NSW 2023 Australian of the year awards nominees have been announced.
Nominees for the 2023 NSW Australian of the Year Awards include a former Socceroo fighting for human rights, an Aboriginal Constitutional lawyer, a country firefighter, a Sikh charity founder, a young woman who started the call for sexual consent education, and a PALLIATIVE CARE PIONEER!
Teresa Plane from Narrabeen has been nominated as NSW Senior Australian of the Year, and is a palliative care pioneer and advocate!
Teresa is a former nurse recognised as a pioneer of modern palliative care in Australia. Her devotion began late one night during a drive home from hospital as she listened to a life-changing interview with psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. As she heard her discuss the five stages of dying, Teresa realised she’d always been a death-denying nurse. She was inspired to study palliative care methods overseas before opening a hospice and palliative care unit at Mt Carmel Hospital in western Sydney in 1978.
Teresa admitted patients on a need’s basis rather than their ability to pay. She also launched a home care program, supported by a charity she’d established to advocate on behalf of the dying. She later established Macquarie Hospice, a home care and day care centre and spoke many times at international forums, universities and national conferences. Now aged 89, Teresa continues advocating and volunteering as she approaches 90 years.
The NSW nominees are among 131 people being recognised across all states and territories.
The four award recipients from NSW will be announced on the evening of Wednesday 2 November in a ceremony at Luna Park, Sydney which will also be available to watch via ABC iView from 6pm (local NSW time).
Click HERE to Meet Teresa and learn more about her contribution.
Download Media release HERE which includes the nominees bios.