Take, for instance, Rhonda Wilson, Amanda Johnson and Donna Hartz. The Daily Liberal in Dubbo, NSW, told their subscribers about these women but their tale deserves telling further afield.

Dubbo is only a few clicks over 300km south of Walgett, but the women come from Newcastle, another 400km east. Yet they all found themselves in Walgett this week.

The shire was one of the handful which caused so much angst last week when stay-at-home orders were given before the statewide lockdown. Almost 30 per cent of people in the town are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, according to census data.

Those two factors - and the women's professional expertise - took them to Walgett. The women are employed by the University of Newcastle and are professors of one kind or another. Also, Professor Rhonda Wilson is a Wiradjuri woman and Associate Professor Donna Hartz is a descendent of Kamilaroi people.

The three women helped the vulnerable community not just deal with a handful of COVID cases but a significant dose of vaccine hesitancy. To that end, they talked, they educated and they jabbed.

"They are people who have got amazing life histories," Professor Johnson said before making special mention of two elders.

"It was just wonderful to see these people in their 80s who saw themselves as role models for others and really wanted to do the the right thing and encourage the younger people who we really need to be vaccinating."

The professor called the it "one of the most satisfying personal nursing experiences" she's had.

Then there's the Malhotra family from Canberra.

Garry Malhotra first put a call out on social media to offer meals to struggling people when he was lying in hospital recovering from appendix surgery. He was deluged with requests for help.

The family ended up delivering 1200 meals on Sunday night, and have delivered 2000 a day since Tuesday - all out of the goodness of their hearts.

Then there's Turbans 4 Australia - they, too, are providing meals in NSW's western region; the two mates from Bendigo who fly-in and fly-out of regional towns but not before they've contributed to the local economy; and the Sherwins, Andrea and Jon, who are sharing the financial load of a NSW business, 1200km from their South Australian base, because "some (businesses) just need a little bit of fuel to get them to the bowser" during these tough times.

Bloody legends - all of them. At a time when we're looking for leadership, we all just might need to look a bit closer to home - it's there in plain sight.

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