We know him as the man at Maitland Christian Church's podium delivering sermons but Pastor Robert 'Bob' Cotton's passion for advocating for the community runs much deeper.
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In fact, it was his advocacy which saw a significant change that went all the way to NSW Parliament.
Today, the born and bred Maitland man has been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to the community as an advocate for child protection legislation.
"I'm very honoured and humbled. I was totally surprised," Paston Cotton said on receiving his OAM.
In 2018, NSW Parliament changed the legislation for Victims of Sexual Abuse, (s316 NSW Criminal Act) and upgraded the maximum penalty for concealing child sex abuse from two years to five years jail.
It came after the local Maitland pastor spent countless hours visiting pubs and walking the streets with a clipboard in hand, petitioning for harsher punishment for those who conceal child sex abuse.
Speaking to Australian Community Media, Pastor Cotton reflects on the Royal Comission and the overturned case of the Archbishop Philip Wilson as the catalyst for his advocacy.
"At that point, no clergyman had ever been held to account for concealing child sex offences of his colleagues so something had to change. Every denomination was guilty," he said.
"Something had to change. The variable that we could focus on was the penalty. What we realised was the penalty for concealing a child sex offence drew no greater penalty than if you stole a push bike.
"There was no horsepower in the legislation. The penalty was not in line with the community's expectation.
"We were really compelled to take the opportunity and put the effort in to make the community aware.
"We got 13,500 signatures which was taken out of the Maitland, Cessnock and Singleton areas ... There would've only been six or seven of us taking signatures.
"It was an obvious flaw in the system and it had to be changed."
He praised the community for their efforts for supporting the push.
"The community engaged with us on such a deep level. They were passionate about what we were doing. Sometimes I wound up holding five or six clipboards and handing out pens," he said.
But Pastor Cotton says his work isn't over yet and harsher penalties are "only the first step".
"I always thought if we got this right then it would make a safer future for our kids. This isn't short term. This is a long term thing which will impact kids for generations," he said.
