Child protection expert is SA’s Australian of the Year
A child protection expert who has devoted her life to establishing practical, evidence-based solutions to child abuse and neglect is the 2025 Australian of the Year for South Australia.
Professor Leah Bromfield, the director and chair of child protection at the Australian Centre for Child Protection, developed the first evidence-based analysis of practice frameworks in the sector.
She received the award in a ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Thursday night.
Professor Bromfield, 46, developed a new framework in SA and was also part of a team which advocated for – and got – the first National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children in 2007.
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Over two decades, she has risen to become one of the most trusted researchers in the field.
Her calls for transformation and radical redesign have led to world-first insights and contributed to significant changes in the understanding of, and responses to, child abuse and neglect.
Prof Bromfield is leading the development of a new child protection vision for SA, exploring unconventional approaches to break the cycle of abuse.
Indigenous advocate and knowledge holder Charles Jackson was named SA’s 2025 Senior Australian of the Year.
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Mr Jackson, 75, has worked with Indigenous Australians for more than 50 years, holding jobs including drover, marriage celebrant, cultural awareness teacher, board member, services coordinator and NDIS officer.
He is a knowledge holder for Flinders Ranges Nation and is working towards Wilpena Pound becoming a world heritage site.
SA Youth Forum founder Amber Brock-Fabel is the state’s 2025 Young Australian of the Year.
Under Ms Brock-Fabel’s leadership the group took part the United Nations Summit of the Future, the National Inquiry into Civics Education and the Australian Conference on Youth Health.
Pharmacists and migrant community leaders Sobia and Irfan Hashmi are the 2025 Local Heroes for SA.
The pair have transformed healthcare in remote and rural communities over 20 years, opening six pharmacies in areas where there were none.
Sobia, 48, and Irfan, 51, are committed to serving their diverse communities, and employ staff who collectively speak 21 languages.
