A former world number one tennis player, his climb to the top was one of determination and hard work. Pat Rafter's serve-volley game is the epitome of power tennis. Once voted Australia's most recognisable sports personality, he has a huge following as a fair and decent player in a game which has its fair share of bad sports. Off the court, Pat Rafter has established the `Cherish the Children' foundation through Brisbane Children's Hospital to help needy kids. Born in Mount Isa in 1972 and brought up on the Sunshine Coast, just north of Brisbane, Pat is the third youngest of nine children.

Most of the the nation's talented classical performers are little known outside Australia, but Dame Joan Sutherland is a remarkable exception. This highly acclaimed Sydney-born opera singer made her debut at London's Covent Garden in 1952, and went on to spend 20 years there as a leading soprano. Her performances drew rave reviews in the USA and Europe, and she was given the name `La Stupenda' by Italian audiences. Ms Sutherland was made a dame in 1979 and gave her glittering farewell performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1990.

Renowned for movies such as The Bounty (1984), Hamlet (1990) and Maverick (1994), Mel Gibson's laid back attitude to film-making and his approachability ensure his status as one of the mega-stars of Hollywood. Although he was born in New York in 1956, Mel grew up in Australia, where he attended drama school. He first made a name for himself in George Miller's Mad Max in 1979. One of his most popular roles has been the unstable Martin Riggs in the Lethal Weapon movies, the fourth of which was released in 1998. Mel made his directorial debut with The Man Without a Face, where he again stunned audiences with his considerable talent. In 1996 he won an Oscar as Best Director for Braveheart, a movie which received four other awards, including Best Picture.