Born into this World on 3rd June, 1907: Passed to God on 6th April, 2007

In December 2001, the Prime Minister, The Hon John Howard MP announced the creation of a Centenary Medal to honour living persons who have made a contribution to Australian society or government, including those who have lived during the last hundred years. Anne Segal, our family Matriarch (God Bless Her) was nominated to receive a Centenary Medal ‘for services to the community, in particular for service to Lithgow Meals on Wheels’.

The whole Segal Clan say to Nanna: “Well Done, Nanna! You are an inspiration to the younger Segal’s and a great role model for the older Segal’s. We all send you our congratulations and best wishes with lots of love and we trust you will keep batting on for a few more years yet”.

Nanna will be 97 years young in June. She enjoys reasonably good health although, in her own words, she suffers with the usual aches and pains that all 96 year-olds seem to get from time to time.

I am pleased to announce the list of awardees for the Centenary Medal has been finalised and recipients will shortly receive their medals. Their names can be found on the website http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/. The Centenary Medal was created to recognise the achievements of a cross-section of the Australian community at the time of the centenary of federation and to prepare for the challenges of the new century by honouring persons who have contributed to Australian society or government. This is an important medal and it is desirable that contributions made during the centenary year especially by those who helped make it a memorable time in the life of the nation be recognised.

Nominations in the General List were brought forward during 2002 by the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and parliamentarians. These were assessed by an independent Council chaired by Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC. The Centenary Medal also recognises Australians born in 1901 or earlier who were alive on 1 January 2001 (‘centenarians’).

The total number of medals approved is 15,500 and they represent a cross-section of service to the nation both geographically and by type of service. The contribution may have been to the local community, a region, a particular activity or profession. Many who are being recognised have served selflessly and without regard for personal recognition for lengthy periods on a voluntary basis through, amongst other activities, the elderly, youth, rural fire service and emergency services, veterans and their families and indigenous Australians. The medal is also being awarded to those whose achievements have made a national or international impact through science, research or the arts.

In Queensland, the Northern Territory and Canberra, medals are being mailed to awardees direct. They will subsequently be invited to Vice-Regal functions to affirm and celebrate their medals. In New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, federal members have been invited to hold medal presentations. Where this will not occur, medals are being mailed to awardees.

Australia, by recognising this remarkable group, reminds itself of the values that we as a society hold dear. We are inspired by their example. On behalf of the whole nation I thank and congratulate all recipients of the Centenary Medal.

21 April 2003

Nanna has had a long history of active community service. At various times she has held executive (elective) office in many community organisations including Meals on Wheels, Red Cross, Mothers for Vietnam, The Quota Club, Lithgow Municipal Baths Fundraising Committee, the Organising Committee for the Inauguration of the Festival of the Valley (a community festival to celebrate the diversity of Lithgow City), School Committees, and probably a whole lot of other committees that I don’t even know about. She has been a Life Member of the Australian Labor Party since 1997.

Recently Nanna was also awarded Life Membership of the Lithgow Workmen’s Club, an honour Nanna prizes very highly.

The Centenary Medal

The details of the Centenary Medal are that it was designed by Balarinji, from Sydney. The medal features a seven-pointed Commonwealth Star, representing the six Australian states, with the seventh point representing Australia’s territories. At the centre of the Star is an indigenous styling of Aboriginal traditions at the heart of the continent. The colours in the ribbon are crimson for Federation (Sir Henry Parkes “the crimson thread of kinship”) and blue and gold for the beginning of the 21st Century. The seven gold and red lines represent the pathways to federation of the states. There are 100 dots around the outer edge of each of the obverse and reverse symbolising 100 years of federation.