He joins professional tennis player Ash Barty, social justice activist from Launceston Will Smith, the founder of Trash Mob, a youth-led community group that meets every month to pick up rubbish in public areas in Canberra, Madeline Diamond and Yarlalu Thomas a medical student transforming genetic health care services for remote Indigenous people.

Mitchell Ford, 19, is the founder of PRVT Apparel.

An acronym for 'prevention', the clothing brand is on a mission to spread awareness and provide information to those suffering in silence.

With suicide the leading cause of death for young people in the NT and Australia, Ford is committed to tackling the stigma attached to talking about mental health.

After losing a close friend at age 16, he said he wanted to do something proactive to help, and since has been an active voice in the community.

The youth suicide awareness clothing line also won Ford Katherine's Young Citizen of the Year award earlier this year.

National Australia Day Council CEO, Ms Karlie Brand, said the national finalists represented the diversity of Australia and the many ways in which people were achieving and contributing.

"The national finalists are an extraordinary group of people whose impact ranges from medical and scientific endeavours to volunteering, human rights advocacy, education, sustainability action and more," said Ms Brand.

She said their stories reflect Australia's communities and are a reminder everyone can make a difference.

"As this is the 60th anniversary of the Australian of the Year Awards, it is a particularly special year to be a finalist," she said.

"We look forward to welcoming all the national finalists to Canberra in January and celebrating their achievements and the history of the Australian of the Year Awards."

Sports physician and ex-RAAF flying doctor, Dr Geoffrey Thompson, from Darwin is also contending for an award.

The NT's Australian of the Year Dr Thompson is one of the Northern Territory's quiet achievers, with a distinguished career as a flying doctor and history of service to sports medicine and the community.

Born in rural South Australia in 1945, Dr Thompson graduated in medicine before joining the Royal Australian Air Force as a flight surgeon and medical officer.

In 1974, when Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin, he was responsible for overseeing the RAAF effort to evacuate the city and during the days that followed, and with many sleepless nights, he helped treat and evacuate severely injured citizens of Darwin - despite having lost his own home and possessions.

After leaving the RAAF, he spent considerable time to performing general medical clinics in remote Indigenous communities, often using his own plane for transport.

Awards will be presented at the National Arboretum in Canberra on Saturday, January 25, 2020.

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