Western Australia

2013 Australian of the Year (WA Recipient)

Kerry Stokes AC 
Entrepreneur & Philanthropist

One of Australia’s leading business identities, Kerry Stokes is the Chairman of Seven West Media, which includes the Seven TV network and The West Australian newspaper.  He is Chairman of Seven Group Holdings which includes WesTrac, one of the world’s biggest Caterpillar dealerships across Western Australia, NSW and North-East China.  He also has interests in a diverse range of Australian and international enterprises including mining, property and construction.  

Born in Melbourne, Kerry moved to Perth and in the 1960s and 1970s became involved in WA property development.  He made his first foray into the media with the regional television network Golden West based in Bunbury.  Over time he acquired more television stations before taking a significant stake in the Seven Network in 1995.  

Kerry has been pre-eminent in preserving ownership of Australia’s military heritage including the purchase of several Victoria Cross medals which he donated to the Australian War Memorial.  Kerry’s many board memberships include the International Council for Museum & Television and the Council for the Australian War Memorial.  He has received multiple awards for his philanthropy including the 2011 Charles Court Inspiring Leadership Award. 

2013 Senior Australian of the Year (WA Recipients)

Barry & Lorraine Young Meningococcal Campaigners

Lorraine and Barry Young have dedicated the past 15 years raising awareness of, and finding an effective treatment for, the deadly meningococcal septicaemia bacteria.

Tragically, in 1997 the disease took the life of their only child, 18 year old Amanda, just 24 hours after she started showing symptoms of the disease.  Lorraine and Barry decided to establish the Amanda Young Foundation, which has created Australia-wide community education programs about meningococcal disease and funded medical research into the development of vaccines to target the elusive meningococcal B.

In 2011, the Foundation reached thousands of families through an education campaign in more than 150 child care centres in WA.  Fundraising by Lorraine and Barry and dozens of volunteers allows the Foundation to support survivors of the disease and their carers’ in the most practical ways.  Funding is provided for special computer and bedding equipment, for education, specialist counselling and advanced prosthetic limbs.  

In addition, the Foundation helps to fund the development of young people into Western Australia’s future leaders through scholarships, bursaries, workshops and camps.

2013 Young Australian of the Year (WA Recipient)

Akram Azimi
Mentor

Akram Azimi is a dedicated mentor to young Indigenous people.  Arriving in Australia 13 years ago from Afghanistan he went from being ‘an ostracised refugee kid with no prospects’ to becoming his school's head boy.  An outstanding student, he topped the tertiary entrance exam scores among his classmates.  He's now studying a triple major – law, science and arts – at the University of Western Australia.  

Intent on giving back to his adopted country, Akram uses his leadership and pastoral skills to help young people in remote and rural Western Australia.  In 2011 he co-founded a student-run initiative I am the other set up to raise awareness about Indigenous issues in universities.  

His philanthropic roles have included working with True Blue Dreaming, which helps disadvantaged remote Indigenous communities.  For three years, Akram mentored young Indigenous people in the Looma community in the Kimberley region, and he has mentored primary school students in the small farming community of Wyalkatchem, in WA’s wheat belt.  Akram is also mentoring a Special Olympics athlete to help raise community awareness of disability issues.

2013 Local Hero WA

Caroline de Mori
Indigenous Health Advocate

Caroline de Mori established a not-for-profit foundation in 2005 to overcome chronic health issues in Indigenous communities in the most practical way – by helping them grow and prepare fresh fruit and vegetables.  She recognised that the simplest way to provide fresh food particularly to remote communities was to grow it locally.  

Since then, Caroline’s Edge of Nowhere Foundation, or EON as it’s known, has been invited into 12 remote communities in Western Australia.  The program, called Thriving Communities, helps Indigenous people understand the importance of fresh fruit, vegetables and bush tucker to a healthy diet and disease prevention.  Over five years, the communities learn how to grow, harvest, prepare and cook their food, and learn a range of skills to support a healthy lifestyle.  A big focus of the program is children, who learn about preparing simple, healthy meals.  The communities are strongly encouraged to take responsibility for the program as Caroline believes ownership is an important part of education.  

Caroline and her team have raised more than $4 million for Thriving Communities from governments, Indigenous land corporations and the private sector.