The Williamstown resident has been named among the recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for 40 years of service to people who are blind or vision-impaired, through his work with Vision Australia. "I'm very surprised; in fact I didn't even think about it, to tell you the truth," he said. "I didn't do voluntary work for an award ... but it's nice to be recognised in this way."

The timing of Mr Daubney's accolade couldn't have been better, with his wife, Beverley, and sons, including one flying in from Papua New Guinea, gathering to help celebrate the milestone of his migration from England.

Mr Daubney started his involvement with Vision Australia through work, but it progressively became a major part of his life as he took on, for two years, the role of voluntary chief executive officer.

"It was a big commitment. With more than 700 employees and an annual turnover of $40million - it was a reasonably sized organisation," he says with a laugh.

"You can get an immense amount of satisfaction in trying to make a difference in the quality of some else's life."