Mr  Ron Radford received the Laureate Medal for his outstanding contribution to the development of the Australian cultural sector.

“Ron is indeed larger than life, he has an exceptional ability to project his vision for a Gallery to enthuse those around him,” said Prof Ted Snell, chair of the Australia Council Visual Arts Board.

“His support of Australian art and Australian artists has been quite simply phenomenal, throughout his career many have benefited from his good counsel, his generosity and his advocacy.”

Australian contemporary artist Fiona Hall, responsible for the fern garden at the NGA,  received the $40,000 Australia Council Visual Arts Laureate Award, acknowledging her exceptional achievements as a visual artist and her outstanding contribution to the development of Australian art.

“Fiona is an exceptional artist who transforms ordinary everyday objects to address big ideas such as globalisation, consumerism, colonialism and natural history,” said Prof Snell.

“Her work has become iconic in the lexicon of contemporary Australian art practice; her magically transformed sardine cans, her transmogrified knitted video tape and her re-imagined bank notes are instantly recognisable and unanimously embraced as works of great beauty.”