Mill Park resident and veteran Barry Richards has been awarded the Order of Australia medal (OAM) for his service to the welfare of veterans.
He said the call about receiving the OAM came as quite a shock.
“My voluntary work is done with expectations of nothing in return,” Mr Richards said.
He said keeping the honour a secret from his family has been really difficult.
“The anxiety is killing me … the kids haven’t got a clue … my son is coming down from Sydney for the weekend … he’s going to get a surprise on Monday,” he said.
Mr Richards lost his wife eight and a half years ago, but said that she understood the importance of his work.
He has dedicated more than a decade to advocating for veterans through the Returned and Services League (RSL) of Australia.
Mr Richards said as a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, he understands those he helps very well.
“I should have been medically discharged [from the army] with mental health issues,” he said.
“I fought back and won an appeal against them and I was retrospectively awarded a medical discharge back to 1976.”
He is most proud of his work supporting veterans to submit reports of physical and sexual abuse cases to the Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA).
“That’s without a doubt … it goes back to Julia Gillard calling the royal commission (into institutional responses to child sexual abuse).”
Mr Richards was closely involved with a royal commission that held public hearings for veterans who experienced child sex abuse in the defence force.
“I haven’t lost a veteran case since 2016 … getting a case over the line and ringing and telling a veteran [is rewarding],” he said.
He said he is now well known as a specialist in the field, but couldn’t do it alone.
“It’s not a one man band.”
Mr Richards said he hopes to take a step back and mentor others to take over.
“I’m still working on sex abuse cases going back 40 years … it’s the tip of the iceberg … there’s still others out there.”
Mr Richards said his sense of humour keeps him going even when he is “as busy as a one-legged tap dancer.”
Despite this immense honour, he said there is one last thing he hopes to do.
“Before I die, I want to shake Julia Gillard’s hand.”
