Meet two Australia Day Honours recipients from the North Shore making a difference to the lives of children and young people
Max Connery: Saving homeless youth
Giving young people a ‘stepping stone’ to help get themselves back on track is what drives Neutral Bay resident Max Connery. For more than 35 years, Max and his wife Joan have worked tirelessly for the charity they founded together, Stepping Stone House, which provides young people at risk or affected by homelessness with a safe and secure location, and a path forward towards independence.
“Our fundamental purpose is to help all kids, but particularly those who don’t have government support,” Max, 89, says. “Over 600 young people have been through the project.”
Max was working as a lawyer in 1989, when he read newspaper reports of young homeless people living in tunnels at Circular Quay and in caves on Bondi Beach, and it was on his mind as he and wife Joan took a trip to Rome. While there, the couple saw the work being done by the Community of Sant’ Egidio, a lay Catholic group servicing the needs of the poor, widows and homeless children.
“When I got back to Sydney I was thinking about the overall situation and at the same time, a friend of mine who I used to play rugby with died suddenly of cancer,” he recalls. While talking with friends at the wake, Max brought up an idea Joan had given him. “I said to the guys ‘Would you be interested in supporting a house for homeless people?’ They all agreed and were happy to put in $3,000 a year for three years as a project.”
With help from Wesley Mission, the group of 15 set up a 24-hour supervised house for seven homeless youths in need, and provided them with opportunities to go on outdoor activities and camps, including one to Cradle Mountain.
“The results of the house and the activities did really produce a great independence in the young people, who were encouraged to get part-time jobs,” he says. “So that’s how it started. We leased the house, then ultimately purchased it from the owners, and now we have three houses (in Sydney) for homeless young people.”
Max explains that many of the young people they see have experienced domestic violence, sexual and emotional abuse, alcoholism and drug addiction. “I’ve continued because I believe that you’ve got no control over who your parents are and if things don’t work out, then we’ve got to give (these young people) a helping hand,” he says.
Max was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), recognised for significant service to social welfare, and to choral music, on 26 January. The award is an upgrade from the OAM he received in June 2000. Joan was honoured with an OAM in June 2006.
Alongside his work with the charity, Max has long been a part of the Sydney Philharmonia Choir. He even performed with the late Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti. “Singing and music are both a challenge and a relief,” he says. “They provide a contrast to work and the other responsibilities we carry.”
The Stepping Stone House Foundation relies on donations, and is hosting a Sailing Regatta at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron in Kirribilli on 19 March. For more information and to donate, visit steppingstonehouse.com
Former National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds
Anne Hollonds: A voice for children
During her five-year tenure as the National Children’s Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission, Anne Hollonds witnessed many things she says ‘I can’t unsee now.’
Her role saw her speak with 150 young people, some as young as 10, in youth detention centres across Australia, research which was compiled in a Help Way Earlier report and tabled in Parliament in 2024 – leading to a Federal Senate Inquiry into child justice.
It is for this achievement, and many others, that Anne has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (OA), recognising her distinguished service to family, children and community safety, wellbeing and human rights, and to policy, research and practice.
The Roseville resident, who finished her term at the commission in November, has spent her career working with, and advocating for vulnerable children and families. Her role at the commission saw Anne urging the Federal Government to make child safety, rights and wellbeing a national priority, and provide accountability for action on the rights of children.
In the job, she was reminded of her time spent volunteering at a children’s home while a university student in her early 20s. “(The children’s home) opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many children that just didn’t have anyone to back them. They didn’t have that family support – they were in these big institutions and they weren’t getting their needs met.
“In many ways when I became National Children’s Commissioner, it took me right back to those days when I encountered the very tough experiences of children and their families who were living with disadvantage, disabilities and discrimination,” Anne says.
“And sadly, what I found many years later was that not a lot had changed. In some ways, things had gotten worse. It’s quite shocking that a rich and developed country like Australia is still struggling to address the unmet needs of our most vulnerable children.”
As Children’s Commissioner, Anne found that too many young people end up in child protection and justice systems due to disadvantage. “We who live on the North Shore in Sydney, in many ways we don’t know the truth of what’s going on in Australia in 2026 for children from the most vulnerable circumstances. And that’s why I ended up doing the Help Way Earlier report that was tabled in Parliament in 2024.”
Anne’s findings looked at how Australia can transform child justice to improve safety and wellbeing, explaining that crime by children is a symptom of unmet needs and underlying issues – with many of the children telling Anne they needed ‘help way earlier.’
“I see that (report) as an achievement. Three weeks later a Senate inquiry was called to look at the issue.” Anne explains. “There is no national approach to these problems, they’re dealt with by state and territory governments.”
Anne says the work is ongoing – there is still action to be taken across government portfolios like health, education and family services to meet the needs of young people.
In her current role as CEO of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA), which represents providers of early childhood education, Anne is still pushing to have children’s voices heard – especially in the wake of ABC news revelations of child abuse in the childcare sector in October last year.
She describes the job as an opportunity to help with the reforms the government needs to implement ‘to ensure that child safety is our first priority in the early childhood education sector, but also that we have the proper guardrails safeguarding children in that industry.’ Anne’s role sees her helping providers to work alongside government on these reforms.
For Anne, the Australia Day honour is a reflection on her career. “It’s recognition that the work I’ve done, along with many others, that work matters,” she says. “And therefore, that the most vulnerable children in Australia and their families matter.”