We are both humbled and astounded by the incredible support the Blind Australian of the Year Awards received for 2022. The calibre of nominations across Australia is to be highly commended and to say the judging board had their work cut out for them is an understatement.
An amazing 58 nominations were submitted this year and the contenders were reduced down to the final three. Each nominee had a rich and engaging story with many achievements noteworthy and commendable.
The awards kicked off on 19 November 2021 at the Royal on the Park Brisbane in Brisbane. With two of the finalists located in Sydney we also hosted a separate celebration at the Shangri La Hotel where they zoomed in to join us. What a wonderful evening spent with fine company – thank you to all that attended and helped to make the evening memorable.
We are pleased to announce Dr Paul Harpur from Brisbane was the 2022 Blind Australian of the Year recipient with Arkan Yousef and Nastasia Campanella named runners up.
On behalf of our CEO Terry O’Neill and our board members, THANK YOU to the nominees, nominators, support team, event organisers and generous sponsors – none of this would have been possible without the support you have all offered. We look forward to an even bigger event for the 2023 awards!