The Sports Australia Hall of Fame awards are in their 40th year. F1 and surfing legends Oscar Piastri and Layne Beachley were presented with the top awards, and six other Australian sports superstars were inducted into the coveted group.
More than a thousand guests filled Crown Palladium in Melbourne this week to witness Australian sporting greats honoured for their achievements.
Basketballer Andrew Gaze and cricketer Belinda Clark were crowned with ‘Legend’ status in front of an audience that included Dawn Fraser AC MBE, Raelene Boyle AM MBE, Ian Thorpe AM, Leigh Matthews AM, John Eales AM, Anne Sargeant OAM, Wally Lewis AM, Bruce McAvaney OAM, and The Hon John Howard OM AC.
Inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame at the event were snowboarder Torah Bright, AFL footballer Jason Dunstall, tennis ace Lleyton Hewitt, Rugby League’s Cameron Smith, netballer Laura Geitz, footballer Mark Schwarzer and sports medicine practitioner Dr Peter Harcourt.
Aussie surfer Layne Beachley and McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri took home the nation’s highest sporting accolades, however.
Piastri was awarded The Don award, named after cricketer Sir Donald Bradman, for his achievements that have ‘most inspired the nation’ over the last year. The recognition comes as Melbourne-born Piastri and teammate Lando Norris have all but secured the 2025 Constructors Championship for McLaren, and are now battling it out for the number one spot in the driver standings.
“Thank you for everyone that waves the flag and cheers me on around all the races I really appreciate it and thank you very much for choosing me to be the recipient. It is a real honour, and I look forward to representing our country for many years to come,” Piastri said when presented with the Don award.
Beachley honoured in the name of Dawn Fraser
Born-and-bred in the Sydney suburb of Manly, surfer Beachley was presented with the Dawn Award, named after swimmer Dawn Fraser, for demonstrating courage, bravery, and changing surfing for the better.
“It was a really overwhelming experience. It’s a beautiful opportunity to be celebrated and recognised, but there’s a part of me that feels like it’s premature because my job’s not done,” Beachley told Forbes Australia editor-in-chief Sarah O’Carroll at the Forbes Australia Women’s Soiree in Sydney the next day.
“But it’s nice to take the time to stop and reflect on where I’ve come from, what I’ve achieved, what I’ve overcome. It keeps inspiring me and motivating me to do more.”
Beachley sat down for an interview with Forbes Australia at Cirq on the 26th floor of Crown Towers. She discussed winning six consecutive world titles, and mental fitness, alongside Tess Brouwer, the co-author of the 2024 book The Awake Academy.
“Every single one of those world titles took an enormous amount of mental fitness,” says Beachley, who took home her final surfing title in 2006 after coming back from injury.
“The toughest one was world title number seven.”
Beachley calls receiving the Dawn award a surprising and overwhelming moment.
“Dawn Fraser is one of my absolute heroes, so to receive this award in her name fills me with immense pride and joy. She is one of my favourite humans – I refer to her as the matriarch of sport in this country – and I’m very proud to be receiving this award in her honour.”
The 53-year-old committed herself to improving the state of women’s surfing when she joined the pro tour in1990, calling it a misogynistic, sexist and sometimes unpleasant environment.
“Through those sacrifices, through those battles, we ultimately landed at pay equity in 2018 – and now women’s surfing is at a place where women can truly aspire to be seen and respected in what was once referred to as a very male-dominated environment – is incredibly satisfying and rewarding.”
These days, Beachley is committed to improving the mental fitness of all Australians via the Awake Academy which she co-founded with Brouwer, drawing on the fortitude she developed on the world surfing circuit.
“I retired from the pro tour back in 2008, so to be recognised for the impact that I had on the sport over the 19 years that I was a professional athlete – and continue to have as a director and ambassador of Surfing Australia – fills me with immense pride and satisfaction.”
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