Echuca resident Liz Spicer was presented with her Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) by Governor Margaret Gardner at Government House in Melbourne on Friday, April 19.
While the actual moment may have been short, it also represents a lifetime of community commitment and service, a role which is still ongoing.
What’s more, Ms Spicer still has no idea who to thank for nominating her to receive this honour and absolutely no idea how it came about.
On January 26, Ms Spicer was officially outed as one of the very few to be named in the 2024 Australia Day Honours List.
“The service at Government House was pretty special, a bit like something out of a fairytale,” she said.
“Apart from all the pomp and regalia, and there was plenty of that, it was almost otherworldly to step forward and receive your order.
“There’s even a throne-like chair of state, with a crown with 'Advance Victoria' carved underneath.
“But when you looked around the room and saw the people receiving awards it all made you feel a bit humble, some of these people have done remarkable things, and for a long time, it wasn’t too hard to quickly feel a bit deficient.”
Ms Spicer has been a chaplain of Kyabram P-12 College and a fixture of the community for 23 years where she has been dispensing advice, prayers, support, food, cash, clothes and compassion.
“I am a community chaplain, so I genuinely see this as a testament to Kyabram, which has raised money and supported the chaplaincy program, expecting nothing back but wanting to really help people doing it tough,” she said.
“You would not believe how often people just come up and put money in my hand and ask me to put it towards the people doing it hard, and on their behalf I do.”
Ms Spicer is, among other things, a social worker, former national coordinator and current member of the drought relief committee, Justice of the Peace, supporter and trauma counsellor during the Black Saturday bushfires, 2022 flood chaplain, Victoria Police chaplain and emergency services chaplain.
But while Ms Spicer loves this grassroots aspect to her role, she has never wavered on the soul and role of chaplaincy itself.
“Our students and staff must always come first,” she said.
“If they need our support it is our role to be there, and we are only able to do that with the amazing backing of the whole Kyabram community, which is the bedrock on which the P-12 Korus Connect chaplaincy has been built.
“It has always been my honour, indeed, my privilege, and still is, to be the Korus Connect chaplain at Kyabram P-12 and in Kyabram. That is all the reward I will ever need.”