We live in an age when there are more awards than you can poke a stick at – and there’s no end in sight.
It seems every man and his dog can start some kind of award program these days.
There’s so many of them I just can’t keep up with them.
Some awards are a wonderful idea, of course, but equally, others can be ridiculous or even a little dubious.
Then there are awards created as a business venture, and that’s OK, so long as they are completely transparent.
Australia Day and Order of Australia awards are honours that are above and beyond reproach.
Having been involved in local council Australia Day judging panels l can confidently say without fear of contradiction they do a good job of honouring local heroes.
As for Order of Australia, well, they really are the pinnacle of national honours.
They are not always free of controversy, as has been the case this week over honours for a couple of “Covid premiers’’, but they provide recognition, at a national level, of some of our outstanding citizens.
That is why to say it was disappointing that only two people from our area received Order of Australia honours would be an understatement.
Congratulations are in order for Wendy Waller, the former Liverpool mayor, and car dealer Paul Warren, both of whom received an OAM for their service to the community.
Also well done to every single person who received an honour as part of the King’s Birthday celebrations.
It really does beggar belief that not a single person from Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly was nominated for an Order of Australia honour.
My guess, and it’s only a guess, is that the awards suffer from the “out of sight, out of mind’’ syndrome.
They are handed out twice a year, so are newsworthy for a day or two at most.
For the rest of the time, they may as well not exist for most people.
My humble suggestion is that what we have here is the best award program possible, but that it’s in need of a little awareness boost.
Which may just be the thing to encourage people to nominate someone for an award.
We all know someone who is doing great things, but rarely think, oh, hang on, I should nominate them for an Order of Australia or even an Australia Day award.
Some of the promotion and marketing of the awards could also be done by organisations such as local councils and business chambers.
When people win honours, there’s no doubt it reflects well on their local community.
And if we do something to ensure that people in our community who shine with their good deeds are recognised it also makes them role models for others to emulate.
From all my experience in community activities I have seen so many amazing people whose contributions to their community has been extraordinary but only known to the organisation they serve. These unsung heroes are the glue that binds o our communities together but rarely appear in the Orders of Australia lists . In the rapidly growing areas in Macarthur there is an ever growing need for volunteers to provide the sporting and cultural services that make our community.