A desire to help others has driven Albion Park resident Peter Brown throughout his decades-long nursing career and beyond.
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This Australia Day, Mr Brown has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his significant service to community and social welfare organisations.
"Very humbled by it, I wasn't expecting it," he said of the honour.
"And I suppose a little embarrassed, because a lot of people do lots of things."
Mr Brown began training as a nurse at Wollongong Hospital in January 1966, at the age of 16 years and 10 months.
"I was the second male nurse to train at Wollongong, so I suppose I was a bit of a trailblazer at that time," he said.
Mr Brown said he was interested in hospitals and helping people, and it was a vocational adviser who suggested he consider nursing.
After four years in general nursing in the region, he underwent further training and returned to Wollongong, becoming the first community mental health nurse employed in the Illawarra.
He said he was prompted to make the move into mental health to diversify his skills, and because he could "see a future in that one".
That proved true, because he spent the remainder of his career working in this space, eventually becoming the mental health operations manager and occasional acting mental health services director for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District.
What he is most proud of from his decades-long health career is the mobile team he was a part of from 1987 into the 1990s, which provided a 24-hour crisis intervention service.
"That was a very efficient and effective team for a number of years... and I think it helped a lot of people in that time," Mr Brown said.
He retired once, but went back to set up a mental health service for older people and stayed for another nine years.
Towards the end of his career he became involved with Community Health for Adolescents in Need, which later became part of Southern Youth and Family Services - an organisation for which he remains on the board.
"I thought it was good for the area health service... to be part of NGOs [non-government organisations] in a collaborative way," Mr Brown said.
For four years, Mr Brown chaired the Illawarra Suicide Prevention Awareness Network and served as a mental health representative for the Housing Partnership.
Mr Brown was a union delegate for 25 years and founded the Illawarra community health branch; in 2009, he became a life member of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association.
He is also an active member of Figtree Lions Club, for which he has served in a number of positions, including president.
Mr Brown was the inaugural chairman of the MegaSwim for multiple sclerosis, which the club brought to the Illawarra.
Last year, the popular fundraiser generated over $50,000 to support people with MS.
"I like being able to help out people, it's something I still enjoy doing," Mr Brown said.
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Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
