December 2022 Honorary Award recipients share their advice to their younger selves

Every graduation ceremony, UQ recognises exceptional individuals in our community through Honorary Awards, including Honorary Doctorates.

Each awardee has not only achieved an outstanding level of success within their field, but has fostered meaningful change in the wider community through their leadership, courage and hard work.

Contact asked the December 2022 Honorary Award recipients to give advice to their 18-year-old selves. This is what they wrote...

Kev Carmody

Kev Carmody is a Bundjalung/Lama Lama man and a singer/songwriter, who is recognised in Queensland and across Australia for his contributions to the arts and to social justice. Mr Carmody’s song, From little things big things grow, composed with singer-songwriter Paul Kelly, has become one of the most iconic songs in Australian history, as well as the anthem of the Land Rights movement in Australia.

Photo of Kev Carmody as a young man. He has a hat on and there's a microphone next to him.

My advice

First, I'd like to explain the social and legal context I was confined to at 18 years of age, as an Indigenous person.

I was a ‘non-person’.

Legally, my classification was under the ‘flora and fauna’ category of Australian law.

So what would I say to my 18-year-old self?

I would say to keep proactively defying and exposing the inequalities that continue to exist throughout every aspect of our Homo sapiens interaction with Ourselves, our Planet and the Cosmos.

I would say to face all aggression, greed, cultural subjugation etc. with non-violent activism.

Also, to express love, compassion and empathy with those difficult situations that I have to face on life’s journey.

Celebrate the enormous gifts that have been granted to us as a Homo sapiens mammal – the attributes of consciousness, language, tool-making, culture and of course the majesty of our imagination – the beauty of our human intellect.

I would also advise my 18-year-old self to embrace the importance of history. For example, physics, psychology, mathematics, architecture, medicine, politics, philosophy, engineering and economics.

Although I have a lot more I could advise my 18-year-old self, I will keep it concise.

I would tell myself to not accept all ideas or theories that are presented to you. Always ask the simple question: why?

All great advances in human evolution have come from the simple ability to ask why.

I would like to emphasise, from an Indigenous perspective, the vital importance of seeking, listening, recording and pursuing the wisdom, knowledge, culture, history and lore from our Indigenous Old People both in this country and worldwide.

Finally, I would ask myself to learn to love and embrace family, the breathtaking beauty of this planet, and indeed the whole of the evolving Cosmos and all existence.

Kev Carmody portrait with script reading 'Express love, compassion and empathy'.
Ian Poiner portrait with script reading 'Stop, look, listen and think'.

Dr Ian Poiner FTSE

Dr Ian Poiner FTSE is one of Australia’s most respected leaders in marine science. He has more than 40 years’ experience driving significant outcomes in the health, diversity and conservation of marine life in Australia and overseas, and has played a leading role in compiling the most comprehensive inventory of known marine life in the world’s oceans ever recorded – 30 million records and counting.

Ian Poiner wearing a graduation hat.

My advice

I vividly remember my first days at UQ as an 18-year-old.

Over-confidence and bravado camouflaged the nervousness of a young person from a wonderful family with no history of going to university. I was armed with a Commonwealth University Scholarship and was transitioning from a modest all-boys school – where you just had to turn up – to this amazing place where you suddenly had to think and know where, when and why you had to be somewhere.

A few missteps followed, but it was the start of a wonderful journey, an enjoyable life and a satisfying career.

What advice would I give a young me?

It would be similar to the road-safety advice they are giving my grandchildren: stop, look, listen and think!

I would add that it's important to understand your position of privilege; if you want something, ask, as the worst that can happen is that someone says no. Patience and persistence work, but can take a long-time. Sometimes it's worth going for it and then seeking forgiveness.

Would I have taken my advice? Probably not, but that is a life lesson we all need to learn.

Professor Peter Høj AC

Professor Peter Høj AC is a nationally and internationally recognised leader in the higher education and research sectors, with more than 20 years’ senior-leadership experience in universities. As Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland (2012–2020), Professor Høj led UQ to become one of the world’s top-50 universities, as well as attain the highest student satisfaction in teaching and learning quality among Australian research-intensive universities.

Peter Høj and a child in graduation attire holding a certificate for the Children's University.

Professor Peter Høj AC with student Scarlett at the Children's University graduation held at Bonython Hall at the University of Adelaide in 2021.

Professor Peter Høj AC with student Scarlett at the Children's University graduation held at Bonython Hall at the University of Adelaide in 2021.

My advice

My 18- year-old self could learn a lot from me!

First, be persistent and agile, but at times also patient. As a young scientist, I remember my impatience with the extent of processes, tasks and often the sheer amount of time that it took to even begin seeing the glimmer of a result.

As any wine enthusiast will tell you though, with patience, rewards can come in due course… but do not miss the peak by waiting too long!

Second, you will make mistakes. Most of us do, but through that we develop resilience and we learn to carry on – it’s one of the fundamentally most important lessons in life. However, don’t let them stop you.

We should all continue to be curious, creative and to seek knowledge at every stage of our lives. As you grow, your many personal and professional achievements often far outweigh any missteps you make along the way, and are all the sweeter for it.

Third, learn to embrace change: it's constant. The last couple of years have been a stark example of this as changes to the way we live, learn, and work are something we’ve all had to adapt to in a multitude of ways.

Change will continue throughout your life and, while it can be challenging, it can also provide opportunities for us to grow and bring out the best in ourselves. To change can also be to evolve and to learn, both of which are a lifelong endeavour.

Finally, I often reflect on that great saying, “You’ve been given two ears and one mouth and you should use them in that proportion”. I think that’s very true.

As a professional, and indeed as a partner, a parent, and the multitude of other roles that you will play throughout your life, you will have to acknowledge that you don’t have all the answers and that your decision-making is improved by listening to and carefully considering the input of others.

Peter Høj portrait with script reading 'Continue to be curious'.
John McKenna portrait with script reading 'Listen to your mother'.

John McKenna KC

John McKenna KC is an esteemed Queensland lawyer, who is known for his significant and sustained contributions to UQ and to a range of legal and educational charities. Mr McKenna has been in practice at the commercial bar in Queensland for more than 30 years, including 20 years within the ranks of senior counsel.

John McKenna and his wife standing at his graduation ceremony in Oxford.

My advice

At age 18, I had no shortage of good advice.

It came from my mother.

She was born into a generation of Australians whose formal education may have been limited, but whose fundamental decency provided a sound answer to most of life’s questions.

Her advice was almost always expressed in the form of a proverb. To act with...

  • Respect (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you)
  • Diligence (Don’t put off to tomorrow what can be done today)
  • Prudence (Look before you leap)
  • Humility (Don’t blow your own trumpet)
  • Acceptance (You have to take the bad with the good)
  • Perspective (Money doesn’t buy happiness); and
  • A focus on consequences (Once you make your bed, you must lie in it).

It was difficult to understand, at age 18, the true value of these few simple precepts.

But if I could advise my youthful self, it would be to add one more precept to the list:

Listen to your mother.

The Honourable Justice Anthe Philippides

The Honourable Justice Anthe Philippides has contributed almost 40 years of distinguished service to the law in Queensland, alongside a lifetime of unwavering advocacy for the arts, First Nations peoples, and diversity and inclusion. She was the first woman of non-Anglo-Celtic heritage to be admitted as a barrister in Queensland in 1984, to attain silk in Australia, and to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court in 2000 and the Court of Appeal in 2015.

My advice

I would tell my 18 year old self...

…that the world you’re stepping into may seem unfamiliar and daunting, but it’s nothing to be anxious about. Everyone is finding their feet and trying to figure out where they belong and what direction they want to go in you’ll work it out as you go along.

… that you should trust your decisions and stay true to who you are. And always stay close to the arts because they sustain a special part of you.

…that you shouldn’t take the easy option you’ll regret the missed opportunity that the harder challenge provides and it will always be more exhilarating and rewarding.  

…that you’re not going to see yourself much reflected in those around you, but you can make your way notwithstanding, so persevere there will be many supportive people on your journey.

…and I might add, fantastical as it sounds, one day you’ll be writing the judgments in those law reports you’re reading. But I don’t think she’d believe me.

Richard Bell

Mr Richard Bell is a member of the Kamilaroi, Kooma, Jiman and Gurang Gurang communities and an influential artist recognised for his longstanding achievements, contributions and commitment to contemporary Australian art and Aboriginal art.

Mr Bell developed his passion for art growing up in an era of Aboriginal activism and has remained committed throughout his career to profiling Aboriginal social justice, land rights and sovereignty through his work.

With a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr Bell has come to be recognised nationally and internationally as one of the leading voices in Australian contemporary art for his work critically highlighting the social, legal and economic injustices endured by Australia’s First Peoples since colonisation. In 2003, Mr Bell won the National Telstra Indigenous Art Award for his canvas painting, Scientia E Metaphysica (Bell’s Theorem), which critiques the power held by non-Aboriginal people in the Aboriginal Art industry.

Mr Bell is a founding member of the Indigenous artist collective proppaNOW, which gives urban-based Aboriginal artists a voice. Through this organisation, Mr Bell has mentored many junior artists, becoming a significant voice for change and decolonisation in Australia.

Next year, the proppaNOW collective will also travel to New York after being awarded the 2022–2024 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice as well as a solo presentation at the Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London as the first Australian artist to be invited to the exhibition space.

Fred D'Agostino portrait with script reading 'Find your something'.

Emeritus Professor Fred D'Agostino

R. H. Roe Award inaugural recipient

Emeritus Professor Fred D’Agostino is recognised as one of the most exceptional and respected academic leaders at UQ. Across almost 20 years, he has contributed generously to the UQ community as an exemplary scholar, leader, teacher and colleague. He is held in the highest regard by all those who know him and is undoubtedly the embodiment of the University’s vision of knowledge leadership for a better world.

My advice

I’ve heard it said about us Australians that we can take things seriously without taking ourselves (too) seriously.

This is something to work on.

If you’re interested in, or engaged with something, then take the doing of that something as seriously as you can.

Apply yourself to it and learn as much as you can about it, from others and from formal instruction.

Put resources into it. Allocate time for it. Prioritise it in relation to other calls on your time and energy. The goal is to lose yourself in it.

To be so wrapped up in this task or activity that you aren’t aware of yourself, that you aren’t self-conscious about being who you are, that you’re not wondering what other people think about you. The 'you' fades into the activity itself.

The trick, of course, is to find something that you can indeed lose yourself in in this way. That may take some experimenting.

But that’s the goal: to find that something. If you can, you’ll be happy and you’ll be effective. Good luck with your search.

About the R.H. Roe Award

In 2022, the inaugural The R. H. Roe Award was presented to Emeritus Professor Fred D'Agostino.

The award is named after UQ's first Vice-Chancellor, Reginald Heber Roe, and is among the University’s highest honours. It has been created to recognise outstanding individuals who represent the mission, values and aspirations of the University, and who have made a unique and lasting contribution through their dedicated service to UQ.

Roe came to Australia in 1876 to commence as Headmaster of Brisbane Grammar School, where he served for 33 years until 1909. He worked tirelessly to create popular support for the establishment of a university in Queensland, serving as a member of the 1891 royal commission on the matter and helping draft the University of Queensland Act in 1901. When The University of Queensland opened in 1911, Roe was appointed inaugural Vice-Chancellor, serving until 1916.

From 1909 to 1917 Roe also served as Inspector-General for Education (the chief educational adviser to the Queensland Government), and later worked as Inspector of grammar schools until his final retirement in 1919.

Outside of his formal roles within educational institutions, Roe was an active participant and volunteer in educational, sporting and welfare organizations. He was a member of the Queensland Club and a close confidant of Sir Samuel Griffith (inaugural Chief Justice of Australia and 9th Premier of Queensland).

Roe’s legacy and commitment to education lived on through his family; his son – Arthur Stanley Roe – became Queensland's first Rhodes scholar in 1904, and his grandson – Charles Roe AM – was a member of the first intake of Medical School students at UQ.