John Foreman quite likes to engage in a bit of time travel every now and again.
The best way, according to the chair of the National Australia Day Council, is to cast his eye over past Australians of the Year, and marvel at the diversity of names and backgrounds.
From elite athletes to anti-violence campaigners, doctors to disability advocates, artists to Indigenous elders, the list is a portrait of modern Australia, in any given year.
Folk-pop group The Seekers took the honour back in 1967; four years later, it was Indigenous tennis champion Evonne Goolagong.
World War II hero Edward "Weary' Dunlop was in 1976, Paul "Crocodile Dundee" Hogan came in 1985.
Champion solo sailor Kay Cottee was honoured in 1988, leading painter Arthur Boyd in 1995 and plastic surgeon Fiona Wood in 2005.
In 2019, two blokes who enjoyed cave diving found themselves at the centre of a legendary rescue mission of an entire soccer team, and were named joint winners.
And the current Australian of the Year is former AFL player and coach Neale Daniher, an advocate for motor neurone disease research.
It's a list that has told us about Australia at any given time, as do the winners in the Young Australian, Senior Australian and Local Hero categories.
And, says Foreman, the list never fails to humble him.
"It is really humbling to see the incredible work that is being done by so many people all around Australia," he said.
"When you look at the cross section of Australians of the Year, and indeed the broad diversity of Australians who are represented across all four categories each year ... it's a really fantastic snapshot into Australia's cultural, scientific, artistic, sporting and charity and philanthropy worlds.
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"You've got sports people, scientists, charity workers, leaders of communities, people have just given back. And it reminds the world what a great country we are - because of the amazing people that are here."
Nominations are now open for the 2026 awards. They must be submitted before July 31.
"As someone who grew up in the beautiful city of Newcastle, I'm particularly well aware of the fact that there are amazing people in every corner of the country, some of whom go unrecognised," Foreman said.
"Some of the people who are nominated for Australian of the Year awards are already household names, like Neale Daniher, was obviously someone all Australians admired.
"Other people who've been nominated are not necessarily household names, but they're people who've made a huge difference in their communities and they're people who their nominator has identified as someone who is worthy of recognition."
But someone can only be a winner if they're nominated first - maybe by you.
- ACM, the publisher of this masthead, is media partner of the Australian of the Year Awards. Nominate now at australianoftheyear.org.au
