MUCH of John Ward's life has been characterised by service; he recognises when something needs to be changed and, by his own admission, he gets it done.
The geriatrician's work has now landed him as the 2024 NSW Senior Australian of the Year, announced on Monday night. He is in the running for the national equivalent which will be announced in January.
The Hunter local was quick to move on from discussing his accolade when we chatted the following morning. It is a big week for the Hunter Ageing Alliance (HAA), of which he is a co-founder, and work was at the forefront of conversation.
"We set up [the HAA] about four years ago because we didn't think the government on it's own was going to do the right thing by older people," the 79-year-old said.
He has worked in ageing since the mid-1980s and said most governments in that time had failed to address systemic inequalities for older Australians. The alliance aims to have the needs of ageing Australians better recognised by government and large corporations.
HAA is co-founded by Maroba Aged Care chief executive Viv Allanson, Professor Julies Byles from the University of Newcastle, and health lawyer Catherine Henry.
"We set ourselves the goal of making Newcastle and adjacent local government areas into age-friendly communities," Dr Ward said.
The alliance's strategic areas are - environment, housing, elder abuse, health and aged care services, social isolation and end-of-life planning.
Dr Ward is particularly concerned about isolated people "who are not known to services" and remain vulnerable.
His team have set up a face-to-face help portal in Lake Macquarie, staffed by volunteers. They hope to bring a similar service to Newcastle.
But the real kicker for Dr Ward is housing. It is something his team have worked tirelessly on. Discussion to create affordable options for seniors starts again on Friday.
"When we started to look at housing, we thought we were dealing with just trying to increase the range of options for older people, which are pretty limited at the moment," he said.
"Then we realised of course that the most rapidly growing group of homeless people were older women and the size of the housing problem was such that government alone was never going to solve it."
HAA's solutions are varied - they will do whatever works - a skill Dr Ward first learnt when working in prisons more than 40 years ago.
The team hopes to create a co-living plan where young people live with older Australians to help improve quality of life for both. Dr Ward said government systems made the idea hard to implement.
"The road block has been the lack of a local plan to do anything," he said. "That's what we are working on at the moment."
The idea is consistent with Dr Ward's greater philosophy that healthy ageing starts in childhood.
"If we don't look after the children who are in insecure housing, or homeless, or falling behind at school, there's a whole cohort of people that have no chance ever of moving into healthy ageing," he said.
"I've always felt that if there is an issue that could be done better, you might as well do it better," he said on Monday.
He was congratulated by National Australia Day Council chief executive Mark Fraser, who described all winners as an "inspiring group of people devoted to helping others".
"John continues to bring much-needed focus to the healthcare of some of those most in need," he said in a statement.
Dr Ward was recognised in the awards alongside NSW Australians of the Year, cancer researchers Richard Scolyer and Georgina Long, NSW Young Australian of the Year Nikhil Auter and NSW Local Hero Angus Olsen.
Founder of Muswellbrook's Blackroo Community Indigenous Corporation, Steve Fordham, was also a finalist.
Premier Chris Minns, who was at the awards night, congratulated recipients in a formal statement on Tuesday.
"These finalists represent the very best of what it means to be Australian," he said. "Their pursuit of excellence is helping to transform NSW for the better - leading to big changes in medicine, science and community wellbeing
"Behind every nomination is a legacy of service by one person, and an expression of gratitude by another. That so many people have taken the time to nominate their fellow citizens reflects the passion, civic spirit, and gratitude of the people of NSW."
