Mary Blackford, 86, received a Medal if the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to aged welfare.

The Birmingham Gardens resident help to found Wallsend Carers, an organisation that has provided companionship to hundreds of elderly people in the area since 1984.

Ms Blackford worked part-time but also volunteered for the organisation until she retired in April last year.

Professor Geoff Isbister, of the Calvary Mater hospital and University of Newcastle, has spent his career studying snakes, spiders, poisons and drugs.

The discoveries he has made led him to be awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "significant service to medical research in the field of toxicology".

For former chairman of the Hunter Medical Research Institute Glenn Turner, Newcastle has provided an opportunity to put his interest in innovation into action.

The Kiwi-turned-Novocastrian has been named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in honour of the change he continues to make in the city.

Dr John Tierney has been made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) this year for significant services to people with polio.

It follows him receiving an OAM in 2012 for service to the Parliament of Australia, to education and to the community. "I'm quite honoured," he said.