AMAZING GRACE

Grace Tame will not be defined by darkness. The 26-year-old Tasmanian is a self-described optimist who finds beauty in nature and solace in salty sea swims. Her piercing blue eyes light up when she speaks on issues she’s passionate about, and soften when talk turns to her boyfriend and tight-knit family. She’s a keen runner who entered her first marathon last year, and won, and a talented artist who toured the US as comedian John Cleese’s illustrator. And she’s a survivor of child sexual abuse, whose courageous advocacy helped overturn oppressive “victim gag laws” in Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and earned her the title of 2021 Australian of the Year.

“I get frustrated when people only want to focus on the negative details–tell me about your rape; take us back to your darkest moment,” she says as we chat on a rainy Thursday after the marie claire photo shoot. “When there’s all this rage and widespread shock, we can get stuck in a cycle of darkness–and that’s not productive.”

Tame’s mission, rather, is to shed light on the ugly realities of child grooming and sexual abuse–to break through the walls of silence that have allowed corrupt cultures to thrive. “Together we can end child sexual abuse; survivors be proud, our voices are changing history!” she declared in a heart-pounding acceptance speech for her national honour on January 25, as the room erupted in cheers and tears. Since then, she’s become Australia’s woman