Wellard resident Tanya Dupagne said it was a “huge honour” on Australia Day when she was announced as a Medal of the Order of Australia recipient, among the country’s highest honours, for her service to youth and community.
“It caught me completely by surprise,” Ms Dupagne said of the announcement, as she awaits the formal presentation of the Medal at Government House in May.
“For the past 20 years I’ve been working with over 150,000 children, including those affected by trauma and torture, helping them move forward from events that have happened.
“It all began after university with a summer camp in America for underprivileged children but that was also where I was bitten by a tick and 15 years later found out I had contracted Lyme Disease that literally affected every organ in my body over time.
“I can’t get treatment for the disease in Australia, so I am just treating the symptoms.
“I’ve had 17 surgeries in three years and it has affected my heart, making me prone to fainting, I also have chronic fatigue and my legs no longer work like they used to.
Ms Dupagne was working 120 hours a week, doing 30 to 40 flights a year and that all came to a halt when she was diagnosed in 2019 two months after a final short trip to America that she struggled to get through.
Recognised nationally for creating Camp Kulin in the Wheatbelt, which included children affected by trauma, Ms Dupagne was also a Councillor in Kwinana from 2009-2013, and named Kwinana’s Citizen of the Year in 2007 but said her life changed drastically with the deterioration of her health.
“However, I’ve always been a solution-based person, I don’t see the point in sitting around complaining about something,” Ms Dupagne said.
She joined the City’s Access and Inclusion Reference Group and uses her lived experience to provide advice to the City about how to make facilities and events, like the upcoming Summer Sounds in Leda, more accessible.
Ever committed to give back to the community, Ms Dupagne is also involved in disability advocacy, Lyme disease advocacy, and mentors people setting up social change enterprises.
Mayor Peter Feasey said the Medal of the Order of Australia was well-deserved and he recognised Ms Dupagne’s determination to build and strengthen community.
“The City is grateful for your invaluable insights as we seek to continuously improve accessibility and inclusion at our events and facilities,” Mayor Feasey said.