Meet Flagstaff Hill Area Coordinator Matthew Curnow

Matt Curnow lives and breathes volunteering.

A highly respected member of Flagstaff Hill Neighbourhood Watch (NHW), it was Matt’s rural upbringing which helped ignite his passion for volunteer work.

“My father worked on the Broken Hill railway line for a number of years, so we moved around a lot, living in towns like Mingary and Yunta,” Matt said. “In the end I attended 12 different schools in 11 years.”

After leaving school he worked on farms before joining the Engineering and Water Supply Department, helping to replace pipeline across the Eyre Peninsula.

But in 1972, Matt changed direction and commenced theological training to become a Uniting Church Minister, a path which saw him spend more than 20 years as a chaplain in the Australian Defence Force.

“In that role you went where the soldiers went, so it was quite a different environment compared to working in a suburban congregation,” he said.

It was during his time at Royal Military College Duntroon where Matt first became involved with NHW.

“Duntroon was a unique place because many of the staff lived on the base,” Matt explained. “We had a distinct community, so we set up a Neighbourhood Watch group and I was involved there for about 18 months.”

Several years later, having left the army and purchased a house in Flagstaff Hill, Matt re-encountered NHW.

“I received a newsletter in the mail and thought, ‘Neighbourhood Watch, I remember them,’ so I got involved with the Flagstaff Hill group,” he said.

Matt started out delivering newsletters before being elected Secretary and eventually stepping up as Area Coordinator – a role he continues to fulfill.

“During the time I’ve lived at Flagstaff Hill we’ve had a very strong Neighbourhood Watch group,” Matt said. “We deliver almost 4,000 newsletters six times per year and you get a sense that you’re making a contribution to the community.”

“In Flagstaff Hill our crime stats are relatively low and I’d like to think that’s partly because we have a strong set of eyes throughout the community,” he said. “A phone call here or there helps to create an environment that we treasure and enjoy.”

“One time I got a call from a lady who lived on a cul-de-sac and she explained that twice a week at about 1am in the morning, a car would come roaring down the street,” Matt explained. “But before she could get up out of bed it was gone. So I talked to her and encouraged her to keep a diary of when the car would come and a pattern quickly emerged. That information was fed through to police who sent out a patrol and the driver stopped.”

Southern District NHW was re-established in December 2022, following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, and Matt held the role of Chairperson for two and a half years.

Alongside his work with Neighbourhood Watch, Matt has dedicated hours of service to the South Australia Sea Rescue Squadron, including as Commodore.

“I enjoy boating and fishing and when I returned from the army in 2004, I went down to West Beach and there was a sign there for SA Sea Rescue Squadron. So I got involved and I haven’t managed to escape yet,” he said with a laugh.

Matt also volunteers his time with the Cornish Association of SA, City of Onkaparinga council and the local church.

“The first place I was posted to as a minister was Lameroo and they had a great tennis club who did big Easter tournaments – all run by volunteers,” he said. “We enjoyed going to the pictures every Saturday night, and for that you had to have a committee to run the hall. So in those communities, whatever facilities you wanted had to be organised by volunteers.”

According to Matt, the stronger the volunteer base, the better the community. “There’s a lot more money floating around in Flagstaff Hill nowadays than there was in Lameroo, but the same principles still exist,” he said. “If you want a good community to live in, you’ve got to be a part of making it good.”