Australian of the Year

Kav Temperley’s songs have shaped Australian music for almost three decades. He co-founded Eskimo Joe in Fremantle in 1997, and the band has won eight ARIA Awards, two APRA Awards and three International Songwriting Competition Awards, with 11 songs voted into Triple J’s Hottest 100. The 2006 hit, Black Fingernails, Red Wine spent 62 weeks in the ARIA Top 50. 

Kav has mentored thousands of emerging musicians through his Fremantle studio and songwriting camps, judged the Vanda and Young Global Songwriting Competition, and co-created ArtsiX, a collaborative project bringing together musicians and visual artists, with more than 80 WA creatives staging exhibitions seen by tens of thousands. He has also advocated for songwriters’ rights before WA Parliament. 

Kav has also supported causes including White Ribbon, Close the Gap and bushfire relief. His contribution over three decades has put Western Australia’s music scene on the map, lighting the way for the next generation of performers.