugh	AO	1965		Australian cricket team captain and humanitarian
2005	Fiona Wood	AM	1958		plastic surgeon; worked with victims of the 2002 Bali bombings
2006	Ian Frazer		1953		immunologist
2007	Tim Flannery		1956		scientist; global warming activist
2008	Lee Kernaghan	OAM	1964		singer
2009	Mick Dodson	AM	1950		indigenous leader
2010	Patrick McGorry	AO	1953		psychiatrist
2011	Simon McKeon		1955		philanthropist businessman
2012	Geoffrey Rush		1951		Australian actor and film producer

Plaque for the 1971 recipient Evonne Goolagong on the Australians of the Year Walk

See also

• List of Senior Australian of the Year Award recipients
• List of Young Australian of the Year Award recipients