Governor Marie Bashir – a remarkable woman, Patron of Children’s Book Council NSW

One of my favourite photos of 2011

is when the Governor Professor Bashir, the first woman to be appointed Governor of New South Wales, presented me with an Order 0f  Australia (OAM) for children’s literature and other associations at Government House

Dr Bashir is a leading light in children’s services, psychiatry and mental health services, and indigenous health programs. and when appointed was  Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney ; Area Director of Mental Health Services Central Sydney ; and Senior Consultant to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Redfern and to the Aboriginal Medical Service, Kempsey.

She is patron of the Children’s Book Council. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988 for her services to child and adolescent health; and was invested by Her Majesty, the Queen, with the insignia of a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 2006.