Surf Coast quintet receive King’s Birthday honours

FIVE people from across the Surf Coast eelong region have been recognised for their achievements and hard work in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours List.

Today (Monday, June 12), Governor-General David Hurley will announce 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.

Dr Adams has been with the Assessment Research Centre at the University of Melbourne – first as a senior then as a professorial fellow – since 2004 and has been the recipient of multiple grants from the Australian Research Council since 2007.

Surf Coast Shire councillor Rose Hodge has been awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to local government, and to the community.

Cr Hodge, who lives in Jan Juc, has been a councillor since 2004 and has served as the shire’s mayor four times.

Lorne’s Lorraine Griffiths has been awarded an OAM for service to children as a foster carer.

A foster carer with Mackillop Family Services Geelong since 2022, Ms Griffiths has fostered more than 140 children.

There are two sport-related OAMs on the Surf Coast this year.

The first is to Allan Holmes of Apollo Bay for service to the community through a range of organisations, including Life Saving Victoria, Apollo Bay SLSC and the Essendon District/Northern District Football League.

Kawarren resident Gordon Hynes was awarded the second for service to Australian rules football, such as with the Geelong Cats, where he was both a player in the 1960s (including the 1963 premiership) and a director and chair of selectors in the 1980s. The honour follows the Cats making him a life member last month.

Other OAM awardees in the Geelong 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
• Dr Margaret Grigg, of Geelong, for service to mental health through a range of roles, and
• Rieny Nieuwenhof, of Portarlington, for service to veterans and their families, and to the community

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