Professor Gordian Fulde, the longest-serving head of an emergency department in Australia, is the Senior Australian of the Year.
His three decades in charge at St Vincent's and Sydney Hospital count for more than that, considering the inner-city hospital is on the front line of Sydney's sometimes infamous nightlife and treats more than its fair share of bashing victims, drug addicts and homeless. 
The indefatigable Dr Fulde has spoken out for years about alcohol-fuelled violence on the city's party strips, including Kings Cross.
He was a central figure in the push for lock-out laws in the Cross after the one-punch death of teenager Thomas Kelly in 2012 and is a board member of the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation.
"It would appear the message is finally getting through," he told Fairfax Media on   January 1 after a quieter than normal New Year's Eve. "We have realised as a society you don't have to be totally drunk and ugly to enjoy some of the most fabulous fireworks in the world."
Dr Fulde described his department before the lockout laws as a "war zone" and the decrease in severe head injuries since then as "spectacular and terrific".
He also spoke of the worst part of his job. "When a critically ill patient comes in while conscious, so that you are able to talk to them, make human contact with them, and in spite of whatever you do for them, they die. That's as tough as it gets. When children die, it's just beyond description," he said.
The Australia Day Council said Dr Fulde also "supports schools and community organisations ... warning of the dangers of a binge-drinking culture".