South African-born Carrie Leeson has been appointed the chief executive of the National Australia Day Council.
The former CEO of Lifeline Canberra starts her new job on Monday - and early.
She will be on the Kingston Foreshore from 5.30am to help promote nominations for the 2027 Australian of the Year awards with live crosses during the weather breaks on the national breakfast program, Sunrise.
The National Australia Day Council is an Australian government organisation that promotes both Australia Day and the Australian of the Year awards.
Nominations for the 2027 Australian of the Year Awards close at midnight on Friday, July 31. They can be made at www.australianoftheyear.org.au/nominate
A dual citizen - she became an Australian in 2009 - Ms Leeson is excited to start in her new job.
"Being born in South Africa and now having the privilege of leading the National Australia Day Council feels very much like a modern Australian story," she said.
"I came here seeking opportunity, found community and belonging and now have the chance to serve the country my family and I call home."
Ms Leeson is the "very proud" mother of two sons, Rory, 12, and Ryan, 10, from a previous relationship.
Her partner of six years has been Josh Torney, from the Ned and Josh podcast. The couple met through work, with Torney an ambassador for Lifeline.
"He's a gem of a human. He has a beautiful heart," she said.
Ms Leeson came to Canberra in 2004 to be with then-fiancee, later husband, South African-born rugby union player Clyde Rathbone, who was playing for the Brumbies.
The couple later divorced, but Ms Leeson stayed in Canberra.
"The people made me stay," she said.
"I found a genuine sense of community and possibility here and over time Australia became not simply where I lived, but home."
Ms Leeson said growing up in South Africa made her grateful for life in Australia.
She also took inspiration from former South African president Nelson Mandela for the way he worked to unite the country. She shares a birthday with him and met him on her 16th birthday.
"To see how you can overcome and you can unite and the way he did it with such dignity and grace is something I always strive to bring in what I'm doing. So I know it's going to be an incredible role from that perspective," she said.
"Certainly it's about celebration and inspiration, but I think a large part of it, and an appeal is we can create that safe space for people to respect and to reflect, but certainly to connect and belong to the same country. So I am looking forward to those aspects."
Ms Leeson said Australia Day, to her, was "an opportunity to reflect honestly on our history, respect the different experiences and stories Australians bring and celebrate the people and contributions that continue to shape our country".
National Australia Day Council chair Nikki Govan said Ms Leeson was "a trusted and collaborative leader with a deep commitment to the values at the heart of the NADC's work".
"She has spent her career stewarding trusted national organisations, and the Board is delighted to welcome her," Ms Govan said.
