RSL Anzac of the Year Awards 2026
MEDIA RELEASE
The Returned & Services League of Australia (RSL) today announced the recipients of the 2026 RSL Anzac of the Year Awards.
The nominations for the Anzac Awards are assessed and selected by the National RSL Anzac Awards Committee, whose members include:
Chairman – The Hon Peter Tinley, RSL Australia National President;
Mr David Belgrove, Assistant Secretary, Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet;
Mr Gerard Martin, Official Secretary to the Governor-General,
Senator Andrew McLaughlan,
former Senator Linda Reynolds
and Mr Phil Winter, RSL Australia CEO.
The Anzac Peace Prize is awarded by the RSL to ‘recognise any outstanding effort by an Australian citizen who has promoted the concept of international understanding and who, in so doing, has made a contribution to world peace’.
The 2026 recipient is:
Lieutenant Colonel George Hulse OAM of Queensland - in recognition of his post-service decades devoted to ensuring that the bonds forged between nations in wartime are preserved and honoured, most visibly through his leadership of the effort to gift a Bailey Bridge to France as a permanent memorial to the Australia-France partnership of the First World War, dedicated at Amiens on 24 April 2024. His advocacy secured the Victoria Cross for Private Richard Norden in 2025, and his forthcoming publication The First ANZACs (Allen & Unwin, March 2026) affirms a legacy of peace through remembrance that is both enduring and deeply deserved.
The Anzac of the Year Awards are presented ‘to recognise the efforts and achievements of up to seven Australians who have given service to their fellow Australians and to the community in a positive, selfless and compassionate manner.’
The 2026 recipients are:
Angela McCann OAM of New South Wales in recognition of her more than two decades of distinguished voluntary service to the veteran community of Coolamon – serving as Honorary Secretary of the Coolamon RSL Sub-Branch for 20 years, championing DVA advocacy, and elevating the Up2Date Art Exhibition into a celebrated regional event that honours veterans through the arts. As both a former RAAF servicewoman and the spouse of a veteran, she brings to her role an authenticity and depth of understanding that few can match, and her contribution stands as a compelling embodiment of the Anzac spirit.
Patsy Edwards OAM of New South Wales in recognition of her more than 50 years of combined military and voluntary commitment, including 24 years as Honorary Secretary of the Gosford RSL Sub-Branch and continued service on the Standby Army Reserve List to this day. Her legacy encompasses commemorative leadership, veteran welfare, and the establishment of the Broadwater Day Club, and she is universally regarded by those who know her work as a person of rare and quiet dedication whose impact spans generations.
Douglas Henderson OAM of Queensland in recognition of his extraordinary contribution as a wounded Vietnam veteran who transformed personal experience into a national movement, founding the Kokoda Youth Foundation in 2005 and growing it into a programme that has taken over 1,300 young Australians to walk the Kokoda Track. His advocacy further secured the posthumous Victoria Cross for Private Richard Norden in 2025, affirming a lifetime of service that has shaped both the lives of Australia’s youth and the nation’s memory of those who gave everything for it.
Tony Stevenson OAM of Queensland in recognition of his lifetime devoted to ensuring that the veterans of his community are honoured, supported, and never forgotten – serving with the Salisbury RSL Sub-Branch for over 25 years, including as President since 2014, and concurrently as Queensland State President and Australian Vice President of the National Servicemen’s Association of Australia. Now approaching his ninetieth year, he almost single-handedly organises Anzac Day and Remembrance Day services, personally maintains the memorial park, and conducts graveside poppy services for deceased veterans – a record of quiet, selfless service that exemplifies the Anzac spirit.
Michael Sherlock BM of South Australia in recognition of his record of service that is both broad and deeply distinguished with more than 25 years of military experience followed by over two decades of voluntary leadership at the Tea Tree Gully RSL Sub-Branch, where he has held virtually every office and leaves behind two enduring public legacies in the Tea Tree Gully Memorial Garden and the Kokoda Memorial and Walkway. His 2008 Bravery Medal, awarded for placing his own safety at risk in defence of another, speaks to a character that underpins not merely his achievements, but the manner in which he has pursued them.
Betty Crittenden of Victoria in recognition of 45 years of unbroken service to the Mt Evelyn RSL Sub-Branch, including founding and presiding over the Women’s Auxiliary for 22 years, anchoring the veterans’ social welfare gathering for nearly three decades, and selling poppies twice a year to the grandchildren of those she first served. At 97 years of age, her nomination is a testament to what a single person, through constancy of purpose and generosity of spirit, can give to a community over a lifetime.
Paul Prickett CSM of Western Australia in recognition of 42.5 years of service in the Australian Army, retiring at the rank of Major and honoured with the Conspicuous Service Medal has seamlessly continued in civilian life through tireless work as Commemorations Officer and Vice President of the Cockburn RSL Sub-Branch. He personally organises Anzac Day services, an Anzac Youth Parade involving over 20 schools and 1,500 students and has driven Sub-Branch membership growth of over 100 members while raising more than $7,000 for veteran mental health through Soldier On.
"On behalf of the RSL National Board and all RSL members, I extend my warmest congratulations to this year's recipients of the Anzac Peace Prize and Anzac of the Year Awards," Mr Tinley said. "Each of them is a true exemplar of community service and an inspiration to all Australians."
"Their dedication is a powerful reminder that the Anzac spirit is not confined to history. It lives on in the actions of Australians who give of themselves, quietly and consistently, for the benefit of others."
