Public Service staff from all States and Territories have been recognised by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth again this year in her Australia Day Honours List, rewarding many for their selflessness and commitment to duty and service for the Australian community.
Her Majesty’s awards for members of the Queensland Public Service were decided under the Order of Australia and announced on the Queen’s behalf by his Excellency the Governor-General, General David Hurley.
Congratulating the recipients of the honours, General Hurley described the recent years as ‘challenging’ and said the presentation of the Australia Day awards provided a reminder of the ‘richness of spirit, selflessness and good’ in the Australian community.
Queensland PS employees honoured by the Queen this year with the Public Service Medal (PSM), were:
PUBLIC SERVICE MEDAL (PSM)
Gordon Paul GUYMER PSM
Queensland Herbarium
For outstanding public service in the areas of scientific investigations, botanical research, policy reform relating to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.
Dr Gordon Guymer has provided outstanding leadership for the Herbarium over the past 26 years.
He has achieved national recognition in scientific investigations, botanical research, policy reform relating to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.
Dr Guymer is the Chief Botanist for the Queensland Government and as Director of the Queensland Herbarium, is responsible for managing scientific teams in discovering; describing; monitoring; surveying; naming, and classifying plants and plant communities. Dr Guymer provides the scientific leadership for research on the state’s unique plant biodiversity, plant communities and regional ecosystems, including assessment and monitoring of vertebrate fauna.
His expertise and depth of knowledge is central to the management and mapping of regional ecosystems, vegetation, threatened species, including koala habitat in Queensland, and the provision of public services including support to Queensland Health (poisons information) and the Queensland Police Service (forensic botany).
Dr Guymer has published over 80 peer-reviewed scientific papers and reports, described three new plant genera and over 100 plant species new to science. He has overseen making the Queensland Herbarium’s extensive biodiversity data publicly available and this has enabled better environmental decision making.
Dr Guymer is regarded as the intellectual leader in Queensland’s plant biodiversity, environmental values and ecosystems by government and non-government stakeholders. His dedication and commitment to biodiversity and its conservation is enduring.
Jasmina JOLDIC PSM
Policy, Portfolio and Government Services
For outstanding public service through delivery of critical functions and health policies that have contributed to the successful COVID-19 response in Queensland.
Ms Joldic has had an extensive career in the public service, predominately in Queensland but also in the Commonwealth Government and Victoria.
For the past five years she has been dedicated to improving the health of Queenslanders via her role as the Head of the Office of the Director-General and System Strategy Division.
This role was critical to the Queensland Health COVID response and Ms Joldic worked closely with the Director-General, Chief Health Officer and 16 Health and Hospital Services to deliver an integrated pandemic response across Queensland Health, Queensland Police Service and the State Emergency Centre with community safety and public health at the centre.
Under Ms Joldic’s leadership, critical enabling functions and infrastructure were rapidly established to support the Government’s pandemic response. Ms Joldic was pivotal in connecting and coordinating the decision making and the flow of information across government. The work that Ms Joldic led throughout the COVID-19 response has had a significant impact across the Queensland public service and has also impacted the lives of all Queenslanders.
The functions that Ms Joldic established meant that Queensland stayed at the forefront of COVID-19 policy development, both across the state and nationally.
Paul Thomas MARTYN PSM
Department of Energy and Public Works
For outstanding public service in the areas of Queensland export, global investment opportunities and leading the Queensland Government COVID-19 Response and Recovery Taskforce.
Mr Martyn has been an exemplar senior executive within the Queensland Public Service for 15 years.
For the past three years, he has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Trade and Investment Queensland, a global business agency for the Government.
Through this role, he has taken a thoughtful and considered approach to every facet of his work in assisting Queensland businesses to export their products and encouraging global investment.
In 2020, Mr Martyn undertook a leadership role as CEO of the Queensland Government COVID-19 Response and Recovery Taskforce to spearhead the Queensland Government’s COVID response and economic recovery.
He led a multi-disciplinary team of over 60 staff representing 17 agencies from across the Queensland Government. In addition to the health response, the Taskforce supported the development of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan: Unite and Recover, economic recovery strategies, and developed the COVID Safe Business Framework.
Lyndell SELLARS PSM
Department of Education
For outstanding public service to education in Queensland, particularly in response to COVID-19.
Mrs Sellars is an outstanding educator with 32 years’ experience, including 27 years as a Teacher-Librarian. She is currently serving as the Head of Learning Resources at Cairns State High School.
Mrs Sellars is responsible for a number of areas including the management of the Library – physical, digital and online resources. She also manages the ICT Support Team and Library Teacher Aides, providing staff and students efficient access to the school network and resources.
Furthermore, she also manages the Resource Centre and Information and Communication Technology budgets.
For the past 15 years Mrs Sellars has been the Regional Coordinator for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Readers Cup competition. Students from across Far North Queensland have been provided with an opportunity to extend their reading experiences through engagement in this competition.
During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Queensland, Mrs Sellars was instrumental in supporting all staff and students with the shift to online learning. In a very short time, she was pivotal in ensuring that over 150 staff had the skills and capacity to provide online learning.
She ran countless professional development sessions for staff so that they could teach their students confidently from home. She supported families and students by offering phone support for technology issues both during and after school hours. She also organised laptops and internet access for students that did not have devices at home so that they could continue learning while in lockdown.
Mrs Sellars lobbied for the increase of internet bandwidth for Cairns State High School to ensure that teachers could continue to utilise the technology in their classrooms, once the school returned to face-to-face learning.
Mrs Sellars has consistently gone ‘above and beyond’ for her students, and in doing so has achieved excellent student outcomes over an extensive period of time.
Julie STEEL PSM
Supreme, District and Land Courts Service
For outstanding public service through court innovations for Queensland.
Ms Steel is currently serving as Executive Director of the Supreme, District and Land Courts Service.
She has excelled in this role over the past decade and has been at the forefront of court innovations. Her leadership and talent for organisation and innovation have supported the courts to manage their workloads efficiently, while greatly improving accessibility to the public.
Her talent lies in system organisation and staff leadership, resulting in vastly improved registry services over the last decade to the benefit of the judiciary, the legal profession and the public.
Her ingenuity has enabled the higher courts, with very limited means, to advance some way into the digital age. Importantly her efforts have ensured the courts have been able to cope with existing conditions, while anticipating and evolving forward.
Ms Steel has formed a highly skilled team who is strategically focused and delivers widely acclaimed outcomes for court users. These skills were particularly evident during the COVID period of 2020 and 2021 when, in collaboration with the heads of jurisdiction, she put extensive strategies in place to ensure the continued operation of the courts.
Ms Steel is innovative, resilient and flexible and she works tirelessly to adjust to changing circumstances. During the entire COVID period she has ensured the courts have been open for users in a suitably adjusted environment.
Jeffrey Donald STEWART-HARRIS PSM
Local and State Government
For outstanding public service to local and state government in Queensland.
Mr Stewart-Harris has served in local and state government continuously for 38 years.
Since 1994 he has performed senior leadership roles as Director, Chief Operating Officer, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Executive Officer and is currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer at the Isaac Regional Council in Queensland.
Since 2001, Mr Stewart-Harris has held numerous board roles, providing economic development, leadership and service under local, state and commonwealth governments.
He has strategically and tactically impacted the organisations and the communities he has served in many ways with care, wisdom, inclusion and extraordinary skill.
While serving at Isaac Regional Council, Mr Stewart-Harris redeveloped the culture and function of his directorate, had genuine and thoughtful engagement with stakeholders from Clermont Saleyards and Showgrounds and has been creative, empathetic and inclusive with small coastal communities in the development of a new coastal hazard provisions planning scheme.
Mr Stewart-Harris has contributed reliably and skilfully in board roles at local, regional, state and national levels over and above his remunerated jobs. His leadership and development of some of Queensland’s most critical Port assets and his successful management of complex and challenging local governments over many years have yielded many lasting legacies for those he has served.
