Kellion Victory Medal Each year Diabetes Australia presents the Kellion Victory Medal to those who have lived with type 1 or type 2 diabetes for 50 years or more. It recognises the achievement of living a fulfilling life with diabetes. Silver – 50-year medal Gold – 60-year medal Platinum – 70-year medal Diamond – 75-year medal Pearl – 80-year medal Ruby – 85-year medal Lapis – 90-year medal Emerald – 95-year medal Centennial – 100-year medal. Recipients also receive a certificate. A further addition to the Kellion Victory Medals Scheme is the Kellion Supporters Award. Having diabetes affects the whole family. Supporters and carers play a major role in assisting a person with diabetes to live a full and satisfying lifestyle; the Kellion Supporter’s Award recognises many years of love, dedication and support. Governor of Tasmania, the Honourable Barbara Baker, with recipients at a presentation of the 2022 Kellion Victory Medals Who is eligible? All Australians who have been living with diabetes for 50 years or more are eligible for a Kellion Award. These people may have either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Contact Diabetes Australia for more information on eligibility for a Kellion Supporter’s Award. How do you apply? Diabetes Australia encourages doctors, other healthcare professionals, and diabetes associations and support groups to nominate likely recipients by filling out the Kellion Victory Medal Application Form. The form must be completed in full and submitted either by email to [email protected] OR delivered to the state or territory diabetes office for processing together with substantiating information. Substantiating information is not always easy to obtain and proposers are asked to assist by providing copies of records such as date of diagnosis or initial hospital admission where possible. Kellion Diabetes Foundation The Kellion Diabetes Foundation has donated well in excess of $1 million towards diabetes research. The Kellion Victory Medal honours both father Claude and son John, and is a lasting tribute to their name. Before his death, Claude Kellion also established a Chair in Diabetes at the University of Sydney which was filled by Professor John Turtle (it is now occupied by Dennis Yue). Insulin was first administered to a human patient in January 1922. Fifty years later, in 1972, The Joslin Clinic Foundation in Boston, Massachusetts established a Victory Medals Scheme, known as the Joslin Victory Medals Scheme, and people from all over the world could apply – but by 1982, the numbers became so great that awards were limited to residents of USA. In 1984, Diabetes Australia responded to a proposal by Dr Alan Stocks to recognise and commemorate Australians for having survived with diabetes for 50, 60 and 70 years or more. In view of his outstanding contribution towards diabetes in Australia, the late Mr Claude Kellion AM was invited to have his name associated with the scheme, to which he graciously consented. Mr Kellion made an outstanding contribution towards diabetes in Australia following the untimely death of his son, John in September 1972. At just 38 years of age, John died as a result of complications of diabetes. Dismayed by the lack of research into diabetes and its complications, Claude Kellion decided to set up the Kellion Diabetes Foundation with the aim of funding research and education into diabetes. For many years this foundation was the only private source of funding for diabetes research in Australia.
