Creator of Shane Surfboards receives medal for 'making Australia better'

Mr Stedman received his Order of Australia Medal (OAM) at Parliament House in Sydney on Thursday, May 23, with the Governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazely, thanking all OAM recipients for 'making Australia better'.

Awarded the honour on January 26 (2024) for his services, Mr Stedman is thrilled to have his hands on the medal and certificate and is now on to planning how to display the awards securely in his Crescent Head home alongside his memoir 'The Shane Gang' and copies of his stories featured in The Macleay Argus.

Mr Stedman says the award ceremony was one to remember.

"They treated you like royalty," he said. "It was very humbling and I'm not a desperately humble person, but that got me," he said.

"The Governor, she was great, the first thing she said was you have contributed to making Australia better...how cool is that.

"I thought, I'll accept that, that's a nice attribute to have."

This line, Mr Stedman's favourite of the night, made him proud to be recognised for his part in making the surfing industry what it is today while remaining humbled.

"I felt a bit out of place actually because there were emeritus professors and doctors and all these people who have done wonderful things."

Mr Stedman's brother, David, previously received an OAM for service to children after fostering more than 70 children with his wife Carolyn in their lifetime.

"Dave got his award for hard work, I got mine for having fun," Mr Stedman said.

Grateful for the nomination, Mr Stedman says he has his community to thank.

"A lot of people do a lot of things for which they aren't recognised and if it wasn't for all of my mates out here in Kempsey who recommended me...without those guys doing that, well none of it would have happened."

Mr Stedman says he felt guilty at first, but soon accepted the acknowledgement.

"I felt a bit guilty, but when they mentioned the largest surfboard maker in the Southern Hemisphere for a decade in the 60s and 70s and inventor of Ugg Boots everyone cheered."

Living in his childhood home in the heart of Crescent Head, Mr Stedman takes a trip to the surfing reserve at the point most days to do what he loves best - watching people surf.

"I watch people catching waves and I think, I had something to do with that, because we made the first short surfboards," he said.

Always innovating and ahead of the game during the early days of Shane boards, Mr Stedman helped introduce surfing to Australian shores.

Mr Stedman was around to see the first people surf the now popular point break at Crescent Head.

"I can remember a time back in the 1960s when three mates and I surfed out there at the point for a month in perfect conditions with two other people in the water."

Nowadays as he rolls along the promenade on his bike, Mr Stedman notices one Shane board after another lined up.

"These days when the point is on and there's no parking, which doesn't worry me because I have my bike, I go along and I see there's a Shane board and then another and then another."

Following the award ceremony in May, Mr Stedman has received "heaps" of support for friends, family and fans across the globe.

"My son Luke put up an Instagram post about me inspiring him and he got almost a thousand people respond to it."

Mr Stedman says he has received numerous messages of congratulations and is enjoying connecting with old friends.

The 83-year-old is currently experiencing health problems, diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as a result of fibre-glass inhalation.

"It's been a great life, it really has, I just wish someone knew back then not to sand surfboards without a mask," Mr Stedman said.

"I can only walk around for five-minutes now and I'm out of breath, but that's okay, when I can't do that anymore I'll just sit and enjoy the sunshine."