When it comes to abuse, silence only helps the perpetrators

In an emotional and inspiring step onto the national stage, Tasmania's Grace Tame has been crowned Australian of the Year for her advocacy and campaign work for survivors of sexual assault.

While the pandemic, the bushfires, and the drought dominated the news for much of 2020, the diversity of the women honoured as Australians of the Year are a reminder these are not the only challenges we have faced.

Because of their universal impact, the pandemic, the economic devastation it has caused, the "black summer", and climate change can divert attention from less publicised crises which are just as devastating for those caught up in them.

The awards were a unique opportunity to reflect on these challenges and the brave and wonderful people driving change.

Australian of the Year, sexual assault survivor and advocate, Grace Tame is truly inspirational.

Rather than be crushed by an experience that often destroys lives, she fought back to achieve a significant change to Tasmanian law.

Ms Tame was galvanised into action when the teacher convicted of grooming, and then repeatedly raping and abusing her, when she was just 15 used a YouTube interview with Bettina Arndt to claim he was a victim of extreme feminism.

When Ms Tame tried to set the record straight she discovered that under Tasmanian law she was prohibited from doing so even though the perpetrator and the media could talk about her case.

Despite the obvious injustice of this, it took a two-year-long, $10,000 Tasmanian Supreme Court case to obtain an exemption.

Once allowed to publicly self-identify, this courageous young woman founded the #LetHerSpeak campaign to have the law repealed in its entirety.

Tasmanian sexual abuse survivors now have the same rights to speak about their experiences as those elsewhere.

Selfless: Peter Gogarty, of Vacy, said there needed to be a complete overhaul of the status of the Catholic Church. He said there was still a "humongous job to do" and so "I just have to keep doing it". Picture: Marina Neil

The importance of this freedom was highlighted by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse which ran from 2013 to 2017.

It's also a cause close to the heart of Hunter abuse survivor Peter Gogarty, who was this week awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, for service to the community through support for survivors of childhood abuse.

During the Royal Commission, hundreds of people spoke of the ordeals they had endured; many for the first time in their lives publicly.

Their courageous testimony contributed to a significant shift in public perceptions of the scale and impact of abuse, and to the laws governing reporting, compensation and redress.

Silence, as Ms Tame said on Monday, only helps the perpetrators.

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