Emeritus Professor Warren Payne named Member of the Order of Australia in 2025 King’s Birthday Honours

Emeritus Professor Warren Payne has been named a Member of the Order of Australia in King’s Birthday Honours in recognition for his significant service and to “making a difference” in tertiary education, health and sport science, and community initiatives.

Committed to backing young sportspeople, Professor Payne also takes great pride in his roles as a swimming coach, and Ballarat High School rowing coach.

Formerly the deputy-Vice Chancellor at Victoria University, Professor Payne is Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre’s executive director of seven years, helping hospitals to develop their research, including Grampians Health.

Western Alliance advise “Warren has worked as an academic, researcher and executive responsible for organisational research development for over 40 years.

“As a researcher he worked across the fields of health promotion, occupational health and safety and sports and exercise science. He authored over 250 refereed publications, conference proceedings and major industry reports.

“His publications have focused on equity and access to physical activity opportunities for rural communities, development of physical activity employment standards for the emergency services and impact of heat on sports and exercise performance. His research has resulted in numerous improvements to industry and government policies and procedures.

“Warren has held several senior leadership roles including Head of the School of Human Movement and Sport Sciences at the University of Ballarat (now Federation University) and Vice President (Research and Research Training) at Victoria University. He is a past chair of the Victorian University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Committee and an executive member of the Universities Australia Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) Committee.

“He has been a board member and an advisor to a range of professional, industry, government, and community organisations. In particular, he was a founding executive member of the Australian Association for Exercise and Sports Science. He has held numerous board positions with Sports Medicine Australia, resulting in him being awarded a Fellowship and President’s Award by Sports Medicine Australia.

“As Executive Director of Western Alliance Academic Health Science Centre since 2018, Warren has been responsible for the development and overseeing the implementation of the Alliance’s strategy to improve the health and wellbeing of communities across western Victoria.

“The strategy has focused on supporting member health services to generate translational research and apply research evidence in their practice. This role has also resulted in Warren successfully advocating for improved access by Australia’s rural, regional, and remote communities to equitable levels of health and medical research funding. Such advocacy has involved Warren convening the national Spinifex Network and being invited to participate in various governmental advisory groups along with Victorian and Australian research translation focused collaborations.”