One of these 10 community champions will be Australia's Local Hero for 2025

Which of these 10 Aussies leading grassroots care and change where they live will be named Australia's Local Hero at the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards?

Jasmine Hirst has a simple message for women who wonder if they have what it takes to coach junior sport.

"If you can run a nine-year-old's birthday party, you can run a coaching session for nine-year-olds," she says.

Over the past 15 years, Ms Hirst has given hundreds of girls and women the opportunity to play soccer.

Victoria's Local Hero for 2025 as part of the Australian of the Year Awards, Ms Hirst launched the Darebin Falcons Women's Sports Club's junior soccer program for girls in 2011 with just one team.

By 2024, more than 30 junior and senior soccer teams were competing.

As a proud football advocate for women, she wants to encourage more female participation in sport and points to Football Australia's Gender Equality Action Plan which aims to have a 50:50 gender participation ratio by 2027.

Ms Hirst, who was inspired to start her local girls' program with another parent so they didn't have to travel long distances for their daughters to play, says she likes soccer because it involves some contact.

"It's not non-contact but it's not full-contact like footy or rugby," she says. "[It's] just enough to be sort of physically challenging but not too injury-making. I love that it's outdoors ... getting wet, getting muddy, kicking a ball around with a group of friends is a really fun activity."

Ms Hirst is one of 10 inspiring community champions in line to be named Australia's Local Hero when the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards are announced on the eve of Australia Day.

ACM, the publisher of this masthead, is official media partner of the Australian of the Year Awards, which are presented by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Saturday, January 25.

The following profiles and pictures of each state/territory's 2025 Australian of the Year Local Hero have been supplied by the National Australia Day Council, organisers of the Australian of the Year Awards.

Vanessa Brettell, aged 31, and Hannah Costello, 32, are harnessing the power of hospitality to lift and empower those most vulnerable in their community.

Their business, Cafe Stepping Stone, operates as a social enterprise, employing women mostly from migrant and refugee backgrounds and others who experience significant barriers to employment. The sustainable vegetarian café has two locations which offer culturally and linguistically diverse women employment pathways, on-the-job training and qualifications through partnerships with registered training organisations.

Hannah and Vanessa's inclusive employment practices involve targeting female workers who are the sole income earners in their household, new arrivals to Australia, those with limited English or minimal employment history, and those experiencing homelessness. The employees are supported to gain skills and experience, facilitating their entry or return to the workforce.

Hannah and Vanessa also run a range of events through Stepping Stone, creating a welcoming hub for community to grow, with a focus on social justice and connection.

Martha Jabour OAM helped establish the Homicide Victims Support Group in 1993 to care for families and friends of homicide victims throughout NSW. It provides life-changing counselling, support and referrals to more than 4200 members.

Using her experience across grief, trauma, policy development, strategic planning and crisis management, in 2013, Martha developed a vision for a world-first trauma recovery facility for those impacted by homicide. She inspired politicians, public servants, community organisations and others to raise funds, while land for the facility was donated by Blacktown City Council and the Western Sydney Parklands Trust. Grace's Place opened in 2023.

In April 2024, Grace's Place provided care for the overseas families of the victims of a Sydney shopping centre attack, including accommodation, counselling and funeral assistance. At 61, Martha is also a community member representative on the NSW State Parole Authority, representing the families of homicide victims once an inmate becomes eligible for parole

For more than 30 years, Mignon McHendrie has brought compassion and education to her community, rescuing and caring for the Northern Territory's unique wildlife.

As head of the community organisation, Wildcare Incorporated, Mignon leads volunteers who rescue wildlife. She also donates her time to working with remote communities, including organising for animals to be flown to Darwin for specialised care.

As a volunteer, the wildlife warrior shoulders a large responsibility: applying for government grants, managing finances, recruiting and coordinating volunteers for rescues and facilitating board meetings. Organising fundraising events and managing public relations is also part of her considerable remit.

Mignon is expanding the work of Wildcare Incorporated by training the community on how to care for orphaned baby animals and licenses the taking of animals with carers into local schools. A true advocate for Australia's treasured wildlife, 57-year-old Mignon's kindness and compassion are contagious.

Claire Smith is a fierce protector of all living things but especially native wildlife. She's the founder of Wildlife Rescue Sunshine Coast, Queensland's first dedicated, volunteer-run, 24-hour wildlife rescue service. The group's purpose is education, rescue and rehabilitation.

Over decades of advocacy and conservation, 60-year-old Claire has forged vital relationships in the community, educating people about wildlife management through online resources and speaking on radio and in person. She engages with all levels of government to advise on policy decisions, motivating them to take action to protect native species through habitat preservation.

Claire raised more than $600,000 to directly assist those caring for injured animals after the 2019 bushfires. She also raised funds to establish Queensland's first dedicated kangaroo hospital and purchase two wildlife ambulances to help in more animal rescues. Claire inspires others to join her fight to protect our precious native fauna with her compassion and determination.

For more than 20 years pharmacists and migrant community leaders Sobia and Irfan Hashmi have transformed healthcare in remote and rural communities in South Australia. They've established six pharmacies in areas where there were previously none - which forced people to travel long distances for basic medications and care.

Sobia, 48, and Irfan, 51, are committed to serving their diverse communities, and to this end employ staff who collectively speak 21 languages, allowing them to reach vulnerable populations and provide culturally sensitive healthcare.

They have mentored countless intern pharmacists from overseas, coordinating multilingual education and outreach initiatives to help pharmacists enter the much-needed workforce in regional Australia. Their free weekly webinars have assisted 4000 overseas pharmacists in passing their exams in the past 12 months alone. Their pharmacy group has won various awards and recognition for its commitment to improving health literacy and access to healthcare services, including an SA Multicultural Governor's Award in 2022.

Keren Franks has first-hand experience of the power of inclusion for people living with disability and those around them. The 50-year-old has touched the lives of countless young Tasmanians by bringing to life her groundbreaking vision. Through her daughter Bella's experience in school, Keren saw that an inclusive model of education can yield enormous benefits for students with disabilities and their classmates.

This was the catalyst for the creation of the community not-for-profit organisation, Young Leaders of Tasmania in 2017, of which Keren is CEO.

After a successful pilot program, Young Leaders expanded rapidly to run a range of programs statewide, with the central aim of facilitating social role modelling, skill development activities and facilitating peer-to peer interaction in support schools and mainstream schools.

The group's programs help to change community perceptions around disability, foster inclusion and acceptance, increase workforce participation in the disability sector, and provide opportunities for young Tasmanians.

Over the past 15 years, Jasmine Hirst has given hundreds of girls and women the opportunity to play soccer.

Jasmine launched the Darebin Falcons Women's Sports Club junior girls' soccer program with just one team in 2011. Fast forward to the 2024 season, Jasmine has made possible more than 30 junior and senior soccer teams and enabled more than 550 females to play soccer, including the largest girl-exclusive MiniRoos and MiniTillies programs in Victoria.

Jasmine's tireless efforts have given females access to scarce local facilities, grounds and equipment - creating Australia's biggest soccer program for girls and women. In 2020, Jasmine launched the young referees program to increase the number of female referees in Victoria and to pay them for their services.

One of Australia's few female soccer administrators, 50-year-old Jasmine's trailblazing work has had a profound influence on growing football participation rates across Australia and an extraordinary impact on girls and women's sport.

Dr Jacinta Vu uses her considerable specialist skill in dentistry and oral health to generously give back to others.

In 2018, she was president of the Women in Dentistry Society, an organisation providing support for female dental practitioners in Western Australia. The society created Healing Smiles to assist women escaping domestic violence with their oral and dental health. It provides trauma-informed care that recognises the importance of good dental health in restoring dignity, self-esteem and confidence as victims rebuild their lives.

In 2020, Jacinta became the clinical director of the female-operated organisation, driving the substantial growth of Healing Smiles' outreach. Referrals are received from caseworkers and partner organisations to identify eligible clients. Clinicians then triage, plan and complete treatment for patients, pro bono. With a dedicated clinic planned for Perth and regional dentists on board, Healing Smiles continues to expand its reach, driven by 45-year-old Jacinta's empathy and desire to help others.