Queenscliff doc is one of only 140 made AOs
DRESSED in full academic regalia, Paul Hemming often reflects on the impact of higher education when he confers degrees at Federation University graduation ceremonies.
The Queenscliff-based doctor has been chancellor of the Ballarat-based university since 2012 and witnessed countless undergraduates receiving their ticket into the wider world.
Dr Hemming has been made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), one of only 140 awarded nationwide in any calendar year.
He started his career as a GP in Britain before emigrating to Australia as a young man in the 1970s.
One of his first Australian postings was at Ballarat’s Sturt Street Medical Practice back in 1977 and he joined the Australian Medical Association (AMA) the following year.
The Ballarat-based GP went on to become AMA state president in 1991 for a term and also served as Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president.
“Next year will be 50 years since I graduated from university in the UK and the change that’s occurred in higher education during that time is remarkable,” Dr Hemming said. “Higher edu- cation is far more accessible than it used to be and so many more Australians are able to go to university than previous generations.
“Back in the 1960s and ’70s, universities revolved around the classroom and the lecture theatre whereas today technology has opened up so many possibilities.”