This article contains references to domestic violence.
The parents of domestic violence victim Hannah Clarke have been named Queensland’s Australians of the Year for their advocacy work.
Ms Clarke and her three children, six-year-old Aaliyah, four-year-old Laianah and three-year-old Trey, were murdered by her estranged husband in Brisbane last February.
Following the loss of their daughter and grandchildren, Sue and Lloyd Clarke have pushed to criminalise coercive control in domestic relationships.
Coercive control describes a repeated pattern of control and domination in a domestic relationship.
Sue and Lloyd Clarke. Source: Supplied
“We never knew about coercive control until after the fact. I think if we would’ve known we could have helped and maybe stopped an atrocity," Sue Clarke previously told SBS Voices last May.
“He would have gone to jail and had some of his entitlement taken from him,” added Lloyd Clarke.
Queensland’s premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Clarkes’ “important work” in educating the public about domestic and family violence was why they were honoured with the award.
“The deaths of Hannah Clarke and her three children in February 2020 shook us with deep grief," the premier said.
“For Hannah’s parents Sue and Lloyd it was a devastating, life changing event and the start of a movement for change – Small Steps 4 Hannah – to educate the community and halt the cycle of domestic violence.”
Elsewhere in Australia, state winners have been chosen from a host of impressive finalists.
Champion Paralympian Dylan Alcott has been crowned Victorian of the Year for his work with the Dylan Alcott Foundation and music festival Ability Fest.
Alcott’s organisation provides scholarships and grants to Australians with disabilities, while Ability Fest is Australia’s first fully accessible music festival.
“I’m proud to be Victorian, proud to be from Aus, proud of my disability,” Alcott wrote on Twitter.a
“And although I DEFINITELY think I’m making up the numbers for the national finals, I’ll never stop trying to change perceptions so people with disability can live the lives they deserve to live.”
Aboriginal justice advocate Leanne Liddle was named NT Australian of the Year for driving a major agreement aimed at reducing Indigenous incarceration rates.
Dylan Alcott during the Tokyo Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Saturday, 4 September, 2021. Source: AAP
The Aboriginal Justice Agreement aims to reduce imprisonment rates, increase Aboriginal leadership and improve justice outcomes for Indigenous Territorians.
In Tasmania, award-winning documentary filmmaker Craig Leeson was honoured with the state award for Australian of the Year for his journalism and charity work.
Mr Leeson helped set-up the Plastic Oceans Foundation, a charity dedicated to ending single-use plastic within a generation. His 2017 film ‘A Plastic Ocean’ highlighted the damage plastic pollution is having on our oceans.
Cybersafety campaigner and former police officer Paul Litherland has been announced as West Australian of the Year and in South Australia, vaccination researcher Professor Helen Marshall was recognised as South Australian of the Year for her fight to halt meningococcal B.
If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au.
In an emergency, call 000.
