Inspector Stuart Massey has been nominated for an award. Photo: Marine Rescue NSW.
Two standout emergency service workers from the Illawarra and South Coast have been named finalists in the 2025 NSW Rotary Emergency Service Community Awards (RESCA), recognising their unwavering dedication to protecting their communities on land and sea.
Jamberoo fire captain Hannah McInnerney was nominated for the NSW Rural Fire Service category and Marine Rescue Illawarra Inspector Stuart Massey from Ulladulla was nominated for Marine Rescue NSW.
Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib announced 28 RESCA finalists in total and four Dorothy Hennessy OAM Emergency Services Youth Scholarship finalists.
Dorothy, known as Dot, is a Wollongong resident and long-time Rotarian who helped establish the community-nominated awards for paid and volunteer emergency services personnel.
Jamberoo Rural Fire Service recognised Hannah’s nomination on Facebook.
“Along with attending six out of our nine calls today, our incredible captain took time out to visit NSW Parliament to accept one of only four nominations from the RFS for the Rotary Emergency Service Awards,” it read.
“To be selected as one of four from 70,000 potential recipients is an amazing achievement but thoroughly deserved by Hannah for the tireless efforts she puts into the Jamberoo brigade, as well as the wider district and service as a whole.”
Marine Rescue NSW Commissioner Alex Barrell applauded its four Officer of the Year finalists, which included Stuart, who has more than 40 years’ experience in emergency services, including Surf Life Saving.
He now directs seven Marine Rescue NSW units across the Illawarra, supporting crews through 24/7 coordination, training, and culturally inclusive community safety initiatives.
“We are extremely proud of this dedicated group of people who continually go above and beyond in their roles to assist the boating community of NSW,” Commissioner Barrell said.
“This group boasts almost five decades of marine rescue experience, with each nominee playing a crucial role in saving lives on the water — whether on board a rescue vessel or managing vital communications in the radio room.”
Finalists come from all seven emergency service agencies under Minister Dib’s portfolio, as well as Health Minister Ryan Park’s portfolio.
They include Fire and Rescue NSW, Marine Rescue NSW, Surf Life Saving NSW, NSW Ambulance, NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW State Emergency Service and VRA Rescue NSW.
Mr Dib said the awards were a fantastic opportunity to shine a light upon the enormous contribution of emergency services workers.
“The community have the expectation, quite rightly, that whenever they are in need of emergency response to fire, flood, accident, water-based incidents or medical emergencies, that the first responders will be there to assist,” he said.
“They put themselves into the forefront of danger or as the first responder to save lives, without fear or a thought for the risk they face, in many of these situations.”
He acknowledged that the awards were the community’s way to say thank you to these examples of the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and recognise their contribution to their communities.
The RESCA NSW program also raises funds to support two Rotary initiatives – Australian Rotary Health and Vocational Training Team (VTT).
Winners will be announced at an awards presentation on 2 August at Bankstown Sports Club, before representing the state at the national awards in October.
