On January 25, the recipients for the Australian of the Year 2022 were announced.

Of course there were big shoes to fill considering last year's incredible lineup, which included Grace Tame.

But 2022 also delivered, with some amazing people recognised for their volunteerism, disability advocacy, work combatting alcoholism in the country, and providing healthcare for the homeless.

Here's everything we know about the four Australians of the Year: Dylan Alcott, Valmai Dempsey, Dr Daniel Nour and Shanna Whan.

Watch: Dylan Alcott speaks on disability representation. Post continues below.

Dylan Alcott: Australian of the Year 2022.

Paralympic champion and tennis golden grand slam winner Dylan Alcott is of course our 2022 Australian of the Year.

In his acceptance speech, Alcott says his disability is the "best thing that ever happened" to him.

"It really is... I love my disability. I'm so lucky that I had one of the best families, some of the best friends, my beautiful partner and my whole team who told me that I was worthy. I love the person that I am and the life I get to live," he said.

At 31 years old, Alcott has a long list of achievements and a full trophy case to match.

The tennis star has also won 23 quad wheelchair Grand Slam titles and became the first man to win a 'golden slam' of all four major singles titles last year.

He also has seven Australian Open titles to his name and is about to compete for his eighth at the Australian Open quad wheelchair singles final on Thursday.

When he's not on the court, Alcott is busy being a passionate disability advocate.

In 2017, he founded the Dylan Alcott Foundation to help young Aussies with disabilities "overcome the barriers of entry to sport and education by providing fundraising for grants, scholarships and mentoring".

The same year, he co-founded Get Skilled Access, a disability and accessibility training start-up. He also runs AbilityFest, Australia's first and only fully accessible music festival.

During his Australian of the Year speech, Alcott also called for "greater representation of people with a disability absolutely everywhere".

"In our boardrooms, in our parliaments, in our mainstream schools, on our dating apps, on our sporting fields, in our universities, absolutely everywhere, so we get the opportunity to start living our lives, just like everybody else."

Valmai Dempsey: Senior Australian of the Year 2022.

St John Ambulance volunteer Valmai (Val) Dempsey is the 2022 Senior Australian of the Year.

The 71-year-old was recognised for her volunteerism and incredible efforts for over 50 years. Dempsey started as a cadet volunteer while still in primary school and has given her life to St John Ambulance.

And amazingly, she is one of the ACT's longest-serving volunteers.

Throughout the years, Dempsey has seen the need for volunteers in the health service sector. But it was from 2019 onwards where Dempsey has been credited for her work in responding to the Black Summer bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic.

She led 40 fellow volunteers as they supported fire-affected communities during the emergency that stretched over many weeks.

The 2022 #SeniorAustralian of the Year is Valmai Dempsey for her over 50 years of voluntary work for @stjohnambulance in the ACT. @ausoftheyear https://t.co/CAKy7HN5Al pic.twitter.com/KcLBUf19Zg

— Talking Aged Care (@talkingagedcare)

Then when the pandemic hit, Dempsey displayed unwavering commitment to the St John team, despite heavy impacts on team morale. Without hesitation, she personally contacted every volunteer to check they were doing okay in terms of welfare, mental health and morale.

It is these tireless commitments to St John that has led many in the community to know her lovingly as 'Aunty Val'.

In her acceptance speech at the Australian of the Year Awards, Dempsey shared with the audience: "Our family was forever changed by a car accident more than three decades ago where people came to help but didn't know what to do."

When Dempsey's daughter Michelle was 17, she was driving some friends in Canberra in the late 1980s.

"A car came through the lights and collided with her. It rolled the car over and ploughed them into a telegraph pole. There were other cars at the scene. And my daughter remembers very clearly the people gathered around. And the words she relayed to me later were, 'Mum, they didn't step forward because they said they didn't know what to do'," Dempsey shared with ABC.

A friend died as a result of the accident. Trained first-aider Michelle was helplessly trapped in the car.

In a bid to make a difference, Dempsey started Project Survival, teaching people with addiction issues to help others who overdose.

The Senior Australian of the Year is also setting her sights on road safety, hoping to see first aid training become compulsory for learner drivers, as it is in parts of Europe.

She concluded her speech on Tuesday night by saying: "As a nation, we can rethink our approach to those critical minutes between life and death at a road accident. I believe holding out a hand to someone or taking the opportunities to be kind: it makes all the difference and it will come back to you 1000-fold."