Young Australian of the Year Dr Daniel Nour opens up about family, homelessness and being 'the class clown'

John and Mona Nour and their sons Christopher and Daniel, lived at Peakhurst before moving to Sylvania Waters about 15 years ago.

Daniel became a doctor and, while specialising in cardiology and global health at Royal North Shore Hospital, also founded Street Side Medics, an outreach medical service for the homeless, staffed by volunteer GPs and other health professionals.

Dr Nour, who still calls the shire home, spoke to the Leader after he and other Australia Day award recipients were recognised at last week's meeting of Sutherland Shire Council.

"My family is very much my foundation and without a doubt has been my biggest motivation and my biggest support personally and professionally," Dr Nour said.

"My parents are migrants from Egypt and they have shown me the importance of hard work and discipline.

"They have been a beacon of light for me and I have endeavored to emulate their character. If I could achieve 10 per cent of what they have, I would be very proud."

Dr Nour said his award had given Street Side Medics "a national platform on which it can not only advocate for the clients we are trying to treat, but can also gain support on a national level".

"It allows us the ability to grow our service across NSW and interstate and to get more volunteers, more supporters and more awareness.

"For me personally, it has meant more of a commitment of my time, but it has also been one of the most fulfilling things I have been involved in, and very humbling."

Dr Nour believes homelessness is often thought of in terms of "where are they sleeping and what are they eating"?

"We often neglect their health care and we don't think about how they are feeling physically and mentally as much as we possibly should," he said.

Dr Nour said "the way we react to people experiencing homelessness on the street is also something to think about, recognising this is a human being, who may be trying to communicate with you, rather than trying to get money from you."

The family are members of St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church at Arncliffe. Dr Nour attended St Joseph's Primary School, Riverwood, St Mark's Coptic School at Wattle Grove and Trinity Grammar.

"At school I was quite cheeky and often in trouble," he revealed. "I never did anything too serious but I could be described as the class clown and didn't really apply myself academically as well as I could have. But, with the right sort of support and encouragement, I had potential and I think there are many people like that."