Congratulations to the members of Surf Life Saving NSW named in the Australia Day Honours list for 2026.
Receiving OAMs for Services to Surf Life Saving, is the late John McGrath, a Life Member of SLSNSW from Pambula, Ross Taylor, a former Illawarra Branch President and Life Member of Thirroul and Coalcliff SLSCs, and John Hahn, former president of Cape Hawke SLSC.
Members receiving OAMs for Services to the Community include Shane Wicks from Gerringong SLSC and the current South Coast Branch President, Graham Johnston, a life member of MacMasters Beach SLSC, and Sebastian Robertson, a member of Freshwater SLSC.
Former members also receiving OAMs for Services to the Community are Deborah Brassey from Pacific Palms SLSC and Peter Collings, a member of Mona Vale SLSC in the 90s.
Named as a recipient of an AM for significant service to dentistry is Dr Thomas Tseng, President of Copacabana SLSC.
Two members have also received the prestigious Emergency Services Medal (ESM) – Joel Wiseman, former Deputy President of SLSNSW and Tracey Hare-Boyd, former Sydney Northern Beaches Branch President.
In more than two decades within the Surf Life Saving movement, Joel has contributed to club, Branch and State frontline and strategic roles, as a duty officer, rescue water craft operator, state Director of Lifesaving and Deputy President of SLSNSW.
He has held key incident management roles, and designed and delivered training programs at various levels of Surf Life Saving which has helped to qualify hundreds of new lifesavers. He was a major player in the development of the Surf Life Saving Emergency Management Framework, launched in 2024.
Tracey has dedicated her surf lifesaving career to providing exemplary frontline, operational, and leadership support within the Sydney Northern Beaches Branch and at a national level as the current Chair of Education for Surf Life Saving Australia.
She has delivered over 2,300 volunteer patrol hours and countless additional hours in education, administration, and after-hours emergency response – instrumental in coordinating and responding to numerous critical incidents across the Sydney Northern Beaches – where she has overseen more than 100 out-of-hours search and rescue operations in just the past five years.
Monday 26 January 2026