Long-term disability sector advocate and champion of the visually impaired, Martine Abel-Williamson, was awarded the Queen's Service Medal (QSM) for services to people with disabilities in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Abel-Williamson has been an advocate, lecturer, policy advisor and service coordinator for New Zealand’s disability sector for 22 years, holding governance roles on a range of national and international bodies supporting vision-impaired people.

When asked about the award, she said it came as a total surprise. “I feel indeed humbled by receiving such an honour. To me, my activities and involvement in the community and even worldwide is, well, what I was called to do. I feel I have a responsibility to give back to society what I’ve received and while we’re living in a developed country, we must never leave anyone else behind in trying to improve our quality of life.”

Abel-Williamson is currently treasurer of the World Blind Union and regional UN advocacy network co-ordinator of World Blind Union Asia-Pacific (WBUAP), travelling internationally to help build international capacity in disability services in developing countries. She is also chair of Auckland Disability Law, the only disability-specific community law centre in New Zealand, the current vice-president of Blind Citizens New Zealand, and has held governance roles with the Workbridge Council, the Guide Dog Society, Disability Connect and Independent Living Service. Her qualifications are in vision rehabilitation, social policy and psychology.

Australian honours

In Australia’s Queen’s Birthday Honours, three ophthalmologists were made Members of the Order (AM) for their service to medicine in the field of ophthalmology:

• Professor Robyn Guymer, deputy director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and professor of ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne, for her tireless work into age-related macular degeneration and related retinal diseases as a clinician, academic and researcher
• Dr Tim Henderson, the only ophthalmologist in the Central Australia and Barkly region in Australia’s Northern Territory, for his long-standing work with and dedication to improving Aboriginal health
• Professor Lawrence Hirst, director and founder of the Australian Pterygium Centre. Prof Hirst pioneered the PERFECT (pterygium extended removal followed by extended conjunctival transplant) method for removing the pterygium, resulting in few recurrences and a good cosmetic appearance

In addition, the following were awarded medals (OAM) in the general division: Dr Graeme Pollock from Victoria for services to medical research, particularly to corneal transplantation; Dr Sudarshan Kumar Sachdev from New South Wales for services to the community, and to medicine, particularly to ophthalmology; and Julienne Tyers from Victoria for service to nursing and international eye-health programmes.