Australian of the Year for 2026 is engineer and astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg.
Bennell-Pegg is making history as the first Australian to qualify as an astronaut under Australia’s space program, opening pathways for others to follow.
Katherine graduated from Basic Astronaut Training in 2024 as part of a class of six trained by the European Astronaut Centre in Germany – the first international candidate to do so. She was initially chosen for the program from a field of over 22,500 applicants.
Katherine has harboured ambitions of becoming an astronaut since she was a young child. As a space engineer, she has advanced multiple space missions and technologies.
Alongside her career achievements, Katherine is an energetic champion for Australia’s space program, regularly presenting to audiences of schoolchildren and industry leaders to inspire the next generation and create new opportunities.
Bennell-Pegg was South Australia’s nominee for Australian of the Year, and the announcement of her appointment was made in Canberra earlier this evening.
Accepting the award Bennell-Pegg said it was an incredible honour, but she shared it with her family, all who help to build Australia’s space industry and those who had helped to educate her.
Working in space has been a lifetime ambition, and she shared that as a child she used to lie on the dry grass and look up to the sky.
“I used to gaze up to the stars in awe. That imperative to look to the sky and wonder, to innovative and explore, is an ancient one on this continent.” Bennel-Pegg said acknowledging Australia’s Indigenous people.
The newly named Australian of the Year also paid tribute to those who had lost their lives or been injured in the recent attack in Bondi.
“During Astronaut training we learned about the overview effect, the cognitive shift that comes from looking back at the earth from orbit. You can’t see borders from up there, just a fragile shared home and a powerful truth – we’re all in this together.”
Dementia prevention researcher Professor Henry Brodaty is the Senior Australian of the Year, while ultra-runner Nedd Brockmann was named Young Australian of the Year, he’s an advocate for ending homelessness.
Frank Mitchell, a Whadjuk-Yued Noongar man, is the Local Hero of 2026 for his work helping Indigenous people access employment. Mitchell is a co-director of Wilco Electrical and co-founder/director, of Kardan, Baldja and Bilyaa in the trades and construction industry.
Starting with just eight staff and $1.5 million turnover, Frank and his partners have created over 70 Aboriginal upskilling positions in the electrical and construction industry, including 30 electrical apprenticeships and awarding over $11 million to Aboriginal subcontractors. Today, all four companies collectively employ over 200 full-time staff.
