Miss Australia 2004

Hawkins was born in Holmesville, New South Wales, and currently resides in Sydney. She attended West Wallsend High School in West Wallsend, New South Wales. She is one of four children. Hawkins was a former cheerleader for the Newcastle Knights rugby league team,[2] and the Hunter Pirates basketball team and also worked as a model

After dropping out of high school Hawkins went on to be a model. Before participating in Miss Universe 2004 Hawkins sought advice from the previous Miss Australia, Ashlea Talbot, who represented Australia in the 2003 competition, and learned basic Spanish prior to travelling to Ecuador. However Hawkins did not participate as Miss Australia but as the newly instated pageant Miss Universe Australias first winner. The Miss Universe pageant was held in Quito, Ecuador on 1 June 2004. A week prior to the event, Hawkins was ranked sixth favourite to win the crown. During the final competition, Hawkins became the first Australian to make the semi-finals since Voni Delfos in 1993. She then proceeded to the top ten after competing in the evening gown competition, where she wore an unusual vintage copper gown that was designed by Bora and cost A$25,000. After the swimsuit competition, Hawkins advanced to the top five, and eventually won the Miss Universe title. The remaining top five were all delegates from the Americas and Caribbean, including Shandi Finnessey of the USA (1st runner-up), Alba Reyes of Puerto Rico (2nd runner-up), Yanina Gonzalez of Paraguay (3rd runner-up) and Danielle Jones of Trinidad and Tobago (4th runner-up).[4] Hawkins was the second winner from Oceania since Lorraine Downes of New Zealand held the title in 1983, and the second Australian since Kerry Anne Wells in 1972.