Hetty Margarete Johnston (born 27 September 1958), is the founder of Bravehearts Inc., an organisation advocating for better child protection in Australia. She remains a lobbyist who often highlights and promotes action against paedophilia within media, families, schools and in the general community. Johnston has published a book detailing her beliefs called ''In the Best Interests of the Child''.

Politics

Johnston was the

Australian Democrats The Australian Democrats is a centrist political party in Australia. Founded in 1977 from a merger of the Australia Party and the New Liberal Movement, both of which were descended from Liberal Party dissenting splinter groups, it was Austral ...

candidate for Fadden at the 1996 federal election, and an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Senate candidate for Queensland at the 2004 an
2019 federal election
At the

2001 Queensland state election An election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 17 February 2001 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The result of the election was the return of the Labor Party (ALP) government of Premier Peter Beatti ...

, Johnston stood as an independent in the electorate of Springwood. She ran for Mayor of

Logan City Logan City is a local government area situated within the south of the Brisbane metropolitan area in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated between the City of Brisbane to the north and the City of Gold Coast to the south, the City als ...

in October 2015, but withdrew to care for her elderly mother. Johnston also unsuccessfully ran as an independent candidate for the seat of

Macalister Macalister, MacAlister, MacAllister and their variants are forms of a Gaelic surname which means 'son of Alisdair'. The name originated in Scotland and belonged to a branch of the Clan Donald; they became an independent clan in 1493. From about the ...

in the

2017 Queensland state election The 2017 Queensland state election was held on 25 November 2017 to elect all 93 members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the unicameral Parliament of Queensland. The first-term incumbent Labor government, led by Premier Annastacia ...

Honours and awards

Johnston was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Order (distinction), honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of Australia, Queen of Aus ...

(AM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 2014, for service to the community through a range of organisations promoting the welfare and rights of children. In 2015, she was named the Queensland Australian of the Year.

References

1958 births Living people Australian women activists Members of the Order of Australia People from Geelong Australian people of Dutch descent {{australia-bio-stub