Joe Massa’s parents nominated for Sydneysiders of the Year as Sydney Awards voting opens
A northern beaches couple fighting to save lives after the untimely death of their own son are among the first nominees for 2025 Sydney Awards. Nominate your own Sydneysider of the Year now.
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A northern beaches couple determined to save lives after the untimely death of their own son are among the first nominees for 2025 Sydney Awards, an initiative shining light on the people and projects who make our Harbour City the best place to live and work.
Elouise and Danny Massa have become fearless advocates for change across NSW after their two-year-old son Joe went into cardiac arrest at Northern Beaches Hospital following a two-and-a-half hour wait in the emergency room.
Their story garnered weeks of national and international media attention, and Elouise’s calls for urgent and sweeping changes to the state’s health system were almost immediately answered.
‘Joe’s Law’ has been introduced to parliament banning public-private partnerships for emergency hospital services, while the REACH protocol for families to escalate concerns about a patient’s deterioration and care will be strengthened and renamed ‘Joe’s Rule’, all within three months of the Massas going public on Sydney’s 2GB radio station.
“It’s given me a lot of courage to stand up for what needs to change within our healthcare system, because the failure is systemic – Joe’s case is not isolated,” Ms Massa said.
Knowing other families will be saved the same fate is “absolutely” the motivation, she said.
“If it wasn’t for that, you would see a million grief counsellors and get on with your life, but we needed to make sure the rest of New South Wales was kept safe. Because if people don’t speak up, how does change actually happen?”
The Massa family have been nominated for the Committee for Sydney’s annual Sydneysider of the Year award alongside southwest Sydney chef and social enterprise founder Shaun Christie-David, with readers of The Daily Telegraph now encouraged to submit more nominees for the shortlist.
“It’s not what we were expecting – we’re very touched and honoured,” Ms Massa said.
“I thought ‘this is fantastic’ … because it’s another way we can amplify our message. The award can be for Joe – it’s his story that is living on.”
Mr Christie-David, founder of Columbo Social and Plate it Forward, said “creating a restaurant and catering business to help the unemployed and the hungry has taught me profits are important but improving people’ lives more so”.
The 2025 Sydney Awards season will also include gongs for an ‘Unsung Hero’ like early nominee and Chinatown comedy club founder Kevin Cheng, a ‘Young Sydneysider of the Year’ who is making waves before the age of 30, and a ‘Project of the Year’.
A new category has also been created for a ‘Local Project of the Year’ to give community-based enterprises the spotlight alongside major transport infrastructure projects and multimillion-dollar initiatives.
Committee for Sydney CEO Eamon Waterford encouraged Sydneysiders to nominate a colleague, friend, or an inspirational person or project before voting closes on June 16.
“We spend a lot of time talking about complex problems, like cost-of-living pressures, housing affordability … and equality of access to health and education,” he said.
“Among all the hard stuff, this is a chance to celebrate those working on the solutions to make Sydney a better place.
“We are proud to partner with The Daily Telegraph, which has been such a powerful advocate for the 5.5 million people that call Sydney home.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Opposition leader Mark Speakman will join the judging panel once again, alongside The Daily Telegraph editor Ben English and leaders in business, education and government.
When the finalists are announced in August, readers will have the chance to vote for their People’s Choice.
To submit your nominations go to https://sydney.org.au/c/sydney-awards/
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Originally published as Joe Massa’s parents nominated for Sydneysiders of the Year as Sydney Awards voting opens
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