The Queensland Australian of the Year Award is given annually on Australia Day. The announcement of the award has become a major public event in Australia, and is televised nationwide. The award "offers an insight into Australian identity, reflecting the nation's evolving relationship with world, the role of sport in Australian culture, the impact of multiculturalism, and the special status of Australia's Indigenous people".[1]
The national level awards, four in total, are chosen exclusively from the state and territory award recipients.
The following is a list of the recipients of the Queensland Australian of the Year award.[2]
| Year of award |
Name | Post nominals |
Born | Died | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Steve Irwin | 1962 | 2006 | Naturalist, zoologist, conservationist. | |
| 2005 | Bill Bristow | Humanitarian. | |||
| 2006 | Professor Ian Frazer | 1953 | Clinical Immunologist and Inventor of the Cervical Cancer Vaccine | ||
| 2007 | David Conry | YoungCare founder | |||
| 2008 | Lee Kernaghan | OAM | 1964 | Country Music Legend | |
| 2009 | Bronwyn Sheehan | Literacy advocate | |||
| 2010 | Dr Chris Sarra | Indigenous educator | |||
| 2011 | Professor Noel Hayman | Doctor | |||
| 2012 | Bruce Morcombe Denise Morcombe |
Child protection advocates | |||
| 2013 | Professor Adele Green | AC | 1952 | Cancer researcher | |
| 2014 | Li Cunxin | 1961 | Ballet Director | ||
| 2015 | Hetty Johnston | AM | 1958 | Child protection activist | |
| 2016 | Group Captain Catherine McGregor | AM | 1956 | Distinguished RAAF officer | |
| 2017 | Alan Mackay-Sim | 1951 | Biomedical scientist treating spinal cord injuries | ||
| 2018 | Johnathan Thurston | 1983 | NRL player and indigenous mentor | ||
| 2019 | Detective Inspector Jon Rouse | Distinguished Child protection Police Officer | |||
| 2020 | Rachel Downie | Educator and social entrepreneur | |||
| 2021 | Dr Dinesh Palipana | OAM | 1984 | Advocate for doctors with disabilities |