State and Territory Local Heroes

Each year, eight remarkable finalists for the Local Hero Award are selected to represent their State or Territory at the national level.
See: Watch the 2012 Local Hero finalists

You can read the inspiring stories of your Local Hero Award recipients by clicking on the links below.

ACT Local Hero

Julie Tongs, Narrabundah
Health care leader

Julie Tongs is a tireless campaigner for Indigenous people. A Wiradjuri woman, Julie has worked at the Canberra hospital, bridging the gap between Indigenous patients and hospital staff.

For the past 14 years, Julie has run the Winnunga Nimmityhah Aboriginal Health Service in Canberra. A success story in Aboriginal health, Winnunga provides a holistic approach to health and wellbeing where doctors, dentists, midwives and counsellors mix with art teachers, boxing instructors and mechanics. Julie believes there is no point treating a person for a single ailment without looking at other aspects of their life. So, in addition to health programs provided by Aboriginal health workers, Julie has established and expanded life-skills options, such as a youth diversion program, a boxing club and a home maintenance program.

She has also been instrumental in Winnunga developing a health care model for Aboriginal prisoners and believes Winnunga is critical in helping to prevent Indigenous people going to jail by treating alcohol and drug dependencies. Julie strives to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

NT Local Hero

Rob Cook, Alice Springs
Disability champion

When pastoralist Rob Cook became a tetraplegic in a helicopter crash three years ago in the Tanami Desert, the tragedy was headline news. But it is his courage to recover and rebuild his life that is the real story.

Just 27, a husband and father of two young sons, Rob spent nine weeks on life support and seven months in rehabilitation suffering intense pain, pneumonia and a minor stroke. Yet he never gave up. With the unwavering support of his wife Sarah, his family, friends and neighbours, Rob planned his future still living on his family's property, Suplejack Downs.

He became the 255th scholar to win a Nuffield Scholarship and travelled to New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, the United States, Canada and Scotland to research international best practice on food production. To help fund this project and to encourage other farmers with disabilities to remain productive, Rob embarked on another incredible journey. In June 2011, he became the first person to travel the remote Tanami Track in a wheelchair, accompanied by his friend Luke Bevan. Battered by extreme temperatures and menaced by a wild bull, he travelled the 730 kilometres from Suplejack Downs to Alice Springs in 24 days.

QLD Local Hero

Doug Hislop, Hemmant
Queensland flood rescuer

During the 2011 Queensland floods, tugboat owner, Doug Hislop showed extreme bravery in using his tugboat to stop a partially submerged 300-metre walkway weighing more than 1000 tonnes from crashing into Brisbane's Gateway Bridge.

Doug was at home listening to the radio in the early hours of the morning when he heard that the walkway had collapsed and was threatening nearby infrastructure. Doug and a friend fired up Doug's 50-foot tugboat Mavis and travelled half a kilometre up the flooded watercourse to intercept the walkway.

The conditions on the Brisbane River at 4 am that morning were treacherous, with the surging river moving at about 10-12 knots, well above its standard speed. The drifting walkway was described by locals as a '300-metre floating missile' and police had closed the bridge, fearing the impact of the walkway would damage the bridge or even cause it to collapse. Through skilful navigation, Doug managed to steer the walkway away from the Gateway Bridge and a nearby boat marina, preventing serious additional damage. By putting himself at risk to help others, Doug became a symbol of community spirit and mateship.

SA Local Hero

Dr Leon Earle, Adelaide
Men's shed champion

We all know the phrase 'a man's home is his castle' but thanks to Dr Leon Earle, the humble shed might be just as important in men's lives. The Men's Shed movement brings men together in a comfortable space –a kind of therapeutic centre where men can make things, pursue a hobby or simply chat over a cup of tea. Leon believes these sheds can help link older men with their past, present and future.

His Eureka moment occurred in 1985 when the South Australian Department of Recreation and Sport asked him to find out what seniors were doing for leisure. Having served as a Professor and visiting Professor of Gerontology in national and overseas universities, Leon had been studying men’s retirement since his PhD in 1978. His subsequent study showed him that men had few networks outside family and friends but that a communal shed could provide a lifeline to positive ageing. He published his research, lobbied government and trained staff in nursing homes and retirement villages.

Communal sheds, run by a coordinator, are now popping up across Australia providing retired men around the nation with a new network of likeminded people.

TAS Local Hero

Viktor Zappner, Burnie
Jazz musician

After escaping the from communist Czechoslovakia's secret police, clinical psychologist and gifted jazz musician Viktor Zappner arrived in Tasmania with his wife and daughters in 1979. His career as a psychologist and lecturer extended for 27 years but all the while Viktor's abiding passion was jazz.

In his native Czechoslovakia, Viktor was playing the piano by the time he was three and had formed his first jazz band consisting of several horns and a rhythm section before he turned 10. Dismayed at the paucity of jazz on Tasmania's north-west coast, Viktor set about rectifying that situation, introducing jazz with typical gusto. Just four years after arriving in his new country he helped found the Jazz Action Society and has been president for most of the past 28 years.

Now in his 70s, Viktor remains artistic director of the Devonport City Council's annual music festival. His music has taken him around the world but his greatest passion has been fostering the appreciation of jazz in Tasmania.

VIC Local Hero

Ahmed Dini, North Melbourne
Social worker

Despite enduring the challenges of living in a refugee camp as a young boy, Ahmed Dini, still only 24, has become a leader in Australia's Somali community. He has galvanised Somali migrants through events and initiatives that provide significant support to Somali families and has become a strong voice and influential advocate for his community.

Ahmed was ten years old when he arrived in Australia and since finishing school has spearheaded the creation of the Australian Somali Football Association (ASFA) to promote sport, mentor under-privileged youth and to create a more cohesive Somali community. Through his vision, the Australian Somali football championships have become the largest sporting event ever undertaken by the Somali/Horn of Africa community in Australia, with more than 4500 people attending.

As event manager, Ahmed is inspirational, leading the 10-person committee, 21 sponsor partners, 80 volunteers, 16 coaches and managers and 180 players. The success of the event prompted the Football Federation Victoria to incorporate the championships into its 'United through Football' program. Ahmed is also a Project Ambassador for the Sustainable Employment and Economic Development (SEED) program that assists young people with job placements in the City of Moonee Valley.

WA Local Hero

Helen Fitzroy, Esperance
Mining safety campaigner

Helen Fitzroy has devoted her life to campaigning for greater mine safety and fighting for better support. When she lost her husband, Steve, 20 years ago in an underground mining accident in Western Australia, Helen was left to raise three young children. At the time, there were few support services for families of workers killed or permanently injured while working in WA's resources industry.

Now that Helen's children have grown up and are independent, she has refocused her energies, devoting her time to preventing other families having to experience what her family endured. The culmination of her efforts was Miners' Promise, a not-for-profit scheme that offers immediate financial assistance in the event of death or permanent injury. The scheme covers mortgage repayments, car loans, daily living expenses, funeral costs, as well as emotional and trauma support, financial and legal advice.

Helen is now Deputy Chair of Miners' Promise and is working to extend the scheme to other States. Thanks to Helen's determination and tireless advocacy for resource workers' safety and rights, their families will be properly supported should a mining accident occur.