by Neighbour Day founder, Andrew Heslop

Last Sunday was Neighbour Day, an Australian initiative now six years old and founded because an elderly woman died alone in her home in 2001. Sadly, the discovery of Mrs Elsie Brown’s death was not made until 2003, when Victoria Police broke in to her Melbourne home and discovered her remains still wrapped in a blanket on her sofa.

By then Mrs Brown had been forgotten by neighbours, friends and family for two years and only remembered, eventually, because her water account had gone unpaid. Remarkably, it’s a scenario that is too often repeated right across Australia with people of all ages being found dead months, sometimes years, after they have passed away.

Neighbour Day is always held on the last Sunday in March and it encourages us all, no matter where we live, our age or our personal circumstances to have better relationships with the people next door, across the street or the next farm if you live in the bush. Knowing your neighbours creates a sense of community, it provides a sense of belonging and gives us reassurance there will be someone to help out in a crisis, disaster or emergency.

With a message of tolerance, respect and understanding it aims to bring us closer together.

This year, for the first time, State Premiers Morris Iemma, Anna Bligh, John Brumby, Mike Rann, Alan Carpenter and the ACT Chief Minister got behind Neighbour Day, along with Senator Natasha Stott Despoja and Lord Mayors Clover Moore, John So, Campbell Newman, Michael Harbison and the Darwin City Council.

Yet what is extremely impressive is that local Councils and Shires organised festivals, events and launches to encourage residents to get to know one another, in addition to whatever we as individuals did to say "g’day" to our neighbours.

All of this happened without any government funding, corporate sponsorship, commercial agreement, public appeal for donation or fundraising activity. There are no multi-million dollar advertising budgets to buy space in newspapers, on television, radio, the internet or billboards to sell a message. No salaries. No cars. No offices.

Since 2003 Neighbour Day has grown purely by editorial media coverage at local, state and national levels. It was supplemented this year by Saatchi & Saatchi, which donated a television commercial with actors and crew who gave their time without payment, and it went to air for free on all networks except one because the CEOs believed in what Neighbour Day stands for: looking out for each other, no matter what.