The 2023 Australia Day honours list includes...

After the death of their daughter Mary to suicide in 2011, Albury's Annette and Stuart Baker have left no stone unturned to help reduce the stigma surrounding poor mental health.

The founders of Survivors of Suicide and Friends, which has hosted the annual Winter Solstice event on the Border since 2013, have been steadfast in their advocacy and helped many have the tough conversation.

"The recognition now, I think particularly with Solstice - The Documentary has confirmed that what we have done and what we will continue to do every day," Ms Baker said.

"Every second day, we get an email from someone who is a survivor of a loved one's suicide, mostly parents, and they have looked at our website or watched one of the older events, but sometimes just needed a chat.

"If we're helping people that were in the same position as us 11 years ago, that's good enough for me."

Mr Baker said Survivors of Suicide and Friends had given he and his wife "a sense of purpose" to process their grief.

"It's really comforting to know that people are having the conversations about mental health, poor mental health and also suicide, and acknowledging it," he said.

"It's great that our community is so knowledgeable across the topic and it's been a testament to lots of different people.

"To be able to talk about the topic is the best part, because that's what helps. Seeing the people who come out for Winter Solstice and the community solidarity is quite special."

Ms Baker said the positive response from their sons, Henri and Jack, upon learning of the OAM recognition for service to community health and the Albury-Wodonga region, was "one of the most beautiful things".

"It's always lovely for us to get the OK from them because when you're doing the sort of work that we've being doing with mental health and suicide, it's good to check what we're doing is not affecting them," she added.

Milawa's June Brown has dedicated much of her life to creative arts and is proud to be recognised for it as part of the Australia Day honours list.

Mrs Brown has been a volunteer at Wangaratta Art Gallery since 1987 and held various roles, including curator.

She was a founding member of Wangaratta's Stitched Up Textile Festival and a regular judge.

An original member of The Centre Quilters in 1986 and later president and treasurer, Mrs Brown was part of the first Victorian Quilters Association group in 1993 and helped establish the National Quilt Register, an online database and central resource for the Australian quilting community.

"It's for service to the creative arts and that's an area I've been deeply involved in and enjoyed a lot, so I'm very honoured to have that," she said.

"I'm not so constantly involved these days, but I certainly do what I can."

Mrs Brown has held many exhibitions, her most recent was Eco Dyeing and Eucalypt Books at Wangaratta Art Gallery in 2017.

She also worked as a curator, volunteer and researcher as part of Powerhouse Museum Wagga's collection.

When Talgarno farmer Julie De Hennin was informed she would be awarded an OAM on Australia Day, she thought it was a scam.

"Initially, I just ignored it and a few days later, I thought I better go back and check it," she said.

"It did look a bit professional, so I rang the number and sure enough it was real."

Ms De Hennin has been honoured for service to the community of northern Victoria and was proud to have had a vast range of volunteer work under her belt.

From a rural business and land management perspective, Ms De Hennin has been a member, secretary and office bearer of Wises Creek-Talgarno Landcare Group for 30 years, chaired the Victorian Agribusiness Council and been on the board of North East Catchment Management Authority.

From a community perspective, she remains a member of Talgarno's CFA brigade, is a regular contributor to Berringa Community News, was secretary for 20 years of Bethanga Peninsula Neighbourhood Watch, a former president of Talgarno Tennis Club and Wodonga Tennis Centre, and, since 2020, has headed the Talgarno Cemetery Trust.

She has helped conduct annual fundraisers for the Albury Wodonga Regional Cancer Centre and remains a community advocate for its trust fund.

"I have had the pleasure of volunteering across a number of local, national and international interest areas," she said.

"I feel that I'm privileged and I'm certainly a very proud Australian woman. I'm committed to this community and lots of activities.

"I'm happy to work and participate with others across a range of areas and have had roles of being the chair, the secretary and the treasurer in a number of those areas."

Wodonga's Christine Doubleday offered to help out at little athletics when her eldest son first started in the early 1980s, but little did she know she would still be involved more than 40 years later.

She put her hand up to join Wodonga Little Athletic Centre's committee in 1988 and had 10 years out of 15 as secretary, before rejoining in 2005 and serving until 2016.

Mrs Doubleday became a track and field official for Little Athletics Victoria in 1986 and has been a delegate for Wodonga at many state conferences.

She's also been heavily involved in the organisation of northern country region carnivals for track and field and cross country since 1996 and became a life member in 2003 after holding various committee positions, including competition secretary to this day.

"Everything I've done over the years, I haven't done for recognition. I do it because of my love of little athletics and it's just part of me," she said

"I've made so many lifelong friends over the 40-odd years that I've been involved. It's just incredible.

"Seeing all the children year after year, regardless of ability, participate, develop their skills and confidence is great. A lot of them achieve personal bests, but even when they don't, they encourage and support each other.

"It's a really good grounding for children for all sports. Little athletics has had many people go on to achieve at a higher level in all sports, right across the board."

Mrs Doubleday said she still visits centres across the region to offer support and was blown away to be honoured with an OAM for service to athletics.

"I had no idea and I feel really quite humble and honoured that someone thought I was deserving to be nominated," she said.

Johnny Cash famously sang I've Been Everywhere, but Howlong's Keith Duggan has put his own spin on it.

"I sing 'I've done everything, man, I've done everything'," he laughed.

Mr Duggan relocated to Howlong from Melbourne in 1988, where he was actively involved in school committees and sporting clubs and carried it on.

"I came up here and I said, 'I'm not just going to be anybody, I'm going to contribute to the town'," he said.

"I moved here in November (1988) and I was coaching kids by February (1989) in football."

The 2005 Corowa Council Citizen of the Year, who carried the Sydney Olympic torch through Howlong in 2000, became well and truly intrenched in the riverside community, co-founding Howlong Probus Club, as well as offering his time as a volunteer driver to help those unable to get to appointments.

Mr Duggan created Howlong's very own website visithowlong.com.au and served as editor and advertising director for 10 years of The Howlong Grapevine newsletter, which he still contributes to.

"I do the joke page for the Howlong Grapevine every month. That's about my limit, unless I hear of a story and then I'll go and follow it up. One month, I missed putting them in and all hell broke loose," he laughed.

Mr Duggan was a resident member of the Howlong bridge relocation committee, and acted as Santa for many years for the town's annual Christmas picnic event.

"You do things because you want to, not for reward, so when you find out you've been rewarded for everything that you've done, you think it has been worthwhile," he added.

You'd be hard pressed to find many people who have given more time to Scouts than Mount Beauty's Claire Edmanson.

The treasurer of Mount Beauty Scout Group has held training roles with Scouts Australia and been a commissioner for a host of programs between 1999 to this day with Scouts Victoria.

Mrs Edmanson will be awarded an OAM for service to youth though Scouts on Australia Day after reaching 50 years with the organisation in 2020.

Her efforts have been felt across Melbourne's Ringwood and Maroondah districts, as well as the Mount Dandenong and Yarra Valley regions.

Mrs Edmanson also served as Cub Scout leader of Heathmont 1st Scouts Group for more than 20 years.

Pamela Ellerman's reasoning for volunteering is simple.

"I've served the community because I could and I was able to. It's incredibly rewarding for the amount of people you are able to do things for. The reward comes from the accomplishment of what you've actually set out to do," she said.

Mrs Ellerman's OAM for service to the community of Deniliquin has come about through her work in health, particularly for women.

A member of the Naponda Hospital Auxiliary, where she's had three stints as president, two as secretary and two as treasurer, Mrs Ellerman has been able to provide women in the drought-affected community a sense of independence.

She founded the Naponda Community Store, which has allowed local makers to sell goods on commission.

"We'd gone through so much drought and women couldn't get jobs a lot of the time, but they could actually do things," she said.

"It's amazing the diversity of country people and what they do when things aren't going their way.

"I'm coming from the era where all the women didn't work, now they do. A lot of these women didn't have an income of their own, which was one of the things that drove me to do the shop."

Mrs Ellerman continues to serve on the board for United Hospitals Auxiliaries of NSW, which manages 170 auxiliaries and women who work for hospitals across the state.

She was a former chairperson of the Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network, oversaw the Deniliquin Local Health Advisory Committee until 2019 and headed up the Deniliquin Community Group, responsible for distributing grants to other local not for profit organisations.

"I had mentors along the way going right back to school, teaching us independence and what we could do for others as much as ourselves. It's what drives me," she said.

"I don't think it's just my award, I think it's about everyone that has allowed you to do what you want to do for them.

"You come home thinking 'that went well and that's actually been able to do something', which is really nice."

The Wangaratta RSL was almost on its knees in 2014, but Dr Warren Garrett wasn't going to let it go without a fight.

The former president of the sub-branch led the charge to secure a new premises for the membership, which had fallen below 400.

With the help of then secretary Kevin Howard, they met with officials at Anzac House in Melbourne and agreed to purchase the freehold for the Sydney Hotel, before passing on the reins to Lieutenant General Ash Power.

"We have something like 5600 members now and we're making a profit and that goes back into veterans welfare, community charities and things like that," Dr Garrett said.

Dr Garrett, who will be honoured on Australia Day for his service to the Wangaratta region, said another achievement that brought him great satisfaction came about almost half a century ago when he founded the 15 Mile Creek School Camp, south of Greta in 1974.

"I was in the education department as the district inspector and there was a school being closed at 15 Mile Creek," he said.

"I met with the parents of the children that were there and they wanted to know what to do to keep the school an asset in the community. We went around to the principals and discussed the possibilities and they were prepared to put in a bit of cash and we started a school camp.

"It's now the major primary school camp for the whole state. The people that came after me are really maintaining it as a great asset for the Rural City of Wangaratta."

Even at the age of 87, there's no hiding Dr Garrett's passion to help others.

"I think you've got to keep busy to be to make life worthwhile. If you just sit around watching television, even though you've got plenty of aches and pains, it doesn't do a lot for the community," he said.

"I was very surprised because you never think that people recognise all that you do. There's a matter of humility because I still don't know who put the nominations in, but whoever they are, I appreciate it."

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Supplying care packages to women affected by the 2019 drought was among the most rewarding volunteer work Lyn Jacobsen has been involved with.

The NSW Country Women's Association member since 1967 was able to draw on all of her experience and community connections to complete the mammoth task of putting together almost 700 packs.

"A couple of days before the (Henty) field days, I was asked if it'd be a good idea if we put together some pamper packs to give the wives of the men that came," she said.

"It wasn't a lot of notice when you've got a lot of other things to do, but we put those together and they were appreciated. We then come up with the idea of doing it on a bigger scale."

After a huge fundraising and donation effort to purchase items, Mrs Jacobsen and her team of CWA volunteers from the Pleasant Hills branch, which she leads, as well as the wider Riverina group, made it happen.

"It was a huge thing, but it paid off. We did get some lovely little thank you emails from people that were so grateful because that was all they had," she said.

"I haven't done it on my own. You've got to have backers."

Mrs Jacobsen's love for cooking has also been key to her fundraising efforts for numerous causes, which has seen her recognised with an OAM in this year's Australia Day honours.

"I used to make a lot of hot cross buns for charities before Easter. We averaged 3500 buns a year. My mother used to come over and help me and we cooked most nights of Easter," she said.

"You can do handicrafts, and I love doing handicrafts too, but they're not money spinners. You can spend an awful lot of time on something and it'll be worth $20, whereas you can do cooking and that's a different thing again."

Mrs Jacobsen said helping to establish the Natural Fibre Fashion Awards at the Henty Machinery Field Days was also a proud moment.

"I spent a lot of time trying to get designers interested in competing," she said.

"We started in 2004 and it's now an international competition. We've had contestants from New Zealand and we've had them from India."

Mrs Jacobsen was a founding member of the Lions Club of Thurgoona and District in 2001 and played a key role in the organisation of Pleasant Hills Public School's centenary celebration in 1991 and the 125-year commemoration in 2016.

Service to the community has been in Colin Jones' blood from a young age.

"All my family have done the same thing and even my mother going way back. It's a community thing and when you live in an area your whole life, you get attached to it and you want to see the best for it," he said.

The former Berrigan Shire councillor was delighted to learn he would be awarded an OAM as part of this year's Australia Day honours.

Mr Jones has been involved with the Murray Darling Association, Tocumwal Foreshore Committee, Murray Land and Water Management and also chaired the Central Murray County Council.

Beyond water matters, he was a founding and life member of Tocumwal Apex Club and then went across to Rotary in 2008 where he held down numerous leadership positions.

He was part of the original Tocumwal Community Development Committee in 2012 and was an inaugural member of the town's men's shed in the same year.

"It's all been very rewarding," he said.

"You think at the time it's a bit of a hassle, but when you look back you can't believe what has happened.

"It's nice to know someone really appreciates you."

Mr Jones said he couldn't wait to share the news with his three children, two of which live in Melbourne and one in Singapore.

"I spent Christmas and New Year in Singapore and I'm supposed to be going to England in April, so I've got to fit all these things in," he said.

Brian Kelly has left a lasting impact on the community of Tocumwal and has been recognised with an OAM in the 2023 Australia Day honours.

The Tocumwal Football Netball Club Hall of Fame inductee in 2022 served on the committee for 25 years, nine as president.

Mr Kelly's sporting passion extended beyond football and netball with 10 years of the committee of Tocumwal Race Club from 1970 to 1980.

He spent 33 years as a member of the town's chamber of commerce, three decades with St Vincent de Paul Society and also had involvement with the parish council of St Peter's Catholic Church and Tocumwal Rotary Club.

An anonymous donation of cash from members of the Howlong community after her husband experienced an accident almost 50 years ago sparked something in Sheryl Pitman.

"All this loose change and money was left in an envelope in my mailbox and I never knew who it was from. Howlong was very small at the time and I thought to myself 'this town is just amazing'," she said.

"I made that quiet promise that I would pay it back."

She's certainly done that in spades as she approaches 50 years of service to the 1^st Howlong Scout Group.

Mrs Pitman served as cub leader from 1975 until 2015 and has been leader ever since.

She's seen many families come through scouts, including the Eames, where she not only instructed father Wayne and his sons Brendan and Lloyd in the finer points of scouting, but married the three of them in the space of six months, having been a wedding celebrant since 2009.

"His other brother remarried and I also did a funeral, so I've done four weddings and a funeral in that family," Mrs Pitman said.

Mrs Pitman said she was very proud to have been involved in every Anzac Day march with the scout group since 1975.

She's also been an advocate for people with a disability through her role as president of Albury's Wewak Street School, a position she held for a decade.

"We had a young girl come into our family who's only just recently passed away and she had a disability. My daughter was her respite carer and we had her for 23 years," she added.

"I'd love to thank the people who nominated me, that was pretty incredible. I go to sleep at night with a smile on my face because I think 'what's my family going to say when they know?'."

Women's health advocate Susie Reid has worked on many projects to help prevent violence against women, but knows there's still a long way to go.

The executive officer of 15 years for Women's Health Goulburn North East will receive an OAM for service community health and gender advocacy.

Her work began 30 years ago when she led a project called Let's Lift the Lid focused on family violence.

She then worked on Be Safe and Making Two Worlds Work, which focuses on the health sector's work with Aboriginal communities have also been key projects.

Ms Reid has also taken great pride in efforts around disaster with women, men and people of diverse genders.

"Gender equality is still far from a reality and we must go on refusing to accept violence against women. We have worked with women and men to change this, but there's still a lot of work to be done in the prevention of violence," she said.

Ms Reid said the constant questioning of "why don't women leave?" to escape violence had begun to shift.

"I think there is now general acceptance in the community that women don't leave, because when they do, the violence escalates," she said.

"I think that's a small step that the scenario has changed from 'why don't women leave?' to 'why do men choose violence?'.

"A woman a week or more dies from family violence, so people are understanding with those sad statistics that it is very dangerous for women to leave. We've got to help them on the service side, but we must help on the prevention side to stop the violence."

Ms Reid also worked on projects such as Living Longer on Less to help women gain financial independence, and other rewarding campaigns based on women's rights of sexual and reproductive choice.

"That was a lot of work which was Albury-based, plus changing laws in Victoria, which I was the rural spokeswoman for," she said.

"I'm absolutely honoured to have been recommended for an OAM.

"It's good that gender equality work is being recognised, so I'm thrilled about that."

Sergeant Steve Schausinger started policing in Sydney and Wollongong commencing a long and distinguished career as a highway patrol officer.

He transferred to the Albury Highway Patrol in 1984 and has worked at various locations along the southern border, including Deniliquin, Holbrook and Albury.

In March 2019, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and continues to supervise traffic operations in the border towns across the Murray River Police District.

"He is widely recognised as an outstanding role model, not only in the manner in which he exercises his policing duties, but also in his interactions and support of his local community," his Australian Police Medal citation read.

"Central to his reputation is his inspirational work ethic, professionalism and commitment to policing. He is highly regarded and recognised for his large personality, eagerness and motivation to perform his duties to the highest standards and his genuine empathy, consideration and interest towards others.

"His policing focus extends beyond road safety and he is recognised for his skills in detecting illegal drugs and the movement of stolen goods along the highways and regional roads."

Sergeant Schausinger has trained and mentored younger officers and provided advice in a wide range of police operations.

He is passionate about community education, building relationships with industry groups and local government and improving young driver education.

Sergeant Schausinger attended many serious and fatal vehicle accidents during his career and has received complimentary remarks on his service record for his diligence and compassion.

A passion for men's health and helping returned servicemen living with PTSD, as well as local farmers, has been a driving force behind Lewis McDonald's 22-year career as an ambulance officer.

Mr McDonald, who started with Ambulance Victoria in 2000 and is the longest serving member of Mitta Valley's ambulance community officer team, has been awarded an Ambulance Service Medal.

His primary aim has been to ensure access to health services is available to those in need.

"A strong advocate within the community, he is driven to seek opportunities to encourage new members to join the team, ensuring the Mitta Valley has a sustainable ambulance service into the future," Mr McDonald's ASM citation read.

"He has also played a pivotal role in training team members who have just commenced their careers at Ambulance Victoria and supports and encourages colleagues to reach their full potential.

"During his 22-year career as an ambulance community officer, Mr McDonald has exemplified what it means to go above and beyond in the faithful discharge of duties."

Working on a farm in a remote community, help can often be a long way away in an emergency.

Julie Miller wanted to change that at Talgarno after moving back to the area she grew up in.

In 2006, Ms Miller commenced service with Ambulance Victoria and became a volunteer Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member in Bethanga.

As a founding member of the CERT in Bethanga-Berringa, she has been able to ensure the rural community has 24-hour access to vital emergency care.

"It was partly at least having the knowledge to be able to do first aid, but it was also a sense of wanting to get involved in the community too. Being able to help the people in the locality is really what gives me the buzz," Ms Miller said.

"With volunteering, you're helping your community, but you also get so much out of it yourself."

Ms Miller not only undertakes the hands-on operational role of a CERT, but helps to support her team to ensure they can provide timely responses to medical emergencies in the local community through early life saving intervention and care of patients.

That service will see her recognised with the Ambulance Service Medal as part of this year's Australia Day honours.

"We average about a call-out a week. We might go for two weeks and have none and then suddenly, you have three in a row. In a lot of ways, I live my life, but I'll have a pager on me and I'm pretty well able to respond in most cases," she said.

"Although we're only 45 kilometres from town, when you're calling an ambulance, that's remote. I've wanted to get involved to make sure that people in remote communities have got access to the same services as our metropolitan cousins."

Albury Volunteer Rescue Association captain Paul Marshall is often asked why he puts his hand up as an emergency services worker.

His answer is always "because I can", and he will continue to do so.

"I don't know what it is in my makeup, but it's just an ability I can go and do that, switch on and get the job done," he said.

"Getting the job done is one thing, but you're able to walk away thinking 'I just played a small part in impacting someone's life in hopefully a positive way'. To leave a little bit of something good in a bad situation is something I always try and aim for."

Mr Marshall will be recognised as part of Australia Day honours with an Emergency Services Medal after 20 years of service with Albury VRA where he has held the role of squad secretary and public officer for 19 years, deputy captain for six years, training officer since 2015 and has been the NSW association's social media officer for the past seven years.

"I wouldn't be doing what I do if the people around me, the volunteers at the rescue squad and the police I used to work with, weren't genuine, great people. People with heart and soul that actually want to give their time also motivate me to want to go further as well," he said.

"The fact that I've had the opportunity to become the captain of the squad and regional coordinator will allow me to hopefully mould and shape the region for volunteers, so they can continue on the good work."

Mr Marshall is a general land rescue operator and has attended many emergencies during his 20 years of service.

He is on call 24/7 to attend any emergency rescue, missing person search, or recovery incident and provide assistance to other responders.

Mr Marshall was selected to represent VRA Rescue NSW in a six-person training team with Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service and the NSW SES to train the emergency services in Vanuatu in general land rescue.

"Having that impact over there was something I'll never forget," he said.

"It was an absolute surprise when I was told I was nominated (for an ESM), and even more so that I was receiving it. It's a very humbling honour."

Kerrie Frank has been honoured with an Australian Corrections Medal for her almost two decades of work at Wodonga's community correctional office.

Since 2005, she has held numerous roles including community work coordinator, case manager, leading case manager and officer in charge and is now the supervisor of court case management for the Border city.

Ms Frank has led the court case management stream at Wodonga for the past 12 years to oversee offenders undertaking community-based and parole orders and community work and has been a mentor to other case managers.

Ms Frank has managed court practice for Wodonga and Wangaratta on several occasions.

"Over this time the organisation has had two major reforms, with her being a dedicated champion of constructive change within community corrections," her ACM citation read.

"She has initiated and fostered crucial relationships with key stakeholders to enable continued cross-border access to services for offenders, while upholding community safety in Wodonga and neighbouring communities. She also offers support to various committees and initiatives with a shared goal of achieving better outcomes for offenders and the community.

"She is recognised as an advocate and driver of change and a stalwart of integrity. Her professionalism, leadership, and dedication epitomise what it means to be an exceptional community corrections officer."

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