Amanda Martin awarded OAM for almost three decades of environmental work

When she was young, Brunswick’s Amanda Martin didn’t want to tell others how much she loved the bush — now she has been recognised for her tireless environmental work. Four other Moreland residents have also received OAM honours.

Lifetime nature lover has resulted in Amanda Martin being handed a national honour

As a child, Amanda Martin kept her love of nature and bird watching a secret because she thought it was daggy.

Now, after almost 30 years of working to protect the environment, she has been handed a national honour.

Ms Martin was given a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) as part of the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours.

A Brunswick resident, Ms Martin said her parents helped create a love of the outdoors during yearly camping trips in Victoria.

After overseas travel, she began a career that has included stops with Environment Victoria and Parks Victoria.

She is now the chief executive of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network.

The network connects philanthropists with environmental causes.

“(After travelling) I came back with this feeling that we are lucky to have this environment and I want to protect it,” she said.

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Ms Martin said in the face of climate change, everybody is capable of protecting nature.

“There’s lots of local groups you can be a part of and being a part of something, all those little bits add up to a larger change,” she said.

“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because now is the time and I can’t think of anything better.”

Four other Moreland residents were also awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) today:

PROFESSOR CHRISTINE BROWN

Following a diverse career across Australia and Europe in finance and finance research, Professor Christine Brown has been awarded an OAM for services to education.

Prof Brown has undertaken research at universities including Queens University in Belfast, Manchester University and Bristol University.

Back home, the Brunswick resident has been a professor at Monash University in banking and finance since 2010 and was head of that department for four years from 2014.

BARBARA WERTHEIM

A pioneer in combating domestic violence and campaigning for equal rights, Barbara Wertheim has seen honoured for service to women.

Ms Wertheim began her work in NSW in the early 1980s, where she was a member of the Women’s Coordination Unit and a co-ordinator of the New South Wales Taskforce on Domestic Violence.

She spent five years as the Equal Employment Opportunity Manager at the State Rail Authority until 1986 before moving to Victoria, where she was the Victorian Commissioner for Equal Employment Opportunities until 1989.

Ms Wertheim now lives in Brunswick.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR GEORGIA PAXTON

More than a decade of working to treat refugee children continues to drive Associate Professor Georgia Paxton.

Prof Paxton has been honoured for service to community health and refugees after 13 years and counting as head of the Immigrant Health Service at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The Brunswick resident also spent two years as chair of the Victorian Refugee Health Network and is currently an executive member.

Her tireless work on behalf of refugees also saw her fill numerous roles, including assisting the Human Rights Commission Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention in 2014.

KERRY PRYOR

Kerry Pryor turned her eye for photography toward charity across the globe.

Based in Brunswick East, Mrs Pryor has been a photographer and child sponsorship co-ordinator for Beyond the Orphanage Foundation since 2011, an organisation that supports orphaned children in Nepal and Kenya.

She also captured images for the Eyes of Africa Charitable Foundation between 2011 and 2012.

Mrs Pryor still runs her own business and was awarded her OAM for services to photography and international charitable initiatives.