Sonya Ryan has received more traumatic phone calls than anyone deserves - the first of which revealed her daughter, Carly, had been murdered.

Since then, the internet safety campaigner has spent countless hours on the phone counselling teens who have been targeted, as Carly was, by sex predators.

When her phone rang this week, she again prepared for the worst, but this call named her a finalist for Australian of the Year.

"It was a shock when they called me, but a much nicer shock than some of the calls I've received in my life," she said yesterday. "It's very humbling, and I'm grateful, but I'm not doing this for recognition.

"What's important to me is the work - kids being helped and crimes being prevented."

Ms Ryan is one of five South Australian finalists for the prestigious.