Tony Burns calls time on five decades of public service

The Murrumbidgee Local Health District’s (MLHD) Senior Environmental Health Officer will this week call time on a 50-year career in the public service, 48 of which have been with NSW Health.

Tony’s last day will be 27 February – 50 years to the day he started as a clerk with what was then the Department of Labour and Industry in 1976.

After deciding he “didn't want to be a clerk for the rest of my life”, Tony secured a traineeship with the-then Health Commission of NSW in 1978 and went on to become a qualified health inspector.

Following a period working in Parramatta, he moved to Wagga with his wife, Ros, and two young children on 30 June 1987 – a day he remembers well because it was “really cold” and the family asked themselves, “what have we done?”.

They stuck it out and, since that cold winter’s day, Tony has grown to become a familiar face of public health across the MLHD and southern NSW - a constant and calming presence in times of community need, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has helped coordinate the MLHD’s mosquito surveillance program from November to April each year, monitoring traps and checking sentinel chicken flocks to provide early warnings about the presence of potentially deadly viruses such as Murray Valley encephalitis virus, Kunjin virus and Japanese encephalitis virus.

Despite having emptied his last trap, Tony’s mosquito surveillance work will live on in the next generation through his book ‘Jack & Angie - Beat the Bite’.

The book, which tells the story of two youngsters exploring the great outdoors while staying safe from mozzie bites, was launched in the MLHD but has since been rolled out to hundreds of schools, early childhood centres and local councils across NSW.

“It was really good to see it took off the way it did, and it’s really supplemented and added to the program - that’s been fantastic,” he said.

Tony’s public health work has also taken him across the state and into some of the world’s biggest events.

He spent three weeks as part of the Public Health Team for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, overseeing what happened around the various venues, and worked in Sydney when Pope Benedict XVI visited Australia for World Youth Day in 2008.

Another important moment in Tony’s career came prior to his move to Wagga, when he helped investigate the first – and Australia’s largest - outbreak of Legionnaire's disease in Wollongong in 1987.

“We had 44 cases, 10 deaths, and people really didn't know what Legionella was back then,” he said.

The team was responsible for preparing the first Legionnaires’ Disease Emergency Management Plan, which has been used in the investigation of subsequent outbreaks, and Tony is the NSW Ministry of Health’s Legionella Consultant.

Away from his day job, he has played an important role in helping plug healthcare access gaps via his charity work in the community.

Tony was the president the former Telstra Child Flight helicopter retrieval service until it was replaced by a different provider in 2012, and the following year he helped start up the Specialist Medical Resources Foundation (SMRF).

“We stepped in because there was a group of us that just didn't want to walk away,” he said. “So, we raised money for families that have got sick kids who need some piece of specialist medical equipment that isn't government funded and that they can't afford to buy.”

Tony will continue to be involved in charity work upon retirement and is looking forward to spending more time with his family. He still loves his job, but says the time is right.

“I’m really looking forward to the next stage of life. My wife and I are going to travel,” he said.

“I've seen all of Murrumbidgee and Southern LHD, but I've also worked in other parts of the state as part of the work that I do for the department.

“There’s other stuff that we do as well that takes you elsewhere, so it's a great career.

“It's probably why I have lasted 50 years in the job.”

Director Public Health for Murrumbidgee and Southern NSW LHDs, Alison Nikitas, said Tony had played a vital role in responding to mosquito-borne disease risks, championing bite prevention messages and supporting councils in developing effective mosquito management plans.

“He has been a committed protector of our community through his leadership in environmental health and emergency management,” Ms Nikitas said.

“Tony’s expertise and decades of experience have made him a trusted mentor to colleagues across the state. We thank him for his dedication to NSW Health and for his contribution to the wellbeing of the communities he has served.”