Compassion, courage and tenacity have driven the four outstanding older Queenslanders who have been nominated for the state's Senior Australian of the Year Award.
They are among 16 Queenslanders in the running to be named the Queensland Local Hero, Young Australian, Senior Australian or Australian of the Year.
The four nominees are:
Dr Colin Dillon AM APM became Australia's first Indigenous police officer when he entered the Queensland Police Force in 1965. This was two years before the 1967 referendum introducing the counting of Aboriginal people in the nation's census, and a decade before ratification of the Racial Discrimination Act.
In 1987, Dr Dillon showed courage as the first serving police officer to voluntarily step forward and give first hand knowledge under oath before the Fitzgerald Inquiry into Police Corruption.
Dr Dillon has been awarded the Australian Police Medal and received an honorary doctorate from the Queensland University of Technology. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Indigenous community in 2013.
After retiring from the police force, Dr Dillon served as Chairman of Indigenous radio station, 98.9FM, and as a former Director of the Queensland Heart Foundation. Currently, the 77-year-old is community member on the Parole Board of Queensland.
Beryl Neilsen OAM is the founder and director of the Winchester Foundation which helps children in regional and rural areas gain a high-quality education.
While running and operating Winchester Downs, her family-run cattle property located south of Moranbah, Ms Neilsen founded the John & Beryl Neilsen Winchester Foundation to help families cover the costs of boarding school and university, giving country children the same opportunities as those from the city. Many of the children who've been supported by the foundation have gone on to become doctors, vets, physiotherapists and nurses, among other professions.
For hundreds of rural children, some opportunities may have never been possible without the support of the Winchester Foundation.
Ms Neilsen,79, was awarded an Order of Australia medal in 2021 for her tireless work as an advocate of opportunities for rural children.
Keith Payne VC AM left his job as a tradesman in 1951 to join the Australian Army and was sent to fight at the age of 18. It would be the beginning of decades of military service across the world, taking him to the battlefields of Korea, Malaya and Vietnam.
One night in 1969, in the dark jungle of Vietnam and under heavy enemy fire, Mr Payne returned to a fled battlefield to rescue 40 of his soldiers. For his extreme act of bravery in leading his men to safety, Mr Payne received the Victoria Cross in 1970.
Upon returning to Australia Mr Payne suffered post-traumatic stress disorder which spurred him on to become active in counselling returned soldiers, while also encouraging and supporting troops in active service.
In his lifetime of service, Mr Payne (88) has helped not only veterans of foreign wars, but also Indigenous diggers and communities left behind by civilian and military bureaucracy.
Beverley Trivett is director and chairwoman of the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation having been inspired to promote a greater understanding of brain cancer following the death of her husband John in 1997 from glioblastoma multiforme.
Ms Trivett, 72, has devoted almost 25 years to driving the development of brain cancer resources and has been a Director of the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation since April 2015. It is now the leading organisation for research, advocacy and treatments in Australia, with a mission to rapidly improve brain cancer survival, and ultimately find a cure.
Since 2013, the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation has seen $21 million invested into brain cancer research, funded 53 research grants, invested $3.63 million into clinical trials, and created 3,500 brain cancer resources.
Queensland Australian of the Year nominees are:
- Sue and Lloyd Clarke - Founders, Small Steps 4 Hannah (Camp Hill, Brisbane)
- Norm McGillivray - Founder, Beddown (Brisbane)
- Melissa McGuinness - Founder, YOU CHOOSE Youth Road Safety (Gold Coast)
- Annette Whitaker - Co-founder/CEO, Pulmonary Hypertension Assoc Australia (Cairns)
Queensland Young Australian of the Year nominees are:
- Dr Tahnee Bridson - Founder, Hand-n-Hand Peer Support (Mareeba)
- Jack Growden - Founder/CEO, Lite Haus International (Townsville)
- Cody Schaeffer - Founder/Director, Borderline Australia (New Farm, Brisbane)
- Dr Heidi Walkden - Neuroscientist and science policy fellow (Ipswich)
Queensland Local Hero nominees are:
- Saba Abraham - Founder, Mu'ooz Restaurant & Catering social enterprise (Brisbane)
- Dr Nova Evans - Co-founder, Sunny Street (Sunshine Coast)
- James Hill - Mental health advocate (Sunshine Coast)
- Dr Zoe Knorre - Clinical psychologist, chief exective Grace Homestead (Brisbane)
The nominees are among 129 people being recognised across all states and territories as part of the program, which began in 1960.
The four award recipients from Queensland will be announced on the evening of Thursday, November 11, 2021, in a live-streamed ceremony at the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane.
They will then join the other state and territory recipients as national finalists for the national awards announcement on January 25, 2022.
