About Allan Sparkes CV, OAM, VA, FRSN

Before the medals and the headlines, there was service. Allan Sparkes is one of Australia’s most highly decorated citizens and a frontline leader who has devoted his life to helping others—on duty, at sea, and across the community. A former first responder with a distinguished policing career, a blue-water sailor who has crossed some of the world’s most challenging oceans, and a tireless advocate in the mental-health sector, Allan brings lived experience with uncommon humility and impact.

Decorations and honours

Allan is one of only five Australians since 1975 to be awarded the Cross of Valour (CV)—Australia’s highest bravery decoration and highest civil award—for the rescue of a small boy swept 600 metres down a flooded stormwater pipe in Coffs Harbour in May 1996. He also received the Royal Humane Society Galleghan Award and the NSW Police Commissioner’s Valour Award for the same rescue. His service has been further recognised with the National Medal, the National Police Service Medal, and the NSW Police Diligent and Ethical Service Medal.

In August 2016, Allan received the Commendation for Brave Conduct for saving the life of an Aboriginal man who had fallen onto the tracks at Redfern Railway Station. In the 2017 Australia Day Honours, he was appointed a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to mental-health support organisations and the broader community.

His national honours are matched by rare royal acknowledgements: the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022), and the King’s Coronation Medal (2024). In September 2022, Allan travelled to London to represent Australia’s Cross of Valour recipients, participating—by invitation of St James’s Palace—in the Chivalry and Gallantry Procession during the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Distinguished first-response career

Allan’s policing years spanned some of the most demanding roles on the front line. He led from the front, earned the trust of colleagues, and faced the human cost of high-risk work with courage and candour. Those lessons now anchor his training for first responders, councils, and corporate teams—turning real-world experience into practical skills that improve performance and protect wellbeing.

Ocean passages and seamanship

Beyond the uniform, Allan is an accomplished offshore sailor. He has crossed long, unforgiving stretches of ocean where judgement, teamwork, and endurance are the difference between safe landfall and failure. That seamanship, planning, discipline, and calm under pressure, flows directly into his approach to leadership, culture, and mental-health readiness.

Service to others: mental health and community

Allan has invested years of intense involvement in the mental-health sector, partnering with clinicians, charities, and community groups to improve access, reduce stigma, and build everyday skills that help people cope, adapt, and thrive. His work is hands-on and ongoing, focused on practical help, not headlines. Allan has been an Ambassador for organisations such as Beyondblue, Soldier On, Suicide Prevention Australia, Kookaburra Kids and Australia Day. Allan has also had the honour of being a Deputy Commissioner of the Mental Health Commission of NSW

Author and speaker

Allan is the author of The Cost of Bravery—a raw account of the life that led to the Cross of Valour and the life that followed. He delivers high-impact keynotes and Operational Readiness training that blend lived experience with evidence-based methods to build endurance, help reduce burnout, and lift day-to-day performance.