A child protection expert devoted to tackling abuse and neglect has been awarded 2025 Australian of the Year for South Australia.
Professor Leah Bromfield, 46, was awarded at a ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Thursday night.
The Australian Centre for Child Protection director was among those who led the charge for the first National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children in 2007.
Professor Bromfield is well regarded as a researcher in the field and is currently spearheading the development of a new child protection system in SA.
Charles Jackson’s OAM new business, Urndu, assists the Aboriginal community with culturally appropriate training. (ABC News: Isabella Carbone)
Indigenous advocate Charles Jackson OAM was awarded Senior Australian of the Year for SA, after working with Aboriginal children for more than 50 years.
With a diverse career working as a marriage celebrant, cultural awareness teacher, board member, services coordinator, and NDIS officer, the 75-year-old was also the first Aboriginal to become a Justice of the Peace in Australia in 1978.
Amber Brock-Fabel has previously received the Governor of SA’s Commendation for Excellence. (Supplied: Australian of the Year Awards)
Young Australian of the Year for SA was awarded to 20-year-old Amber Brock-Fabel, who founded the SA Youth Forum during 2021 at the age of 17.
Her award-winning forum is focused on driving discussion among 14 to 18-year-olds about contemporary issues like climate change, gender equality, youth loneliness, and period poverty.
The outcomes and insights garnered by the forum have been presented to the United Nations and the Australian Conference on Youth Health.
Local heroes
Husband and wife team Irfan and Sobia Hashmi were awarded 2025 Local Heroes for SA due to their work as pharmacists and migrant community leaders over the past 20 years.
Sobia and Irfan Hashmi have been working to transform remote and rural healthcare. (Supplied: Australian of the Year Awards)
Sobia, 48, and Irfan, 51, have established six pharmacies in regional and remote areas, leading to less travel time for customers.
Devoted to serving diverse communities, regional and vulnerable populations, staff from their pharmacy group, which was given an SA Multicultural Governor’s Award in 2022, collectively speak 21 languages.
The couple’s free weekly webinar series have also helped 4,000 overseas pharmacists to pass their exams over the past year.
South Australia’s recipients will now be in the running for the national Australian of the Year awards, which will announced on January 25 next year.
