Congratulations Professor John Newnham AM – Senior Australian of the Year 2020

The Governor congratulates Professor John Newnham AM on being named Senior Australian of the Year at the Australian of the Year Awards in Canberra last week.

Professor Newnham is recognised as one of the world’s leading authorities in the prevention of pre-term birth and has been instrumental in making Western Australia an international hotspot for research and clinical excellence in pregnancy and life before birth.

In 1989, he founded and led the pioneering Raine Study, the world’s first and most enduring pregnancy-focused lifetime cohort project. John developed a program for preventing preterm birth – a pioneering initiative which resulted in an 8% reduction in premature births across WA.

After a successful national rollout in 2018, he founded the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance – the world’s first ever national program of its kind.

John has been described by the world’s leading scientific journal as ‘an intellectual leader of modern obstetrics who has changed the practice of medicine and the lives of women and infants’.

Congratulations to Western Australia’s State representatives across the Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Local Hero categories for 2020 – Annie Fogarty AM, Yarlalu Thomas and Suzy Urbaniak.

Read more about each recipient on the Australian of the Year website (external link)

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