King’s Birthday 2025: See the full South Australian honours list
From professors, advocates, industry titans and artists, these are the South Australians recognised for their achievements in their respective fields. See the full list.
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From household names to unsung heroes, these are the South Australians recognised for their achievements in the 2025 Kings Birthday honours list.
AC: Companion of the Order of Australia
Emeritus Professor Roger William Byard
A few years ago, a mother contacted forensic pathologist Roger Byard asking whether he remembered the autopsy he conducted on her daughter 25 years earlier – he did.
“She just wanted to talk about it,” Professor Byard told The Advertiser.
“She sent me a photograph of her little girl and the poem that she’d written – something like that is really meaningful.”
Professor Byard has been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday honours as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his contribution to medicine, forensic pathology, tertiary education and the community.
“It’s the most significant achievement that I’ve had,” the 69-year-old said.
“It’s a recognition of a life’s work, and it’s also recognition of forensic pathology as well, which can tend to get left behind in medicine.”
Professor Byard said interacting with the community had been the most important part of his long career.
Before pathology, he worked in clinical medicine and discovered the importance of people understanding how a loved one died.
“If we can understand what’s happened and the mechanisms of death and do something to prevent it, then that’s a great thing,” Professor Byard said.
“I call it preventive pathology … it’s about learning from tragedy.”
Professor Byard has conducted lifesaving research into sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), pinpointing particular risks, including unsafe cots.
“We’ve saved hundreds of lives with that, and that’s what keeps you going because you know you can do something positive,” he said.
Professor Byard, who has worked 60 hours a week for 40 years, said he had never really reflected on his remarkable career until receiving the AC.
“I’m proud of what I’ve achieved,” he said.
“I come home after work and sit on the couch with the dog and tell her about what I’ve been up to,” he said.
“It’s now good to reflect back on that.”
He said forensic pathology was always changing and there were “no boundaries”.
Professor Byard recently worked with Navpreet Kaur, a human rights lawyer in India, writing a paper on acid attacks, dowry deaths and child labour.
“That’s been particularly gratifying,” he said.
He recently met up with an acid attack survivor who visited Adelaide from India.
“To see people who have suffered incredible hardships and overcome them, it makes you feel humble, and it makes you realise that there’s some very good people around,” he said.
Professor Byard is also Emeritus Professor of Pathology at the School of Biomedicine at the University of Adelaide.
Dr John Maxwell (JM) Coetzee
South African-Australian novelist Dr John Maxwell (JM) Coetzee has a long list of achievements spanning a broad range of industries.
He has been honoured for service to the arts, particularly literature, to literary studies, to tertiary education and to animal welfare.
His record is extensive, publishing a novel every three years since the late 1970s.
His other awards include the 2003 Nobel prize for Literature, two Booker prizes, and the keys to the city of Adelaide, given to him in 2004.
AM: Member of the Order of Australia
Mr Andrew Chapman
An industry leader who has a passion to help ensure the youth of Adelaide don’t “fall through the cracks” has been recognised in the 2025 King’s Birthday honours.
Andrew Chapman received an Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to youth and to the marina industry.
Mr Chapman has chaired the Advancing Youth Foundation South Australia since 2016, but said he has supported its work for over 40 years.
The Advancing Youth Foundation was established in 1886 to improve circumstances of young people at risk.
“It was started a very long time ago and over that time, it’s done some amazing things with funding the opportunities for youth that have fallen between the cracks,” he said
Mr Chapman has been chairman of the Marina Industry Board of Australia for the past 15 years, and his family were the developers of The Marina Hindmarsh Island.
“South Australia is a very hard market when it comes to the bigger projects … but we’ve achieved some amazing things,” he said.
Ms Catherine Ann Baldwin
Indigenous culture, dance and youth ensembles have become the hallmarks of Catherine Baldwin’s career in the arts – even though it began with her studying electronic music.
Ms Baldwin has been recognised for her service to culture and the arts, including her current role as the founding chair of Ngutu College at Woodville North.
“I’ve always had a deep commitment to young people … and dance has been my passion,” she says.
“Ngutu College is the bringing of all of my experience together – my arts background, my Aboriginal understanding, my time in philanthropy, my time in financial services,” said Ms Baldwin.
She said she shared the honour as a creative business partner working alongside “some amazing people” including artists, Aboriginal leaders and policy makers, to help realise their vision.
“It’s all come together to support (Ngutu head of college) Andrew Plastow in setting up a new independent school that’s founded on Aboriginal knowledge and where we have 50 per cent Aboriginal kids. It’s about youth and investing in those next generations for future leaders … that’s been a recurring theme for me.”
Ms Baldwin, 68, started out as an electronic music graduate from Adelaide University’s Elder Conservatorium, where she also worked with its Theatre Guild, creating soundscapes and scores.
“That’s where I learnt all of the technical and production side of theatre.”
She moved into arts administration, beginning with the Canberra Repertory Theatre in 1978, before running her own management company, then becoming the dance program manager for national funding body the Australia Council from 1983-86.
“You are constantly looking for resources to support the artists to do what they want to do.”
Ms Baldwin helped Strictly Ballroom dancer and actor Paul Mercurio to set up his Australian Choreographic Ensemble.
She represented Indigenous artist brothers Stephen, David and Russell Page before becoming executive director of their Bangarra Dance Theatre company from 2010-14.
“I’ve always had a contact point with Aboriginal arts, from when I first went to Sydney in the mid-1980s, teaching project management skills at the Aboriginal Islander dance school, and I’ve kept those relationships ever since.”
In what she described as a “sea-change” during the 2000s, Ms Baldwin also held national chief executive positions with the Actuaries Institute and Committee for Economic Development.
Ms Baldwin returned to Adelaide from Sydney in 2014, but left again briefly in 2017-18 to work in Toronto with Canadian First Nations performance company Red Sky.
Ms Nikki Kirsten Govan
A chairwoman, board member and restaurateur, Nikki Govan’s dedication to everything she does is why she was recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia.
Ms Govan said growing up with a family who “were big contributors and volunteers” encouraged her to share a similar passion.
“Some of my works have been in the charitable areas, but a lot of the work I have done is in economic development,” she said.
“I will always look at how we support small businesses to drive our economy.”
Mr John Wilton Lush
“Maybe it was all worthwhile,” John Lush, 81, said when he found out he’d be one of the newest Members of the Order of Australia.
Mr Lush, who has been recognised for his significant service to the grain industry and local government, said stepping into the world of agripolitics was tough, and “you wonder sometimes if you’re achieving anything”.
“You’re dealing with politicians, prime minister and premiers, and then you get to my stage and you get an award and think maybe it was all worthwhile; something I did made a difference at some stage,” he said.
Mr Lush was recently inaugurated into the Grain Producers SA hall of fame, but also served on the Grains Council of Australia from 1998-2000, and has served as a regional councillor for a combined nine years, and has travelled the nation and the globe for his work in the industry.
“I think it’s starting to dawn on me that this perhaps is important,” he said.
“Maybe the penny is starting to drop. But none of the stuff I’ve done would be possible without the backing of my family. When I was missing, my wife Marjorie was on the tractor sowing crop, as was my son Paul.”
Greta Bradman
Greta Bradman has many strings to her bow – soprano, broadcaster, psychologist, even AI researcher.
The 45-year-old, who has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, has shown the sort of talent, drive and focusthat would have made her famous grandfather Sir Don Bradman proud.
Ms Bradman has been honoured for her services to the performing arts and psychology.
She promotes positive mental health in performing artists and also works as an AI experience architect.
Ms Bradman said the national award had made her reflect on the legacy of her beloved grandparents, Sir Donald and Lady Jessie, who she said “would be really touched”, and that her award had proved particularly emotional for her father.
“It’s such an unexpected honour,” she said.
In 2011, Ms Bradman, then 21, sang at her grandfather’s funeral and was again in the national spotlight when she performedAdvance Australia Fair at Shane Warne’s memorial service at the MCG in 2022.
A principal soprano at Opera Australia from 2016 to 2017, she is now a board member at the organisation.
She is still chair of the Bradman Foundation and her other roles have included ambassador and board member at the Alfred Foundation, and as a current director at Arts Centre Melbourne.
An MBA recipient, she also has a Masters of Psychology, a field that inspired her to publish her first book, What MattersTo You, in March.
In addition, Ms Bradman has been a regular ABC radio presenter since 2016.
OAM: Medal of the Order of Australia
The late Mrs Carmel Theresa Doyle
Carmel Doyle’s contribution to the Irish dance community was immense – but she died before learning of her recognition with an Order of Australia Medal.
She pretty much held every leadership role at the Australian Irish Dancing Association, including being named a life member and helping countless students get their jig on as a teacher, examiner and founder of the Doyle School of Irish Dancing.
Son Matthew said the medal would have meant a lot to his mother. “Irish Dancing was her passion, and although she died before learning of the award, she’d be very grateful and honoured to receive it. We miss her terribly, but this will be a lovely reminder of her service,” he said.
Frank Agostino
He’s the man who got his start in the automotive industry 40 years ago, but Frank Agostino is much more than a car dealer.
The successful businessman operates several different chains across the state, including petrol stations AMPM, Subway, Carl’s Junior and the Pendleton Olive Estate.
His service to the automotive industry has been recognised with a King’s Birthday honour.
From being the managing director of Agostino Group for almost 50 years to volunteering on the Variety Bash SA committee, Mr Agostino’s time has been spread thin for multiple causes in the South Australian community.
Ms Julie-Ann Finney
After losing her son David to suicide in 2019, Julie-Ann Finney dedicated her life to protecting those who protect our country.
David took his own life at 38 after 20 years in the navy, despite repeated calls for help for his worsening PTSD.
The Blair Athol mother has been on a one-woman mission since then to lift the lid on veteran suicide and the lack of support for returned service people.
Her tireless campaign to expose the injustices of the Defence Force have been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal.
It was her calls for action, along with countless other families, that led to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
Mr Barry Lewis
Barry Lewis’s love of football has been ingrained in him for decades, first taking the whistle for a game between Port Adelaide and Darlington Police in 1974.
Since then he has taken the field more than 2800 times for the SANFL, Adelaide Football League and Glenelg South Football Association.
And he doesn’t look like slowing down. His hard work has been recognised with life memberships, five Umpire of the Year gongs, seven Golden Whistle awards, and legend status in the National Police Football Association.
Mr Christopher Stephen McDermott
He’s the tough South Aussie footy icon who led the Crows into battle for the first time in the AFL.
But for Chris McDermott, the off-field fight to better the lives of countless children outweighs any of his accolades with ball in hand.
The Glenelg great founded the Little Heroes Foundation in 1996, alongside teammate Tony McGuinness, in memory of five-year-old Nicholas Berry and seven-year-old Nathan McLean, who both died from cancer.
Since then, Chris has helped raise almost $40m for equipment and facilities at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
The charity has also led the charge to improve children’s mental health.
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Originally published as King’s Birthday 2025: See the full South Australian honours list
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