Awards
Senior Australian of the Year 2006 - Results
2006 winners of the Senior Australian of the Year Award
Details about the 2006 Senior Australian of the Year Recipient
Dr Goold received her award from the Prime Minister at a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra on Australia Day eve.A lifetime of achievement within the nursing profession has seen her named Senior Australian of the Year. She has contributed to the Australian community through her work as a registered nurse and founder of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses. As a registered and very experienced nurse she has made substantial contributions to the training and development of Indigenous nursing staff.
Dr Goold was awarded a Doctor of Nursing (Honoris Causa) by the RMIT University in 2002. She has also received several other prestigious awards for her tireless services to nursing, and her work in the promotion of Indigenous nursing.
She was the first Indigenous qualified nurse in NSW and overcame many obstacles to undertake her training and achieve her dreams. Dr Goold was born in Narrandera 600km west of Sydney (Wiradjuri country), and came to Sydney as a child. She always wanted to be a nurse, and trained at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
She was told she had little hoping of passing her nursing exams as, in those days, Aboriginal people didn't even have citizenship or the right to an education, and she came from a poor family. But family members managed to provide the financial support she needed to complete her training. She qualified and worked in hospitals in medical, surgical and cardiac units and as a midwife. She went on to train others in hospitals and teach in universities. She established a book bursary for Indigenous nursing students. She now advises government as a member of the National Indigenous Council.
Dr Goold is an inspiration to all Australians, contributing her time and expertise to help people from all backgrounds. She is an outstanding role model for all Australians and her work underlines the significant contributions being made by older Australians.
Congratulations to Dr Goold.
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Details about the 2006 Senior Australian of the Year State and Territory Recipients
The 2006 State and Territory Senior Australians of the year are:New South Wales
Professor Frank Billson AOProfessor Billson is a pioneer in saving the eyesight of premature babies. As Foundation Professor of Ophthalmology since 1978, he has been Director of the Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney since 1985. He is the director of the Lions NSW Eye Bank and a staff member of the Sydney Eye Hospital. Frank's enthusiasm and leadership can be seen in his international contributions, including his training work in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, China, PNG, East Timor and Solomon Islands. Frank believes that the developed world has a duty to help the rest to overcome diseases that have largely been eradicated in the West and that this can best be achieved by the simple transfer of skills and knowledge. Frank is an inspirational role model to his students and colleagues and a great comfort to his patients. His work has saved the sight and quality of life of thousands.
Victoria
Professor Margot Prior AODr Prior is Professor of Psychology at the University of Melbourne. She has been a teacher, researcher and clinician for more than thirty years, following a twenty year career as a professional concert musician. She has produced 200 publications, including nine books. Although Margot has retired, she is still an active volunteer in training, advising, and giving workshops here and in the developing world. She has won respect and admiration nationally and internationally for her work with families in the Koori Health Service and in India, Vietnam and East Timor. A leader in the field of autism and childhood mental health, Margot has trained hundreds of psychologists and continues to do so in a voluntary capacity. Margot combines professional excellence, a caring heart, a keen sense of justice and an ability to engage others in positive causes. She has made an outstanding contribution to the Australian community.
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Queensland
Sally Goold OAMSally is a registered nurse and the inaugural Chairperson and Executive Director of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses, an organisation which aims to increase the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in nursing. Sally is believed to be the first Aboriginal registered nurse in New South Wales. Her career has been a source of great pride to Sally and her family, who encouraged her to pursue her dream, particularly since she trained in a time when education was not considered a right for Aboriginal people. She now encourages other young people to follow her lead and set themselves goals to achieve, and has been involved in training nurses in hospitals and universities. In honour of her achievements, the Queensland Nursing Council has established a book bursary in her name. Sally remains active in the community, advising the government as a member of the National Indigenous Council.
South Australia
Moira Shannon OAMWhen Moira Shannon recognises disadvantage, she gets in there and does something about it. She is skilled in encouraging and convincing others to join the cause. In 1978, Moira established a women's shelter, serving the Eyre Peninsula. This was a very significant achievement in the environment of the time, when women's shelters were viewed as a confronting new movement. Now called Yarredi services, it continues to be a valued community service. Seeing the number of young people brought to the shelter, she started West Coast Youth Services in 1985. Moira retired in 1998 but hasn't stopped working. She saw another need and started yet another project - supported accommodation services for disabled people. Adam House opened soon after. Moira has forged herself as a community leader and a strong advocate for many who suffer through social and economic disadvantage.
Western Australia
Fr Brian MorrisonSince the 1950s, Fr Brian Morrison has been providing crisis care for children in areas ravaged by war, upheaval and displacement. He personally delivered medical supplies, food and clothing to the sick and dying children of Chernobyl, suffering a dose of radiation sickness himself. He has provided aid to around 30 international disaster areas, including Bangladeshi floods, Cambodian killing fields, Iraqi earthquakes, Iranian refugees crisis, a PNG tidal wave, and Balkans wars. At home, Brian pitched in after Darwin's Cyclone Tracy and provided aid for the victims of Canberra's disastrous 2003 bushfires. Brian has been operating his crisis care centre for over 35 years, while continuing his pastoral vocation of serving society's disadvantaged. His crisis response skills were highly effective after the Asian tsunami - Brian collected and distributed 320 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the worst affected areas, probably WA's biggest humanitarian effort ever.
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Tasmania
Dr Trevor Beard OBEDr Beard is living proof of the worth of his own research into the dangers of excessive salt in our diet. Trevor is a healthy and lively 86 year old practicing doctor who still works actively as a senior research fellow at the Menzies Research Institute at the University of Tasmania. Dr Beard, a graduate from both Cambridge and London, was a general practitioner for many years before a career with the Department of Health. He heads "Salt Skip", a program designed to help patients lower their salt intake, vital for anyone with a sodium related illness, such as high blood pressure or heart disease. He has also published a book on the subject Salt Matters: a consumer guide and is available throughout Australia and the United Kingdom. According to one ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr Beard's program has helped his patients so much that they now need far fewer surgical operations.
Australian Capital Territory
Emeritus Professor Frank Fenner CMG MBE ACProfessor Fenner could have retired in 1979 after a highly distinguished career as a microbiologist and world renowned expert on poxviruses. Instead, as a visiting fellow in the John Curtin School of Medical Research, he continues to work on yet another book and sponsoring yet another science conference. After graduating in 1938 from the University of Adelaide, he began a remarkable career that saw him publish some 300 scientific papers and edit, write or co-author nearly twenty books. He has served on many international bodies in the quest to eradicate the world of infectious diseases, and continues to take a very active role in environmental and science ethics issues. Frank remains an inspirational role model for people even half his age.
Northern Territory
Kathleen MillsKathleen Mills is a part of a large, achieving family who are immensely proud of their inheritance as First Australians. Kath is revered not only as the mother of the popular Northern Territory musicians, the Mills Sisters, but also as a custodian of the 'the old way of life' in Darwin. She keeps musical traditions alive and, as a contemporary songwriter, has the rare gift of telling a story precisely and simply. Her song Arafura Pearl is listed officially as an icon by the NT Heritage Society. Kath has been tireless in working towards better relationships between Indigenous and other Australians. She is always available to present a balanced, mature point of view and is held in high esteem in all sections of the NT community. Kath is a member of countless committees, yet she is always able to find time to do good deeds, to encourage others, and to promote a better society.
Congratulations to all of the 2006 State and Territory Senior Australians of the year.
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