When Will Smith received the phone call letting him know he was nominated for Tasmania Young Australian of the Year, it was the first time he knew he had been nominated.
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It turned out a former schoolteacher, who he hadn't spoken to for 10 years, had been keeping an eye on his impressive list of achievements, and had been rallying behind the scenes for his nomination.
"It was a really touching moment for me - for someone to reach out and put in an anonymous nomination really means a lot," he said.
Mr Smith is a Launceston police officer, the director of JCP Empowering Youth, an organiser of Edmund Rice Camps Tasmania which connect police officers to act as role models for vulnerable youth, and also went to Syria this year to set up soccer teams for young people in ISIS recruitment areas.
Also nominated from the North was Lola Greeno, an Indigenous woman from Cape Barren Island, who is up for Tasmania Senior Australian of the Year for her 30 years of award-winning shell artistry.
The four award recipients from Tasmania will be announced on October 18 at Government House, Hobart.
They will then join the other state and territory recipients for the national awards ceremony at the National Arboretum in Canberra on January 25.
Tasmanian nominations
Australian of the Year
Associate Professor Dawn Aitken - Osteoarthritis researcher (Hobart)
Dr Britta Denise Hardesty - Researcher in plastics pollution (Hobart)
Dr Jess Melbourne-Thomas - Marine research scientist (Hobart)
Melody Towns - Anti-slavery advocate (Hobart)
Senior Australian of the Year
Lola Greeno - Visual artist and designer (Launceston)
Dorothy Hallam - Film and television pioneer (Tasman Peninsula)
Sarah Parry - Sail trainer and youth mentor (Hobart)
Dr Graeme Stevenson - Landcare activist (Somerset)
Young Australian of the Year
Matthew Etherington - Soccer coach and mental health advocate (Hobart)
Will Smith - Social justice activist (Launceston)
Madeline Wells - First Nations advocate, protector and defender (North West Tasmania)
Grace Williams - Filmmaker, law student and human rights advocate (Hobart)
Local Hero
Betsy Hanson - Community choir leader (Sandford)
Simon Reade - Composer and musical director (Hobart)
Dr Charles Rose - President of UTAS Cricket Club (Hobart)
Thomas Windsor - Advocate for men's health (Hobart)
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