Neale Daniher, a campaigner in the fight against motor neurone disease and a former champion Essendon footballer, is the 2025 Australian of the Year,
Himself a sufferer from the deadly disease Daniher, 63, who lives in Victoria, co-founded the charity FightMND, that has raised and invested more than $100 million into research to seek a cure.
Daniher was diagnosed in 2013. “Neale has lived his condition very publicly, even in the advanced stages of the disease,” a statement announcing the award said. He has also defied the usual odds in surviving with the disease for more than a decade when the average life expectancy is 27 months.
