News
A motor neurone disease campaigner has joined the ranks of extraordinary individuals dedicated to improving the lives of everyday Australians.
2025 Australian of the Year, Neale Daniher AO, 63, is a former football player who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2013.
During his acceptance speech, which was prerecorded due to his lack of speech, Neal described his condition by saying that MND 'doesn’t discriminate, it robs you of your ability to move, speak, swallow, and eventually breathe'.
He said that instead of just sitting idle, he chose to fight.
It lit a fire within me, a determination to fight for those who are currently affected and those who will face it after me
His wife Jan said a few words on his behalf after Neal was awarded the 2025 Victorian Australian of the Year.
"When Neale was diagnosed, he was told to just tick off his bucket list. But the type of person that he is, he decided that he wanted to do something with the time he had left."
Neale co-founded FightMND, an organisation which raises awareness of the condition and help future generations of those diagnosed with it.
Neal wasn’t the only recipient awarded for championing disability this year, with Brother Thomas Oliver Pickett AM being named Senior Australian of the Year for his work providing wheelchairs to children in developing countries.
Based in Western Australia, the 83-year old retired Catholic school teacher co-founded the charity Wheelchairs for Kids in 1996.
In his speech, Thomas said the charity started after Queensland Rotarian Des LaRance took a holiday to Fiji.
"He found these little kids on the ground with cerebral palsy and he thought: 'I'm going to do something about this'."
At the time, Neal was teaching a steel workshop for youths who had left mainstream schooling.
"That's how I got involved, and I've loved it ever since".
Neal also spearheaded the development of a world-first, low-cost wheelchair that grows as the children do. The charity now produces wheelchairs made to meet World Health Organization standards.