How a thick skin and curated socials got Taryn Brumfitt through 2023

The next person to be named Australian of the Year will need a thick skin, says body image advocate and 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt.

"There will be a lot of people who don't think you're worthy, there will be a lot of drama, people will write things about you that are untrue," she says.

Ms Brumfitt spent her time as 2023 Australian of the Year busting myths about health and wellness while helping people, young and old, embrace their bodies.

The Embrace Collective, which Brumfitt leads with body image expert Dr Zali Yager, estimates her message that "there is not just one type of healthy body and that everyone has the right to feel good about themselves" has reached one million children over the past 12 months.

But there have been challenges.

The morning after accepting her award from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on January 25, 2023, the 45-year-old went online to read the public's reaction .

"It was a sobering moment in a hotel room reading some comments from the papers and online. Not advisable," she said.

"There was a lot of noise."

Journalist Mike Carlton posted one such comment saying a frontline worker would have been more deserving and not "someone who makes a buck out of saying it's ok to be a bit fat".

Ms Brumfitt said the 2024 Australian of the Year, to be announced on January 25, deserved a chance to prove themselves before they're judged.

"We talk about a fair go in Australia," she said. "Let's give the next Australian of the Year a fair go."

The director of hit 2016 Netflix documentary Embrace said she "made a quick decision early on" to channel her attention away from commenters.

Instead she stayed "laser focused" on reaching children with a message to appreciate their bodies and celebrate all the things that made them unique.

She encouraged social media users to follow her lead and embrace their power to curate the content they're exposed to online.

"Block, mute, delete, repeat," was the mantra learnt from podcaster, actress and activist Jameela Jamil.

"You can remove people who are shaming you or making you feel bad," Ms Brumfitt said.

Children and teenagers seeing unrealistic beauty standards on social media platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Youtube had a "profound risk" on mental and physical health.

Ms Brumfitt hoped her year of workshops, keynote speeches and question-and-answer sessions taught young social media users that they had the power to curate the content in their feeds.

She watched the penny drop "many times" speaking to teenagers throughout 2023.

"Sure, there are algorithms but you can drive what comes up in your algorithm by making sure that you're following accounts that are not body focused," Ms Brumfitt said.

"I go on social media for a really short amount of time and I only follow people that lift me up."

Through The Embrace Collective, Ms Brumfitt campaigned for major changes to the school curriculum alongside the group Eating Disorders Families Australia.

The recommended changes included that formerly accepted practices such as recording and comparing body measurements and calculating body mass index (BMI) or caloric intake should be removed.

"There used to be more than 340 search results in the Australian Curriculum for terms such as BMI, weight, calories, healthier, class surveys, food and diet," EDFA campaigner Kylie Burton said.

"Now there is only one - and that links to the advice for teachers to avoid these types of activities," she said.

A free and downloadable classroom program was also developed by The Embrace Collective for school years five to eight exploring themes of body image, bullying and gender identity.

Its five modules were designed to be included in lesson plans and were aligned to the curriculum.

The buck didn't stop with social media or schools. Ms Brumfitt thought the biggest opportunities for change rested with parents and trusted adults.

"What we're trying to do is get every adult in Australia to be really responsible about how they talk about their body and other people's bodies in front of young people," she said.

"Please stop talking negatively about your body and anyone else's body ever again. It's the fast track to change because kids are looking up to us to model positive behaviour."

She said it could feel uncomfortable for many adults to speak and think positively about their own bodies after years of conditioning by social beauty and body standards.

And that's why a focus on the functionality of the body, and not how it looks, was important, she said.

"It's climbing the mountain and getting to the top, not checking your watch for the calories lost but rather looking at the view," she said.

Telling children "the most interesting thing about you is not how you look" has opened doors to exciting conversations, Ms Brumfitt said.

"I ask them to tell me who they are," she said. "It's been one of the best parts of my year. For kids there's been just such an intense joy when they talk about how clever their bodies are."

The year has been "the most hectic" of Ms Brumfitt's life.

"It doesn't sound like a lot but I took 92 flights and did 100 keynotes and Q and A's and hundreds of appearances," she said.

"It was a lot." And she said it probably wouldn't slow down.

"We did this work for 10 years before Australian of the year and that decade was pretty busy too," she said.

The Embrace Collective was turning its attention to "the next phase in their mission for change" as Mr Brumfitt's 12 months as Australian of the Year ended.

She planned to extend the collective's reach to more children and would continue to help teachers and parents support good physical and mental wellbeing for their kids.

"It's not like Australian of the Year finishes and then the work that I do ceases to exist."

She said she'll probably put her "foot down even harder".