* Scroll down to read about all nine recipients of Australia Day honours in 2023.
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It's time to celebrate local heroes in our region and beyond this January 26, for their efforts to help the nation forward, with the annual Australia Day awards.
There were 736 awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia, with 48 per cent for women and 45 per cent for service to local communities.
"It is encouraging to see an increase in diversity in the Order of Australia," Governor-General David Hurley said.
"Each recipient has something in common - someone nominated them. The Order belongs to each of us and we each have a part to play. The only way a person can be recognised is for someone to nominate them."
Gary McKay was the first Australian solder to write an autobiography on his time serving in the Vietnam War, eventually turning his career to preserving military history.
This Australia Day he is being honoured for his contribution to the nation's veterans and our history by receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia.
Overall, the now-President of the Kiama Jamberoo RSL resident has written 25 books - some novels - but most are gripping non-fiction accounts from the front-line.
Over the years he has worked with the Australian War Memorial to collate an oral history, having interviewed hundreds of veterans, with the full recordings and transcripts kept safe in the archives of the memorial.
"I have the street cred when I interview people, they tend to open up and I tend to get more of a complete story and they're more honest, down to earth," McKay said. "That's why I felt I needed to do it."
Foxground resident Maura Cato has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to the community through charitable organisations this Australia Day.
"I had friends nominate me, and I'm going 'what?'" Mrs Cato said of her surprise when finding out. "What I do is so little compared to what other people do."
Mrs Cato said her charity work was part of her everyday life and thought of it as nothing special, having been brought up from a young age to help others.
From volunteering in soup kitchens to organising a festival at her home to raise money for East Timorese to making up hundreds of gift-hampers for Christmas with herself and some friends, Mrs Cato is happy to do what she can.
"Every year you hope demand might get smaller, but the homeless issue in our area is huge," she said.
When he was told he would be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, David Swan figured it had to be a scam.
The Mt Ousley man has spent years volunteering his time with Football South Coast, Corrimal Swim Club and the Disabled Surfers Association.
But his honour is very real; his medal comes after decades of volunteering time to various local sporting groups.
"We left Pleasant Heights school one Friday afternoon 27 years ago - we walked into Corrimal Swimming Club, and I'm still there on a Friday night doing whatever they want," he said.
The drive to give his time - all of it unpaid - to local sporting groups came from his parents' lesson that they had done the same for him growing up. It was time to pay it forward.
It's a cliche to say someone "fell into" a career or hobby, but it's an expression that rings true for Darrell Shephard and softball.
Mr Shephard was teaching at his primary school in 1978 and coaching the school's rugby league team when the opportunity opened up to also coach softball.
"No-one would take the softball team, so I thought 'how hard would that be'? So I started coaching," the Gerringong resident said.
It kick-started a more than four-decade obsession for Mr Shephard, who has been involved with the sport at a local, state, national and international level.
The Illawarra stalwart's list of achievements include umpiring in more than 90 international matches; serving as Softball NSW Umpires Association president for 16 years; being Illawarra Softball Association's umpire in chief for more than two decades; and being named life member of the Dapto Softball Club.
Witnessing a tragic drowning set Coalcliff resident Professor Rob ' Dr Rip' Brander on a course that has likely saved countless lives.
Professor Brander was on a New Zealand beach with small waves, when he saw a person die in a rip.
"If they knew what was happening and what was going on, they wouldn't have drowned," he said.
From that point on, he dedicated much of his live to educating the public about rips - work that has seen him appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.
He got involved in the science of rip currents while undertaking his PhD at the University of Sydney in 1993 but it was the aforementioned tragedy that steered him into his preventative work.
He has worked with lifeguards and surf lifesavers, and with the University of NSW - where he works today and remains director of the Beach Safety Research Group - has delivered safety videos online.
He has participated in documentaries and other media appearances, written a book and study guides, and authored dozens of journal articles.
John Stubbs' life changed when he was diagnosed with cancer more than 20 years ago.
At the age of 52, with a 12-year-old son at home, the Thirroul man received the news no father wants to hear - his future would be defined by Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia.
After months of treatment, hours undergoing full-body radiation, and a bone-marrow transplant, Mr Stubbs emerged from the other side, in remission with a new perspective on how cancer patients should be treated.
Now, the 74-year-old health advocate has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his dedication to ensuring cancer patients "a seat at the table".
"I didn't have enough control - it was my disease, and I wanted to treat it in a way that I felt comfortable with," Mr Stubbs said.
Through his entire treatment, Mr Stubbs found ways to inch back that control, and has since dedicated his life to ensuring patients are at the centre of the health system.
At 74, the Thirroul local isn't slowing down. He's on the board of the Cancer Institute, and has recently been appointed Chair of a panel analysing ways to include consumers in medical research and health decision making.
A desire to help others has driven Albion Park resident Peter Brown throughout his decades-long nursing career and beyond.
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.
Mr Brown began training as a nurse at Wollongong Hospital in January 1966, at the age of 16.
"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.
After four years in general nursing he underwent further training and returned to Wollongong to become the first community mental health nurse employed in the Illawarra.
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.
The name Valmai Loomes will be well known to the thousands upon thousands of people of who have either participated or been involved with athletics in Wollongong over the last 70 years.
The Kanahooka resident's parents were among the founding members of the Illawarra Blue Stars Athletics Club, which was formerly known as the Wollongong Blue Stars Women's Athletics Club.
Miss Loomes has been a member of the club since it was founded in 1953. Her involvement has continued to this day on and off the track, serving as a coach and treasurer as well as secretary, a position she has held since 1964.
Miss Loomes has been recognised during the 2023 Australia Day Honours List, awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to athletics.
"My parents and some of our neighbours founded the club mainly because we had a lady who was a champion in the 18-yards and she had to go to St George Athletics Club because there was no women's athletic club down here.
"Us kids from Port Kembla Primary School were running after her and going down training with her, so my parents and plus some neighbours formed Wollongong Blue Stars Athletics Club - us kids all joined up and we got going and we used to compete at Wollongong Showground."
Miss Loomes competed until the age of 21 and then turned her attention to the coaching and administration side of track and field.
Miss Loomes' other awards include a Distinguished Long Service Award from Sport New South Wales in 2021, in 2006 Athletics Australia presented her with a Platinum Service Award, for 40 yearsof service, and Miss Loomes was presented with a Service Merit Award from Athletics New South Wales, in the 1980s.
Judith Fyfe thought she'd have a crack at becoming a Girl Guides Leader just while her girls were little, she didn't realise it would earn her an Australia Day honour.
Fifty-three years later, Mrs Fyfe is being awarded with the Medal of the Order of Australia for her exceptional contribution to the young community, feeling more connected to the Girl Guides organisation than ever.
The Cordeaux Heights resident who turns 82 in March, said she's had a fair share of girly adventures.
"I started out as a leader for the young ones for seven to ten-year-olds and then moved on to working with the older girls," Mrs Fyfe said.
Mrs Fyfe has had several roles within the Girl Guides group with her most distinguished ones being a Sailing Master, water activities consultant and State Advisor.
"Helping girls develop and grow is what I've been doing all these years. For the past 20 years though I've actually spent most of my time on a state boat shed on the Parramatta river taking kids to sail."
Mrs Fyfe's generous actions are not limited to the Girl Guides, she has also been a carer for a Paralympic sportsperson for the 2004 and 2008 games.
