Last modified on Tue 22 Dec 2020 00.52 EST
This year served up a never-ending stream of catastrophes – from record-breaking bushfires to a virulent deadly disease – but 2020 also generated a new kind of breakout star. Scientists, public servants and a very sweary man: these are the Australians who rose to prominence in this highly unusual year.
Shane Fitzsimmons
The then commissioner of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Shane Fitzsimmons, became a symbol of the bushfire fight.
Fitzsimmons, who now leads the new crisis agency Resilience NSW, was named the NSW Australian of the Year, with the committee praising his “exemplary leadership and empathetic presence”.