As the Australian of the Year announcement nears, Tasmania's finalist is leading the pack as the punters' favourite ahead of two of the nation's crisis leaders.
Betting markets have Grace Tame as the favourite for 2021's Australian of the Year, with the winner to be crowned on Monday evening.
Following the 26-year-old are Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons from NSW and top health bureaucrat Brendan Murphy from the ACT.
Ms Tame is a sexual assault survivor who now advocates for the right of victims to speak out against their abuse.
After being silenced by Tasmania's victim gag laws she became the first woman in the state granted an exemption to speak publicly about her assault, which was at the hands of a high school teacher when she was 15 years old.
Ms Tame says she's a representative of the assault survivor community, and that being a finalist for Australian of the Year is a powerful sign of progress in attitudes towards the issue.
"If we can keep working to this end of changing the conditions in our society towards conditions that are more supportive and more empowering for survivors, to make them feel safe," she told AAP.
The winner will take on the mantle from 2020's Australian of the Year, eye surgeon James Muecke.
Taking the title would be poetic pandemic timing for Professor Murphy, as Monday marks one year since Australia recorded its first coronavirus case.
As the nation's chief medical officer the 65-year-old was pivotal in ensuring governments put health advice front and centre of the response.
"Everyone has pulled together and as a nation we've shown just how powerful we can be."
Like many Australians, Prof Murphy bore witness to former Rural Fire Service boss Shane Fitzsimmons' leadership throughout last summer's deadly bushfires.
Heartbreaking images of Mr Fitzsimmons, whose own dad died battling an out-of-control fire, awarding bravery and service awards to toddlers instead of their fathers were shared around the world.
Mr Fitzsimmons now heads Resilience NSW, and says becoming Australian of the Year would be an opportunity to promote the importance of volunteers, mental health and community.
The Northern Territory's finalist Wendy Page says the pandemic has put health education front and centre, helping her goal of raising awareness of strongyloidiasis, a disease caused by roundworm.
Queensland's Australian of the Year Dinesh Palipana was in a car accident that left him with spinal cord injuries. He went on to co-found Doctors with Disabilities Australia and create policies for inclusivity in medical education and employment.
South Australia's candidate for the top gong is Tanya Hosch, the AFL's general manager for inclusion and social policy, a passionate Indigenous-rights advocate.
Founder of the National Homeless Collective Donna Stolzenberg is Victoria's Australian of the Year, working to better educate the public on homelessness.
Coronavirus restrictions prevented Western Australia's Australian of the Year, the country's first Indigenous doctor Helen Milroy, from attending Canberra for the festivities.
