As part of this year’s Australia Day celebrations, today 1,400 people will receive Honours for their commitment and contribution to various sectors across Australia.

Among them are seven Australians of Greek and Cypriot descent: Helen Marcou AM, Professor Maria Kavallaris AM, Professor Paul Pavli AM, Paul Steve Constantinou AM, Dr Peter Charles Marendy OAM, Christos Kazonis OAM, and Emeritus Professor Dimitrios (Jim) Psaros OAM.

Governor-General and Chancellor of the Order of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) congratulated all the recipients, highlighting their enormous contribution to both their local communities and the entire nation.

“Today’s recipients come from right across the country and from all walks of life. While some are well-known, the majority are unsung heroes,” the Governor-General said.

“Their contributions are diverse yet there is a unifying theme: they have dedicated themselves to service. They have worked tirelessly for others, to improve local communities and to make Australia a better place.”

Since the Honours were introduced over 40 years ago, it is significant to note that this year’s list features 422 women – the highest number and percentage of women in the annual tradition’s history, among them Greek Australian Ms Marcou.

Recognised for her significant service in music, particularly as a promoter and advocate for live performance, the co-founder and co-owner of Bakehouse Studios admits she was a little taken aback by the nomination.

“I felt, on reflection, a huge honour to be recognised by your community,” Marcou told Neos Kosmos. “To be recognised by your country for your work, it’s really buoyed us. The motivation, the strength to just keep doing more and better.”

Throughout her time as an activist for the arts, Marcou says she has realised the power, influence, and change that can be brought about by just a handful of individuals, and doesn’t take the responsibility of the platform she now has to bring about change for the community lightly.

While she understands the gravity that comes with the Australia Day Honours, she admits to being conflicted by the Honours’ association with 26 January.

“We understand that January 26 holds a lot of trauma for our country and for our First Peoples and Indigenous Australians who haven’t had their sovereignty recognised,” she explains.

“But we feel we wanted to make a statement about that and how much we respect our First People, and separate the award. Because the award is really about music; it’s about music, the arts, and its contribution and our contribution to make our culture more robust through the work that we’ve done.”

Also receiving an Order of Australia (AM) is Professor and Founding Director of the Australian Centre for Nano Medicine, Maria Kavallaris. 

“It’s very humbling,” she told Neos Kosmos of the honour. “But it also makes me realise, we get these awards, but it’s also all the people that we work with and collaborate with – really it’s a total partnership.”

As a researcher specialising in children’s cancer, she says she is continually driven to try and help as many children survive the terrible disease.

“Every little bit of research that we do, every little advance we can do … moves one step closer to hopefully one day having no children dying from cancer,” she says, “and that would be a wonderful achievement.”

Merewether-based Emeritus Professor Dimitrios Psaros is also being recognised for his work helping the community’s youth through various charitable activities.

He has been a foundation board member of the CommStrength Foundation 20 years, with a focus on preventing youth suicide throughout Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.

Proud of being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) and the role he has played in the charity, he describes the experience of giving back to his local community and witnessing the direct impact, as “the best feeling in the world”.

“It’s the idea is that if we can help one person, we can help more than that. It’s the simplicity of trying to help not resolve the complex problem, but at least help individuals who are going through crisis point in our community,” Professor Psaros told Neos Kosmos.

“It’s incredibly fulfilling, it’s rewarding – there’s a sense of calm; you do the right thing, it comes back in spades.”

Further north in Queensland, Christos Kazonis is also being awarded an OAM, for his service to the Greek community of Brisbane.

The current chair of the Paniyiri Greek Festival and the Australian Hellenic Sports and Culture Centre, he is also a Councillor at the Greek Orthodox Community of St George.

Mr Kazonis admits he was shocked by the news, and says it wasn’t ever something he expected. Driven by his passion for his Greek heritage, he says he couldn’t have achieved all that he has without his supportive wife. Proud of the acknowledgement, he encourages younger generations to give of their time where they can to ensure a thriving Greek community in the years to come.

“That’s something we’re immensely proud of, showing our Greek culture to south east Queensland – you just do it because you want to do it, because you want to help other people, the community, the church,” he says.

“We’ve got to keep everything going; we’ve got to keep our language, our church, and all our culture.”

For the full list of recipients, visit www.gov.au