Bourke local Pam Simpson thought the telephone call announcing recognition of her work in the community with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) was a hoax when she first received it. 

“They said they’d send through the paperwork in the coming weeks. The papers came in about two weeks and that’s when I believed it,” Mrs Simpson said, after she was awarded her OAM on Australia Day. 

For the rest of the Bourke community, it comes as less of a surprise, with Pam having contributed to the district since her arrival as a governess in 1957. 

“In 1958 I moved closer to town and was able to take part in the Bourke Show Committee. I’ve always been interested in the local shows, mainly in the pavilion with cooking and handicraft,” Mrs Simpson said. 

Soon after, she added church work, the school P&C, and Country Women’s Association (CWA) to her list of duties too. 

“I enjoy doing it, and I saw the need for it. I think there’s something in the saying ‘you get back more than you put in,” she said. 

Since joining the CWA in 197, the Bourke branch has remained particularly active in the community, but Mrs Simpson has witnessed its decline. 

“In those days there were 17 branches in the Far West area, now we’re down to 11.”

“We haven’t really got any young (members) now. I think people don’t join until their families have just about left school, the reason being you’re involved in the P&C and there’s so many things to do for your children…we didn’t have as many of those things,” Mrs Simpson said.

Another contributor to its numbers was the rule that wives of police officers weren’t allowed to work, freeing them up to volunteer in the community. 

“I think there will be a surge again, we will have more members. I think my biggest disappointment with the CWA now is that it has become more of a business rather than a lovely group. There’s so much bookwork attached to it, and us older ones aren’t so computer literate,” Mrs Simpson said. 

Still, her community endeavours continue - including as President of the Bourke CWA - and will continue beyond the OAM. To Mrs Simpson, the recognition is still surreal, even after she was awarded Bourke’s Citizen of the Year in 2021. 

“I just can’t believe that I’ve done enough that people have noticed what I’ve done,” Mrs Simpson said. 

“When you do all of this work you don’t think about the reward, you just do it because you enjoy doing something for the community…I’m still getting used to it.”