News
by Kerry Warren and Nina Funnell
25th Jan 2021 7:55 PM
Sexual assault survivor Grace Tame, 26, from Hobart, has been named 2021 Australian of the Year for her bravery in shining a light on child sexual abuse, trauma impacts, and the warning signs of grooming.
Grace is the first Tasmanian to win the top gong in the awards' 61-year history. She rose to prominence via News Corp's #LetHerSpeak campaign which in 2019, took her legal case to be able to publicly self-identify as a rape survivor to the Supreme Court of Tasmania, and won.
At the time, it was against the law for many sexual assault survivors in Tasmania to speak out under their own names due to an archaic victim gag-law. The legal victory then helped pave the way for the campaign to overhaul oppressive victim gag laws across the country, and another 16 sexual assault survivors have received legal assistance via the campaign support since.