Awards
2012 Senior Australian of the Year State and Territory Recipients
2012 winners of the Senior Australian of the Year award
Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - Laurie Baymarrwangga
Community Leader
In the nine decades since her birth on the island of Murrungga, Laurie Baymarrwangga has seen the arrival of missionaries, exploitation by Japanese and European fishermen, war and tumultuous change. Undaunted, she has almost single-handedly nurtured the inter-generational transmission of local ecological knowledge through a lifelong commitment to caring for kin, culture and country. In the 1960s Laurie established a housing project on her homelands that has benefitted generations of kin. Speaking no English, with no access to funding, resources or expertise she initiated the Yan-nhangu dictionary project. Her cultural maintenance projects include the Crocodile Islands Rangers, a junior rangers group and an online Yan-nhangu dictionary for school children. In 2010, after a struggle stretching back to 1945, Laurie finally received back payments for rents owed to her as the land and sea owner of her father’s estate. She donated it all, around $400,000, to improve education and employment opportunities on the island and to establish a 1,000 square kilometre turtle sanctuary on her marine estate. In the face of many obstacles, this great, great grandmother has shown extraordinary leadership and courage in caring for the cultural and biological integrity of her beloved Crocodile Islands.
NSW Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - Barbara Holborow OAM
Children's champion
Barbara Holborow’s philosophy is that ‘every child is everybody’s responsibility.’ The retired Children’s Court magistrate has long been a tireless champion for better judicial outcomes for children. Living with diabetes since she was 13, Barbara fought the odds as a single mother to establish a career for herself as a lawyer, working during the day and studying at night first for her Leaving Certificate, and then for her law degree, graduating at the age of 40. As a magistrate, Barbara was instrumental in setting up free legal aid for children in NSW, a care court to deal with cases of neglect, and a special jail for first-time offenders aged 18 to 25. She allowed television cameras into her court, believing that an open and transparent process would help reform the system. Since her retirement from the bench in 1994 she has continued to defend the rights of children. Over the years, many foster children have come under her care and while working at a refuge she met a young Aboriginal boy named Jacob who she later adopted. She has written three books on her experiences with children and, at the age of 81, continues her fearless crusading, lobbying government and garnering media attention.
VIC Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - Dr Nouria Salehi OAM
Physicist and humanitarian
Dr Nouria Salehi is a highly respected nuclear physicist and biophysicist whose vital medical research including the use of radioactive isotopes to detect and treat various forms of cancer benefits many Australians. Born in Afghanistan, Nouria completed her post-graduate studies and worked in France before moving to Australia in 1981. For 30 years, she has combined this demanding career with volunteer activities in both Australia and Afghanistan. Demonstrating her commitment to her country of birth, Nouria has established an organisation to support projects giving Afghanis essential skills and opportunities. These include vocational training and literacy programs for women and young people in Kabul and nearby villages as well as accredited formal training programs for science teachers. Every 6 months Nouria travels to Afghanistan to support and monitor these projects. Back in Australia, she works with Afghan migrants helping them adapt to their new country and a new life through educational opportunities. A charter member of the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Nouria has received a number of awards, including the Bringing Communities Together Award and the Award of Excellence from the Afghan Ministry of Education.
QLD Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - David Williamson AO
Playwright
David Williamson is undoubtedly Australia’s most successful and well known playwright, producing an extensive body of work that includes 43 plays over 40 years. His work has provided employment for hundreds of Australian actors and directors over the years and taken more than $20 million at the box office in Sydney alone. Audiences closely identify with David’s plays, which tackle topical issues and mirror societal change. His themes of politics, loyalty and family in contemporary urban Australia have resonated with theatregoers for more than three decades. David rose to prominence in the early 1970s with works such as Don's Party (later turned into a film) and The Removalists. He also collaborated on the screenplays for celebrated Australian films, Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously. Major works include The Club, The Department, Travelling North, The Perfectionist, Emerald City, Money and Friends and Brilliant Lies. His current play, At Any Cost was co-written with the Professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Dr Mohammed Khadra. It explores the burden of the cost of health in the last month of a person’s life. David has received 12 Writer’s Guild script awards and five Australian Film Institute screenplay awards.
WA Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - George Jones AM
Businessman and fundraiser
When a tragic plane crash in West Africa killed the entire board of mining company Sundance Resources in 2009, ex-chair George Jones didn’t hesitate to step back in. Although he had previously retired due to ill health, George felt a responsibility to guide the organisation through its crisis, rebuilding the board and caring for the families of his former colleagues. While his success as a businessman is well known, it is his unstinting work with charities and the not-for-profit sector that makes him a community champion. George lived at Parkerville Children's Home as a boy and is now a Parkerville Board member and a strong supporter of the recently opened George Jones Child Advocacy Centre. A prolific fundraiser, George was instrumental in securing funds for the centre and has raised more than $16 million for the Ear Science Institute of Australia, for a world-class medical research and clinical facility to treat hearing loss, balance disorders and ear disease. As a sufferer of Meniere’s disease, an inner ear disorder that affects hearing and balance, George understands how debilitating such conditions can be. His determination to help rebuild Sundance Resources and his dedicated charity and fundraising work are a testament to George’s selflessness.
SA Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - Dr Bruce Foster AM
Paediatric orthopaedic surgeon
For the past 30 years, as a specialist in paediatric orthopaedics, Dr Bruce Foster has devoted his medical career to understanding the structure and function of bone growth. He and his team developed new treatment strategies for bone deformities and skeletal diseases in children that currently have no cure. His special interest in leg lengthening and spinal deformities has seen him practice all around the world. Currently Deputy Director of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, Bruce operates outreach clinics in the Northern Territory, Kangaroo Island and at the Flinders Medical Centre. Determined to find better, less painful ways to help straighten and lengthen the limbs of children affected by crippling growth problems, Bruce set up the Bone Growth Foundation in 1991 which funds research and treatment for a quarter of a million Australian children afflicted with bone impairments. Bruce has been instrumental in the trialling of an innovative internal limb lengthening procedure – the Fitbone – and is one of the few surgeons in the world able to fit this device.
TAS Senior Australian of the Year 2012 - Kieran Brown
Teacher and mentor
Kieran Brown’s remarkable teaching career with the Tasmanian Education Department spans 32 years. He has also devoted decades of time and energy in a variety of roles with St John Ambulance Australia. Described as a man with ‘a heart of gold’, Kieran joined St John in Devonport in 1976. Since then his responsibilities with St John have included delivering essential first aid training including advanced emergency skills. As St John’s Chief Cadet Officer, Kieran travelled across the country meeting, mentoring and inspiring hundreds of young St John members. His friendly, supportive approach made him widely respected as a leader especially among young people with disabilities. One former St John cadet credits him with giving her the enthusiasm and confidence to follow her dreams in a way she never thought possible. In 2008 Kieran was appointed Deputy Chief Commissioner of St John’s Ambulance and more recently has turned his attention to working with Indigenous young people including translating first aid training resources into Indigenous languages. Kieran continues to put his hand up to help young Australians gain the confidence and skills to reach their potential.
