As a general rule, Australians of the Year are not reluctant to make their voices heard, and Taryn Brumfitt is no exception.
She already has a simple message for potential detractors.
"People are entitled to their opinions, but we have a choice to ignore it," she told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning.
"I know what I'm about, we've got a mission, we're going to stay focused, and I'm really discerning about where I put my energy and right now that’s firmly on fixing a really big problem for our Australian schoolchildren."
The South Australian body image activist and documentary maker was named Australian of the Year at a ceremony in Canberra on Wednesday for her decade-long campaign to encourage women and children to embrace their bodies.
Just hours later, former radio host and journalist Mike Carlton criticised her as "someone who makes a buck out of saying it's OK to be a bit fat".
He said the award should have instead gone to a doctor or nurse working in an emergency department.
He then received a barrage of replies, mainly saying body image and eating disorders were big issues in Australia and were worthy of being highlighted by an Australian of the Year.
Using governments to speed up goals
Rather than getting bogged down in replying to critics, Ms Brumfitt is leveraging her new-found fame to influence governments to take on her message, rather than just working through the Body Image Movement organisation she founded 10 years ago.
She said she spoke to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after receiving the award along with several other Commonwealth ministers.
She has now organised to meet South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas to talk about her goals — and funding.
"I've got a meeting with the premier in a couple of weeks and I'm so excited to sit down with him, especially now, and really talk about some funding and some resources," she said.
"I'm such a proud South Australian and I'm very keen to focus on SA and be the global leaders in this space.
"Let's get our kids right and let's show the world what we can do when we embrace our bodies, so yes to resources, yes to money, and then we can get it out free to all schools."
Ms Brumfitt's 2016 documentary Embrace explored how she learned to love her body, and why so many women are unsatisfied with how they look.
Last year, she followed up with Embrace Kids, which explores the relationship children have with their bodies and covers topics including social media, disability, gender identity, representation and diversity.
She had planned to reach 1 million children over three years but is now looking at cutting that time frame back to 12 months.
"We'll map out a plan over the coming weeks, but the really good thing about any time that I open my mouth anywhere, it's about helping people embrace their bodies, so whatever capacity I'm able to do that in, I will," she said.
"It's a bit of an unknown for me at this stage, but I'm just looking forward to taking every opportunity and really focusing on helping people to understand that their bodies are not ornaments in life but rather the vehicles to their dreams."
