Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the General Division as well as the founder and CEO of the grassroots charity Sober in the Country Ltd (SITC), Shanna Whan has been honoured on Australia Day as SITC prepares to celebrate a decade next month.

The date is also very significant for Shanna and her husband, Tim, and will mark a decade since Shanna had her last drink and fought back from end-stage alcohol addiction which almost cost her life.

“Being awarded an Order of Australia medal is an incredibly humbling recognition as we head into celebrating a decade of SITC, but the most important thing to me, as always, is that it will help our beautiful little team to continue our work, advocacy, and awareness,’’ Shanna said.

Shanna’s story is remarkable, as is her simple but powerful message, which the entire outback is adopting: that it’s always #OK2SAYNO to beers in the bush.

It’s a user-friendly message of mateship, support, and change — one she said has been desperately overdue for decades in our booze-fuelled nation.

Shanna always stresses that SITC has never (and will never) take a prohibitionist stance. The charity focuses on education about respecting individuals’ choices—whether they’re cutting back or quitting booze—and that community support, catering, and inclusion for non-drinkers changes and saves lives.

From being a Rural Woman of the Year finalist in 2017 to more recent accolades, including being crowned national Local Hero in the Australia Day Awards in 2022 and Marie Claire’s Advocate of the Year (also in 2022), Sober in the Country has continued to evolve.

From humble beginnings and a tentative personal blog in 2015 – the charity now regularly reaches an organic audience of hundreds of thousands.

“What I am most proud of is that through the charity, we’ve created Australia’s first rural-specificnational online peer support space for like-minded souls to gather and share their stories, challenges, and victories safely and without judgment. The stories of hope are indescribable,’’ Shanna said.

To mark the big decade milestone, the charity is hosting its annual #OK2SAYNO DAY fundraiser.

“We hope that those who have benefited from our work and advocacy over the past decade (no matter where they live) will join our barbecue challenge on Saturday, February 22 - where we’re once again asking those who can to gather a few people to host a smoko, barbecue (or whatever it might be) and to donate the usual alcohol budget towards SITC and help our charity keep forging ahead to show support for our mates who can’t safely have ‘just a few’.”

Early next year, Sober in the Country will also host its inaugural conference. Shanna has said it will be the nation’s first-ever alcohol-free ag industry conference – and an extraordinary opportunity to gather their Bush Tribe members in one place to say hi in real life.

“To think our whole family – which is honestly what it’s like – can finally get together officially is a really exciting opportunity. I can hardly wait,’’ Shanna said.

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