Reverend Jim Walter is a familiar face to his St Albans Baptist congregation and the hundreds of refugees he’s helped settle in Melbourne since the 1970s.
The Brookfield man has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for assisting refugees, particularly people from Vietnam.
“I was very surprised and honoured but slightly embarrassed as well,” Mr Walter said.
“There are probably so many people who deserve it equally as much.”
The senior pastor’s love for helping refugees began one Saturday afternoon in 1978.
“One family had just been released from an immigration centre and found a house in Reservoir,” he said. “I was told they had six children and nothing.
“We began gathering up furniture and materials and my love affair with helping refugees began.”
Anyone can nominate any Australian for an award in the Order of Australia at www.gg.gov.au.
