A chat with Queensland’s Australian of the Year: Dr. Dinesh Palipana
By Dimithri Wijesinghe
Sri Lankan-born Australian, Dr. Dinesh Palipana was recently named Queensland’s 2021 Australian of the Year. A senior resident at the Gold Coast University Hospital, a law graduate, as well as the doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby league team, Dr. Palipana has built an international profile through his speeches with TEDx talks and has contributed immensely to spinal research in Australia.
He was named Queensland’s 2021 Australian of Year by Queensland’s Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk herself at a special presentation on 10 November, ahead of the national Australia Day Awards in January.
He is the first quadriplegic medical graduate and medical intern in Queensland, having suffered a spinal cord injury during his second year of med school, taking away the use of his legs and leaving him with limited use of his arms.
Despite the many obstacles thrown his way, Dr. Palipana has overcome life’s difficulties, working tirelessly in his advocacy for a better quality of life for those with disability, and has gone on to receive this prestigious recognition.
Dr. Palipana shared with us his feelings on the night of the ceremony when he found out that he will be honoured as the 2021 Australian of Year. “I was so surprised. My initial reaction honestly was just shock (in a good way)!” he said.
He further stated that he was feeling most humbled by the recognition. “It sounds clichéd, but I am humbled. I was among some amazing nominees. To be even in that group was special,” he said, adding: “I am very grateful for life. I feel lucky. Just over 10 years ago, I was lying in a hospital bed with my world falling apart. To be here now is something that I never imagined.”
Awards and recognitions, while may feel purely symbolic, often serve a purpose that can mean more than a simple momentary recognition and can be a catalyst that allows individuals to propel themselves further and do better. Dr. Palipana too shared that receiving such a recognition “means the world”, adding that this milestone has certainly motivated him to do more for the community. “I am here because of the people around me and the community. Their belief in me is something that I want to always realise,” he said.
Considering the current climate, Dr. Palipana also spoke of the effects of the pandemic and how he himself and his work have been affected by it. We asked him what some of the major adjustments he had to make on account of Covid-19 were, and he shared that, of course, the pandemic has affected everyone and that it has been a difficult year for people.
“Covid-19 has changed everything for me this year. It has affected our research projects. It changed the way we practise medicine, at least briefly,” he said, adding also that sharing from a personal perspective, he believes that it has highlighted the importance of people coming together. He went on to note that while we can be going through the hardest of times, “if there is togetherness, we can get through anything”.
Finally, we asked Dr. Palipana if he could so kindly share with us some of his proudest moments in his career, milestones he believes to have led to him being recognised as Queensland’s Australian of the Year and maybe share with us what’s next in the cards for him. He confirmed that receiving this recognition is undoubtedly one of his proudest milestones. However, he went on to further note: “I must say that graduating from medical school was a huge deal for me. Becoming a doctor was a dream that looked so distant after I got the spinal cord injury. After the work put in through medical school, graduating was pretty special. It wasn’t just special for me, because so many people supported me and shared the journey with me.”
So what’s next for Dr. Dinesh Palipana? He said that for the future, he wishes to keep working as a doctor, stating that it is so rewarding. He added that he wishes to continue to work on their spinal cord injury research, to contribute to a result that will one day allow people to function again after paralysis. “I want to give back to our community, particularly in making the world a more inclusive place. I want to make a positive difference in people’s lives, one at a time,” he said.