A number of Townsville's most outstanding citizens have been recognised for their efforts, taking out top honours in today's Australia Day Awards.
The Australia Day Awards ceremony was held at Jezzine Barracks, recognising residents and organisations for their contributions and achievements across seven categories.
Acting Mayor Ann-Maree Greaney said while there was tough competition across all categories, the winners embodied what it meant to be Australian, going above and beyond for the community.
"Each year we have a really tough time picking our Australia Day Award winners because the quality of nominees is always sensational," Cr Greaney said.
"As a proud garrison city it was a real honour to present Edmund "Ted" Mildren as the 2025 Citizen of the Year for his tireless work making a difference to, and advocating for members of the Air Force and their families.
"As a founding member of the RAAF Association Townsville Branch in 1990, Ted has been involved with the association for more than 40 years, his advocacy for military firefighters has been recognised by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"Ethan Cavanagh took out the young Citizen of the Year Award and is recognised for his generous annual donation drives to various charities including the Ronald McDonald House and recently his support of those facing homelessness through his Bags of Kindness campaign for Althea Projects.
"The founder of Queensland's longest running local community drum circle, the Full Moon Drum Circle's Alex Salvador was awarded the Arts and Culture Award, recognising his work with schools, Indigenous communities and the youth detention centre, along with his efforts to connect community to fundraising causes like the Typhoon Haiyan Aid Appeal."
Councillor Greaney said Townsville had thousands of amazing volunteers who embodied the great Australian values through their work, making this year's decision harder than ever.
"With recent cost of living pressures, the work of the Townsville Toy Library has never been so important, in their support of countless Townsville families giving them access to high-quality, educational toys while limiting the impact to the environment since 1978," Cr Greaney said.
"It was terrific to be able to award the Community Volunteer award to the Toy Library and celebrate their team of around 50 volunteers alongside their dedicated committee."
Councillor Greaney said when it came to environmental sustainability in Townsville, Jason Lange's name was hard to miss, especially for his environmental stewardship in his business Atlas Soils.
"Jason's innovative work to limit what ends up in landfill through the reuse of what most people would deem as rubbish is quite refreshing, and I'm pleased he has been recognised for his efforts in sustainability, especially as we become more aware of recovering resources in the efforts of creating a circular economy," she said.
"It's wonderful to be able to recognise Finn O'Neill as our Junior Sports Award winner this year for his achievements in both indoor and outdoor hockey across local, state and national levels, even representing Australia in Europe and Malaysia.
"Our Senior Sports Award winner this year was none other than 21-year-old sprinter, Olivia Ford for her nationally recognised achievements and dedication on and off the track. She is the current National Champion for 100m and 200m and ranked number 1 as aT01 (Deaf Classification) in Australia and Oceania, and I can't wait to follow her journey in the Deaflympics in Toykyo later this year.
"The Australia Day Awards are such a special way to celebrate our diverse and inclusive community, and I can't think of a better way to recognise the characteristics of what it means to be Australian than by honouring these recipients."
Visit our Australia Day Awards page for more about past and present winners.
