Alan Tongue edged out Raiders coach Ricky Stuart to be named ACT Australian of the Year on Monday night.

Tongue, who retired from rugby league in 2011, was recognised for his youth intervention and rehabilitation programs with the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, the Alexander Maconochie Centre and disengaged youth in Canberra's schools.

He has also partnered Barnardos to teach young people how to have respectful relationships and regularly serves breakfast to Canberra's homeless at the Early Morning Centre.

"I stand here not because I've done everything right but [because] I've learnt from my mistakes," an emotional Tongue said.

"I don't think I did anything extra, I just used my story like everyone else in this room. You get to a point where you choose to do something with your story. I went [to Bimberi] with a bag of footballs and started a conversation and it grew from there.

"I was fortunate, I've played rugby league my whole life, so to be able to come and share my journey and not all the great things that have happened, more so the tough times, it was an amazing way to connect with people and get the message across and it just sparked something up inside me and it's grown there now.

"Just having that conversation and using movement and sport has just been amazing. I don't know why I'm here, I don't know why this occupation chose me, but it all started with helping someone out next door."

Sports scientist and coach Dick Telford was named the ACT Senior Australian of the Year. At 71, Professor Telford is a volunteer coach to Olympic marathon runners and is devising a way to get physical literacy programs into schools.

An inductee into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, Professor Telford coached distance runners to eight Commonwealth Games medals, including four gold medals, as well as coaching Australia's only Olympic marathon medallist, Lisa Ondieki.

Of his pioneering work in physical literacy, Professor Telford said: "The work with kids funnily enough is really aimed at old chaps like myself. Quality in old age is becoming more and more important as time goes on and the study is exploring how activity from young age impacts us in our old age.

"We're at a very interesting stage of our evolution. In the blink of an eyelid we're all less physically active and yet we know our body is designed to function only properly with physical activity.

"Take that away and things start to go wrong. Now we bring in this term 'physical literacy' and it really is strange that we have to tell human beings 'if you don't move, things aren't going to go in the right direction for you'. That's a very strange thing because for zillions of years we had to move to survive."

The ACT's Young Australian of the Year Heidi Prowse has helped raise more than $360,000 to help people living with Cystic Fibrosis.

Her efforts are personal – months into dating her now husband Andrew, she learnt he had the debilitating disease. The couple organised the inaugural Santa Speedo Shuffle and Mrs Prowse is now the executive officer of Cystic Fibrosis ACT. She also supports parents of newborns diagnosed with the disease.

She hopes the honour will help her to address the level of care people with Cystic Fibrosis can access in the territory.

"My work has shown people in ACT are not getting the same treatment care they can in other states," Mrs Prowse said. "I want to live a long life with my husband and grow old together and better health services will make a difference."

Alpha Cheng, the son of slain police accountant Curtis Cheng, was also nominated in the youth category for his advocacy for gun control and his calls for a united Australia.

After Canberra's soup kitchen lady, Stasia Dabrowski was named the ACT's Local Hero, she was literally dancing for joy.

Born in 1926 in Poland, Mrs Dabrowski's family lost everything during World War II. She arrived in Canberra in 1964 with her husband and young family, and from 1979 ran a mobile soup kitchen in Civic.

The 90-year-old peels and cooks 180 kilograms of vegetables to feed up to 500 people on a busy Friday night, and her efforts have inspired a song to be written about her. Mrs Dabrowski said she liked to be "useful to the community".

"When you have good food you are healthy," she said.

Addressing the awards ceremony, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said "all Canberrans could learn from their example".

"They highlight the importance of strong role models in the community and make us all want to be better citizens," he said. "Our community is made far richer and far stronger because of these role models."

The recipients will represent the ACT in the national Australian of the Year Awards next year.

2017 ACT Australian of the Year

Katrina Fanning – Community leader (Farrer)

Jessica May – Disability advocate (North Lyneham)

Ricky Stuart – Advocate for children with autism (Yarralumla)

Alan Tongue – Youth mentor and educator (Canberra)

2017 ACT Senior Australian of the Year

Judith McLeod – Community volunteer (Weetangera)

Wendy Rainbird – Environmental champion (Canberra)

Terry Snow AM – Philanthropist (Deakin)

Dick Telford – Sports Scientist (Forrest)

2017 ACT Young Australian of the Year

Alpha Cheng – Humanitarian (Barton)

Heidi Prowse – Cystic Fibrosis champion (Hackett)

Rachael Stevens – Mental health advocate (Holder)

Caterina Sullivan – Sustainable development activist (O'Connor)

2017 ACT Local Hero

David Boddy – Community champion (Chapman)

Stasia Dabrowski OAM – Soup kitchen volunteer (Canberra)

Tash Maguire – Childhood cancer crusader (Marchment)

Marg Peachey – Wildlife warrior (Kambah)