The two that got away
Following our report on Australia Day Honours last week, The AJN has since learnt that at least two other eminent Jewish Australians were recognised.
IF you thought that 34 members of our community being honoured on Australia Day was impressive, think again. Following our report last week, The AJN has since learnt that at least two other eminent Jewish Australians were recognised.
Obstetrician Professor Sandra Lowe has been made an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO) for significant service to obstetric medicine as a clinician, to medical education and to professional organisations, and Victorian Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bell was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his great contribution to the law.
“I love coming to work and I love what I do,” said Lowe. “I was a physician interested in the complications of pregnancy at a time when there was no speciality like that. There were obstetricians and midwives, but nobody was looking after women with other complications, so I trained in that field.”
Lowe further explained that obstetric medicine has since evolved as a specialty to help women with medical complications such as -diabetes, heart disease or -overwhelming morning sickness, achieve safe pregnancies.
“I get great pleasure from looking after women and their families and seeing them have successful pregnancies,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.”
Lowe said that she was “absolutely thrilled and honoured” when she received the letter informing her that she was to receive an AO, adding that it is “very much a highlight” of her career.
She has been a visiting medical officer at Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women since 1992 and at Prince of Wales Private Hospital since 2001. She has also been the president of the International Society for Obstetric Medicine since 2015, and chaired the Obstetric Medicine Group of Australasia in 2003 and 2004.
“I don’t do it for the recognition – it’s a privilege to do what I do,” she said. “With a great deal of teamwork, more and more women and their families have been able to have successful pregnancies. It is my honour to help them during their journey and to promote knowledge in this area in Australia and -internationally.”
Bell, a congregant of Temple Beth Israel in Melbourne, was recognised with an AM for significant service to the law and the judiciary, particularly in the fields of native title and human rights.
A member of the Victorian bar since 1985, Bell was appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1997 and worked with the late Ron Castan QC on the landmark Eddie Mabo Indigenous land-rights case which recognised land rights under native title in Australia. He was appointed to the Supreme Court bench as a trial judge in 2005 and has been president of the Forensic Leave Panel since 2015.
Bell was president of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal from 2008-10 and helped establish the Footscray and Essendon Community Legal Centres in 1979 and 1985 respectively.
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