Mary Stickley, 14, wins Dolly Model Search 2014

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Mary Stickley, a 14-year-old Miranda Kerr-wannabe from Brisbane, is the 2014 Dolly Model Search winner.

The youngest of seven children (and a twin), Mary’s youth has again ignited debate around the ethics of making models out of children.

Dolly editor-in-chief Lucy Cousins said Mary was chosen as a finalist for her positive attitude.

“We look for confidence, friendliness, a big smile, someone that is interested in health and fitness, and above all, someone that has an interest in talking to and helping our readers by sharing her experiences,” she said.

Unsurprisingly Mary has named Miranda Kerr, who famously won the competition in 1997 when she was just 13, as one of her role models.

“If I could be anything like her that would be, like, really cool. She is such an inspiration to me and she is just so positive,” she told media.

The teenager said she was keen to be a role model herself. "I love fashion and beauty but mostly I want to promote a healthy lifestyle, not just be a skinny model."

Other winners who have gone on to have successful modelling careers include Jess Hart, who won in 2000, and Kate Fischer, who took out the inaugural title in 1988.

Mia Freedman axed the competition when she became editor-in-chief of Dolly in 2002, later stating she felt that its message that a girl’s worth depends on how she looks was both “appalling” and “damaging”.

In a blog post written for her site Mamamia, Mia described modelling as an adult industry run without regard for the welfare of children.

“Nobody cares about the self-esteem of the girls they’re seeing. Nobody cares that they are smart or funny or kind. And modelling is an industry based on rejection. Adults looks at your face and your body, peer intently at the photos in your portfolio and then say “thanks” and you never know why you didn’t get the job. And you’re 13.”

Despite the concerns of the magazine’s former editor, when the competition was reinstated in 2012 another 13-year-old took out the title, Brisbane’s Kirsty Thatcher.

In 2013, 16-year-old Perth teenager Samantha Garza was the much less controversial winner.

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