Mental health expert honoured on King’s Birthday

FORENSICARE chief executive officer Dr Margaret Grigg is among nearly 1,200 Australians recognised for their achievements and hard work in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours List.

Dr Grigg was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to mental health through a range of roles.

The Geelong resident is a former registered nurse and mental health nurse, and was appointed chief executive officer of Forensicare – the Victorian Institute of Victorian Mental Health – in 2019.

In the Victorian Department of Health, she presently chairs the Interdisciplinary Clinical Advisory Group and has been a member of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Expert Advisory Group since 2021. She was also the assistant director of the Bushfire Psychosocial Recovery Team following the Black Friday Bushfires in 2009.

Dr Grigg has been a board member of mental health service provider Mind Australia since 2022 and served as its deputy chief executive between 2013 and 2016.

On Monday this week, Governor-General David Hurley announced honours and awards for 1,191 Australians, including awards in the Order of Australia (General and Military Divisions), meritorious awards and recognition for distinguished and conspicuous service.

The highest recipient in the Geelong region is Fairhaven resident Dr Raymond J. Adams, who was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to education and psychometric testing.

Other OAM awardees in the region are:

• Leslie Kelly, of Lara, for service to the community through emergency response organisations
• Margaret Markovic, of Lara, for service to road trauma, and safety initiatives
• Ian Caldwell, of Belmont, for service to cricket, and to professional organisations
• Ian Graham, of Grovedale, for service to the community through a range of roles
• Dr Liz Lester, of Highton, for service to the community through a range of organisations
• Sylvia Stewart-Muir, of Thomson, for service to the Indigenous community of Victoria
• Rieny Nieuwenhof, of Portarlington, for service to veterans and their families, and to the community
• Cr Rose Hodge, of Jan Juc, for service to local government, and to the community
• Lorraine Griffiths, of Lorne, for service to children as a foster carer
• Allan Holmes, of Apollo Bay, for service to the community through a range of organisations, and
• Gordon Hynes, of Kawarren, for service to Australian rules football.

Notably, for the first time since the Order of Australia was established in 1975, the majority of recipients in the General Division are women.Similarly, there is gender parity or better at the three highest levels in the Order.

Anyone can nominate any Australian for an award in the Order of Australia.

If you know someone worthy, nominate them now at gg.gov.au