By Jenel Hunt
Stanthorpe man Andrew Kendall has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2023 Australia Day Honours announced by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley.
He is the only Southern Downs person to receive the honour this year.
Unusually, the subject of bravery has been high on the list of his ideals and service, supporting people whose acts of bravery have led to public recognition but have sometimes resulted in an aftermath of trauma.
In his day-to-day life, Mr Kendall is a family man, married to Kitty and with three children – two daughters and a son. Their children go to St Joseph’s School where he has been the principal since the family’s arrival in Stanthorpe in 2017.
In those five years he has been passionate about growing enrolments, getting the best out of students and supporting staff to reach their full potential. Mr Kendall is highly regarded in both the sporting arena and educator circles for bringing his enthusiasm and skills to sport, teamwork and the greater community.
His OAM has been awarded for service to the community through a range of organisations. Those organisations have included the Independent Schools Soccer Association, the Australian Army Reserves, Queensland Futsal Association of Coaches and his current involvement as Vice-President of the Stanthorpe Carlton United Football Club where he has also been a coach since 2020.
“Yes, I’m very sports orientated. There has been a lot of cricket in my past as well,” he said.
“When I was a bit younger, I did a lot of coaching at the state and national levels of futsal – indoor soccer – and towards the end of that time I was the men’s national coach for Futsal New Zealand. It was a busy time – every school holidays would mean a trip to New Zealand.“
But for Mr Kendall, 55, it has been about more than the sports themselves. It has been about a sense of service – something that was cemented in his psyche early in life.
Growing up first in Papua New Guinea then in Australia from the age of nine, he said his strong bond to community and service was instilled by his parents and his time as a student and then teacher and leader at various Catholic schools.
After a university degree in law and a couple of years as a solicitor, he realised his passion was for teaching so he shaped a new path for his professional life.
His own brush with bravery came when he was a teacher at St Laurence’s College in Brisbane. One crazy, frightening day in 2008, eight youths armed with meat cleavers and batons attacked students at the school. He and four other teachers got involved, and their actions that day led to them receiving a Group Bravery Citation, which is a national honour for bravery.
“From then on I became involved in the Australian Bravery Association which has a role to support recipients of bravery awards who quite often suffer trauma from their act of bravery,” he said.
“It’s a support network that exists right across Australia for them, their families and friends. They can be be military, ex-military, emergency services personnel or civilians. Our patron is the Governor General David Hurley and his wife Mrs Linda Hurley is very much involved as well.
“You meet so many people who have done so much to help others and yet they are going through suffering themselves. To have them as friends and be able to help them and work with them is something very special. I think it’s the one thing I’m most proud of, really,” he said.
With a number of years as national president under his belt, he is also a board member of the Australian Bravery Foundation. One of the highlights of the year for the ABA is a national conference held each February in Canberra. The association is closely associated with the Royal Australian Mint as well as His Excellency the Governor General and a service of remembrance is part of the event.
Mr Kendall was a member of the Australian Army Reserve from 1985 until recently and is a current member of the Stanthorpe sub-branch of the Returned and Services League of Australia.
He said being the recipient of an OAM was due to many ‘really good people in the world’ who had supported him, including his family.
“I’m very pleased to receive this. Very pleased, and humbled by the honour. Just don’t quote me if I tell you what my wife said when she heard the news.“
The OAM is not Mr Kendall’s first award. Others have included the Dennis Leaver BM Memorial Trophy (Australian Bravery Association) in 2015, the Group Bravery Citation presented in 2011, Defence Long Service Medal, Australian Defence Medal and the National Emergency Medal with Clasp ‘Queensland’ in 2010-11.
