A Perth mother who became a passionate campaigner for vaccination after her son died of whooping cough has been named WA's Young Australian of the Year.
She joins a nurse fighting on the frontline against Ebola, a returned serviceman advocate and an RFDS doctor also recognised during Western Australia's Australian of the Year Awards at Government House on Sunday. 
Catherine Hughes lost her son Riley to whooping cough in   March when he was just one month old and too young to be immunised against the deadly respiratory bacteria.
In a post written on Facebook shortly after Riley's death, the 28-year-old mother said she wanted to be a driver of change to protect others against the preventable disease.
"We're desperate to ensure the passing of our child has not been in vain and to try and assist other families who may be potentially suffering from similar circumstances," Ms Hughes said.
"Long term we'd ideally like to be the drivers of change within this country surrounding the treatment, management and long term eradication of this horrific disease."
As a direct result of Riley's death, every state and territory in Australia has implemented free booster shots for pregnant women to provide the best defence against whooping cough in newborn babies.
Ms Hughes also raised $70,000 for whooping cough research and instigated a viral campaign for the donation of more than 45,000 vaccines to UNICEF.
The state's top honour of WA's Australian of the Year went to Esperance woman Anne Carey.
Ms Carey was a Red Cross midwife and nurse during the ebola crisis that took hold of Sierra Leone in 2014, and was among the first volunteers to arrive.
Every day she was taped into a sterilised suit to protect her from the deadly virus, which spreads by contact with blood or other bodily fluids.
Ms Carey said when she first started her work the virus was extremely quick to kill, with a death rate of about 80 per cent, but she felt "privileged" to help.
"I was very privileged to answer yes and go, I saw it as privilege to help these people who were so hurt, " she said. 
Despite the risk Ms Carey stayed to take blood samples, medicate victims, and help affected mothers deliver their babies.
Ex-serviceman Graham Edwards, who had both legs amputated after being hit by an exploding mine in Vietnam in the 1970s, was awarded WA's Senior Australian of the Year for his contributions to defence, disability services and veterans' policy.
WA's Local Hero honour went to Royal Flying Doctor Service doctor Stephen Langford, whose advocacy led to Hawker 800 jets being introduced to reduce transfer times patients in remote areas.
The Western Australia winners will join recipients from other states and territories as finalists in the national awards to be announced on   January 25 in Canberra. 
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