Indigenous advocate and knowledge holder Charles Jackson OAM has been named South Australia's Senior Australian of the Year for 2025.
Mr Jackson, 75, has worked with Indigenous communities for more than 50 years, demonstrating what organisers of the awards called his "unwavering commitment to the under-served members of his community".
The youngest of fourteen children, Mr Jackson didn't go through mainstream schooling. He left home at 15 years of age and began his working life as a drover.
He's held many jobs including marriage celebrant, cultural awareness teacher, board member, services coordinator and NDIS officer.
In 1978, Mr Jackson was the first Aboriginal person in Australia to become a Justice of the Peace.
He is a knowledge holder for Flinders Ranges Nation and is currently working towards Wilpena Pound becoming a world heritage site.
Mr Jackson's other latest venture is his new business, Urndu – an organisation that helps the Aboriginal community via culturally appropriate training and provides support and resources for people with disabilities or age-related impairments.
Mr Jackson received the award in a ceremony at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Thursday night.
He was among a number of people honoured in the SA Australian of the Year Awards.
The state's 2025 Australian of the Year is a child protection expert who has contributed to significant changes in responses to child abuse and neglect; Professor Leah Bromfield.
Professor 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 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. 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.
Professor Bromfield is leading the development of a new child protection vision for SA, exploring unconventional approaches to break the cycle of abuse.
SA Youth Forum founder Amber Brock-Fabel was named 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 were acknowledged as 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.
with AAP
