Since 1960, the Australian of the Year Awards have recognised and sponsored Australians of outstanding achievement across all fields. Each state and territory has now announced their selection of nominees across four categories: Australian of the Year, Senior and Young Australian of the Year and Australia’s Local Hero.

Yorta Yorta soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon has been nominated for Victoria’s Australian of the Year. As the artistic director of Short Black Opera and Dhungala Children’s Choir, she created Australia’s first Indigenous opera Pecan Summer in 2010 and has become a pioneer of First Nations music and artists.

In 2023, Cheetham Fraillon was appointed Professor of Vocal Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, as well as taking to the stage last September for the Sydney premiere of her large-scale orchestral and choral work Eumeralla: a War Requiem for Peace.

Eumeralla. Photo © Laura Manarati

The Northern Territory has nominated Grant Ngulmiya Nundhirribala, known as Ngulmiya, a vocalist and ceremony leader in the Numbulwar community. Internationally recognised for his album release with Budapest Art Orchestra, collaborations in Japan, Bali and Barcelona, he is an ambassador for Numbulwar traditional music and...