Awards
2013 Senior Australian of the Year State and Territory Recipients
2013 Winners of the Senior Australian of the Year Award
Senior Australian of the Year 2013 - Emeritus Professor Ian Maddocks AM
Palliative care specialist, SA
Emeritus Professor Ian Maddocks is one of Australia’s pre-eminent palliative care specialists and a passionate advocate for the cause of peace. He has been a key leader for many years in both the Medical Association for the Prevention of War and the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War – an organisation which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in 1985. After promoting the development of palliative care in southern Adelaide for some years, Professor Maddocks was appointed Professor of Palliative Care at Flinders University in 1988, pursuing a rigorous teaching and research program as well as caring for his patients. He was elected first President of the Australian Association for Hospice and Palliative Care and first President of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Palliative Medicine. Recognised internationally for his work in palliative care, tropical and preventative medicine, Professor Maddocks’ texts are used world-wide. His awards over the years include the inaugural Bethlehem Griffiths Medal for research in palliative care. Now Emeritus Professor at Flinders University, he continues to supervise postgraduate students and care for the terminally ill.Senior Australian of the Year Finalists
Laurie Lawrence – Swimming coach , QLD
Swimming coach Laurie Lawrence is known nationally for his spirited personality, his zest for life and for coaching champions but arguably his greatest achievement is reducing the risk of small children drowning. His passion for baby swimming began with the birth of his first daughter Jane in 1975. In 1988, troubled by the fact that drowning is the most common cause of death in children under five, Laurie created the Kids Alive - Do the Five water safety program to reduce the risk of preschool drowning. Starting with the smallest babies, Laurie’s widely acclaimed program teaches children the skills to save themselves from drowning. Aiming to reduce child drowning rates to zero, Laurie demonstrates the same conviction that saw him coach the Australian Olympic swimming team at Los Angeles in 1984, Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992. His best known protégés include Steve Holland, Tracey Wickham, Jon Sieben and Duncan Armstrong. His Olympic coaching achievements include 10 gold, 11 silver and 12 bronze medals from swimmers he has directly assisted. Swimmers he has coached boast 23 world records.Anna Crotty – Human rights champion, TAS
A true champion of human rights, Anna Crotty leads by example. As a human rights lawyer and trade unionist, she has sought tirelessly to redress the discrimination and inequity that she encountered during the course of her working life. After she retired, and still appalled by the plight of 21 million homeless people in north-west Afghanistan and Pakistan, Anna set up Tents4Peace. A grassroots community group, Tents4Peace can quickly mobilise resources to supply emergency life-saving shelter in response to critical situations anywhere in the world. Tents4Peace has no political or religious affiliations and is sensitive to the need to honour the cultural integrity of those who it assists. The organisation has achieved international recognition and support due to its practical and immediate method of providing basic emergency aid. Since Anna established the organisation in 2005, it is estimated to have saved more than 11,000 lives. Anna has served on many boards and committees related to conflict resolution, environmental issues and discrimination – for which she was awarded a Tasmanian Human Rights award by the Governor-General Quentin Bryce in 2011.Dr Sadhana Mahajani – Community physician, NT
For the past 40 years, Indian-born Dr Sadhana Mahajani has made Darwin her home and the health and wellbeing of Territorians her greatest priority. In 1974 she helped establish Darwin’s first community health centre only to see it destroyed by Cyclone Tracey. Undeterred, she continued to provide medical services from a demountable building, before later opening another six health centres. She also started making bush visits to the communities of La Belle Station, Annaburroo and Daly River winning the respect and trust of the Aboriginal people and providing Pap smears to women living in the most remote parts of the Territory. Selfless and never judgmental, Dr Mahajani’s career includes working in drug and rehabilitation services, women’s cancer prevention, breast screening and sexual assault services. Colleagues and patients alike speak of her calming presence, her wealth of knowledge and her practical approach in a crisis. Over the past 25 years, she has devoted her considerable energy and time to the care of the elderly particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of dementia.Top of page
Dr Jim Peacock AC – Agricultural scientist, ACT
As the head of the CSIRO Plant Industry division for 26 years, Dr Jim Peacock has been at the frontline of food and agricultural breakthroughs including the development of insect resistant cotton in Australia. He has long championed the great benefits of industry partnered science, establishing the CSIRO as one of the leading plant research institutes in the world. His achievements in gene technology include the development of a low GI, high fibre variety of barley and, more recently, advances in plant hybrid vigour with significant implications for global food security. Australia’s Chief Scientist from 2006 to 2008, Jim is regarded as a committed, energetic and inspirational leader in the science world, He is also dedicated to instilling the excitement and the potential of science in young Australians. One novel approach was to pair more than 1,500 of Australia’s leading scientists with primary and high school teachers. Jim was also a driving force behind the establishment of the Discovery Centre in Canberra to showcase CSIRO research, connect industry and science and to give thousands of children the opportunity to have a “hands-on” science experience.Emeritus Professor T John Martin AO – Medical scientist, VIC
Professor Jack Martin is one of Australia’s most esteemed medical scientists and the founder of skeletal research in Australia. Possibly his greatest contribution has been advancing the understanding of calcium regulating hormones and the development of modern concepts of bone cell biology. His research has had a major impact on the understanding and treatment of diseases including osteoporosis and bone tumours and the spread of cancers to the bone. Formerly Director of St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research Jack continues to work in medical research and mentors a new generation of scientists. In an intellectually challenging field he is seen in Australia and around the world as a current leader in the area of bone disease and cancer who continues to give his time and expertise to inspire others with his love of science. Compassionate, generous and with a rigorously inquiring mind Jack continues to make a positive contribution to science by inspiring younger researchers and scientists to fulfil their potential and imbuing them with a sense of purpose and integrity.Lorraine and Barry Young – Meningococcal campaigners, WA
Lorraine and Barry Young have dedicated the past 15 years raising awareness of, and finding an effective treatment for, the deadly meningococcal septicaemia bacteria. Tragically, in 1997 the disease took the life of their only child, 18 year old Amanda, just 24 hours after she started showing symptoms of the disease. Lorraine and Barry decided to establish the Amanda Young Foundation, which has created Australia-wide community education programs about meningococcal disease and funded medical research into the development of vaccines to target the elusive meningococcal B. In 2011, the Foundation reached thousands of families through an education campaign in more than 150 child care centres in WA. Fundraising by Lorraine and Barry and dozens of volunteers allows the Foundation to support survivors of the disease and their carers in the most practical ways. Funding is provided for special computer and bedding equipment, for education, specialist counselling and advanced prosthetic limbs. In addition, the Foundation helps to fund the development of young people into Western Australia’s future leaders through scholarships, bursaries, workshops and camps.Ron Allum – Submarine designer, NSW
Ron Allum is the designer of the world’s most innovative submarine, the Deepsea Challenger. This specialised underwater craft was the first to carry a solo submariner 11 kilometres to the floor of the Mariana Trench – the deepest point in the world’s oceans. Ron started on the Deepsea Challenger project in 2005, gradually assembling a team of engineers and technicians to build his submarine. He created a vessel of radical design that descends vertically with the pilot enclosed in a small metal sphere at the base of the vessel with the engines, lights and camera above in a chassis of hardened foam. When he couldn’t locate the required rock-hard flotation foam, he invented it himself using a bread mixer in his Sydney workshop. In March 2012, movie maker James Cameron who directed Titanic, climbed inside the Allum-designed submarine and descended to become the first human to tweet from the bottom of the world. Ron, in his own right a record breaker in cave diving deep beneath the Nullarbor, describes it as one of the most satisfying moments in his life.Top of page
