For Mr Craig Leeson OAM, documentary filmmaking has never been about creating beautiful images for their own sake. It has always been about opening people’s eyes to the world around them – and inspiring them to act.

Awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to media, and to the community, Craig has spent decades using journalism and documentary filmmaking to shine a light on environmental, humanitarian and social issues. Through acclaimed productions including A Plastic Ocean, The Last Glaciers and Journeys to Sustainability, his work has reached audiences around the world, helping translate complex global challenges into deeply human stories.

Craig believes the real impact of documentary filmmaking begins after the credits roll:

"Documentary films change the world through powerful storytelling — and it's the people inside the films who do the changing, not the filmmaker,” he says. 
We carry their stories into living rooms that would never otherwise reach a melting glacier, a beach choked with plastic, an animal in distress, a community wrestling with poverty or disease or disaster."

For Craig, the camera is only the beginning:

“The temptation is to think the footage is the point. It isn’t. The footage is the door. What matters is whether the audience – a politician, a community leader, a kid at school, the average person walking past – steps through it and does something on the other side.”

Whether that action is as simple as picking up a piece of plastic or as significant as changing laws or influencing public policy, Craig says storytelling has the power to create lasting change by helping people reconnect with nature:

“When the penny drops – when people feel how extraordinary nature actually is – empathy follows. And empathy is what protects, restores, brings things back. People protect what they love.”

Beyond filmmaking, Craig has worked alongside governments, educators, business leaders and conservation organisations across the globe, advising on sustainability, environmental policy and the transition to more circular economies. He has also dedicated significant time to charitable organisations, fundraising initiatives and environmental advocacy, believing meaningful change comes from bringing people together around a shared purpose.

Craig’s approach has been shaped by a career in journalism, as well as by those who inspired him along the way. He credits Sir David Attenborough with reinforcing the importance of pairing compelling storytelling with scientific integrity:

“He [Sir David Attenborough] taught me you earn the right to an audience’s attention by getting the facts right first, then making them feel something second, never the other way round. Sloppy facts wrapped in good emotion is propaganda, and audiences can smell it.”

He also credits his father with fostering his love of storytelling, while a lifetime spent on and around the ocean has shaped the perspective that underpins his worked: “the ocean taught me we are not observers of the natural world, we are participants, whether we like it or not."

That philosophy also influences the way Craig works with the people whose stories he tells. He believes trust, care and respect are essential long before the cameras begin rolling: “some of the most important footage I’ve ever captured came after I’d put the camera away and just talked to someone for an afternoon. Care is what makes the work honest.”

Reflecting on his Honour, Craig hopes it also encourages Australians to recognise those whose contributions often go unnoticed, stating, “most of the people who deserve it would never put themselves forward, and that’s exactly why they deserve it.” He adds, “a nomination is a way of saying out loud that this mattered, that we noticed, that it counted.”

For Craig, the greatest reward has never been the awards themselves but seeing the ripple effect of storytelling. He remarks, “the films give people permission to care out loud.” Continuing, “that’s the part I’m proudest of … the school group that starts a campaign. The town that bans the plastic bottle. The kid who decides this is what they’ll do with their life. It’s the greatest reward of all.”

Congratulations, Craig.