Australian of the Year Awards

We’re delighted to share that we are official nominees in the Australian of the Year Awards 2025. We have been named as one of four Victorian nominees in the ‘Local Hero’ category.

Established in 2003, Australia's Local Hero acknowledges people making a difference in their local community. A thoughtful parent at Full Spectrum Theatre (whose identity remains a mystery to us!) brought our work to the attention of The Australian of the Year Awards. Thousands of people are nominated each year, so we feel honoured to be among the final four in Victoria. We’ll be attending the awards at the Arts Centre on November 8th and hope you’ll join us via the livestream on ABC iView.

We founded Full Spectrum Theatre to “scratch our own itch” after struggling to find a place where our son could make friends and build a healthy self-esteem. It soon became clear that we’re not alone, as dozens of families arrived… and never left.

Full Spectrum Theatre was originally going to be just one term, but when kids didn’t want to leave, we extended it to a full year. As our first actors graduated after that first year, one actor took Jenny aside and said “How dare you take away the only place I have.” And indeed, how could we? So writing original plays with neurodiverse roles, and designing curriculum that is truly transformative, has dominated our days and nights for years now. It’s become a full family affair with us writing/directing, our eldest son doing much of the tech and our youngest son pulling free coffees for parents in the parent cafe. Even our Aussie Shepherd, Presley, provides emotional support to actors that need some “furapy”.

After locking up and loading up the trailer each week, we always feel a deep tiredness from being “on” all day. We drive home trying not to think about work, but cannot help but share the stunning breakthroughs we witnessed, and exactly which actors’ eyes started sparkling that day. This challenging work is as fulfilling for us, as it is for the actors that bound through our doors every Saturday. That’s why we do it. 

This award came out of the blue and it feels foreign for the spotlight to land squarely on us. Our hope though, is that the method we’ve developed at Full Spectrum Theatre® can spread Australia-wide and ultimately globally. Autism rates are at all time highs and methods like this are needed more than ever. There is immense intelligence and talent in every child, like a pilot light waiting to be ignited. All they need is a place where they feel safe to be their true selves.

Thanks for your support.

Drew and Jenny Heriot

The Victorian awards ceremony will be live streaming on ABC iView on Friday, November 8th, 2024 @ 7:15pm (AEDT)