John 'Doc' Birrell was born in Melbourne, son of Sydney Henry Birrell, company manager, and Violet Olive Birrell (nee Withers). John had two brothers, Bruce McKenzie and Robert Gregory. In 1947 he married Jacqueline Joan Wallace, a graduate in metallurgy. They had three children: John Sydney, an engineer, Michael Wallace Winter, a general practitioner, and Simon Anthony, a police sergeant. Medicine is in the family. Sir William Upjohn (MD MS) was uncle and godfather; Robert Gregory Birrell (FRACP), paediatrician, is a brother and Peter Birrell, general practitioner, is a cousin.

John was educated at Melbourne Grammar School where he excelled academically. He commenced his medical course at the University of Melbourne in 1942. Against his father’s wishes, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at the end of 1942, but was obliged to return to second year medicine in 1943, as he was in a reserved occupation. He deliberately failed all subjects at the end of the year, allowing him to re-enlist in the AIF. He served in the Wewak and Aitape areas in New Guinea. Discharged in 1946, he returned to his course in which he was awarded honours in several subjects. He obtained the Forensic Medicine Prize in 1949.

After graduating in 1950, he was a junior resident medical officer at the Alfred Hospital in 1951. From 1952 to 1956, he studied and lectured in pathology at the University of Melbourne. He was also curator of the Pathology Museum over this period. From 1956 to 1957, he worked as Assistant Coroner’s Pathologist and at the end of 1957, was appointed Victoria’s first Police Surgeon, a role he fulfilled with extraordinary energy and skill for twenty years until his retirement in 1977. During his period as Police Surgeon he was Senior Lecturer in Pathology at Monash University from 1962 to 1977. He also lectured in Forensic Medicine and Criminology at the University of Melbourne from 1966 to 1977.

He was a member of the International Committee on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety and in 1977, was president of the Conference Council of the 7th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety which he brought to Melbourne. He was a founder/patron of Australians Against Child Abuse, now the Australian Childhood Foundation.

John Birrell published over 125 papers on road safety, child abuse, the environment and other subjects. Two very significant publications were 'The use of lap safety belts in motor cars: a review' – Med Journal of Aust 1961; 1: 505-509, and 'Alcohol as a factor in Victorian road collisions' – Med Journal of Aust 1960; 1: 713-722. He gave on average 130 lectures each year, particularly getting his road safety message across to secondary school students. He wrote 2 books, 'Drinking, Driving and You' (1974), and 'Twenty Years as a Police Surgeon' (2004 - published after his death). He entered general practice for 5 years at Foster in rural Victoria from 1977, and thereafter at Point Lonsdale until 1997. He died at Geelong of myelodysplasia early in 2003.

In his roles as Police Surgeon and Assistant Coroner's Pathologist, John became aware of the enormous problem with alcohol in relation to road traffic safety. He attended road accident scenes with police, taking blood for alcohol examination from injured and deceased victims. After John joined the Traffic Injury Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council in 1960, his influence was soon obvious when the Committee recommended that seat belts be fitted and worn in vehicles.

He worked tirelessly with the media on seat belt promotion, influenced politicians and road safety committees and educated schools and community groups about road safety issues. The results of his work were published in a number of journals including the 'Medical Journal of Australia' in the 1960s. In 1971, the mandatory wearing of seat belts became law in Victoria. All the other States followed with legislation rapidly.

John Birrell became the public face on the issue of blood alcohol and safety, arousing public awareness. He was certainly not daunted by opposition from brewery chiefs, Hotels Association representatives and politicians. At one stage his salary was pegged for 5 years in the hope he would resign. There was no chance of that! In 1966, it became an offence to drive with a blood alcohol level exceeding 0.05%. In 1990, it was in Victoria that the 'booze buses' (mobile breath-testing units) were first introduced.

John Birrell's second great achievement was his work with his brother, Dr Robert Birrell, from the early 1960s, in the recognition of non-accidental injuries in children. Their findings documented in their 'Medical Journal of Australia' papers resulted in significant improvement in public awareness and ultimately in public management of this serious social problem. Both the medical profession and the community had to be convinced that child abuse, often with serious injury and at times death, was not uncommon. John remained a powerful advocate for children's rights generally and a strong supporter of the introduction of mandatory reporting of suspected cases of child abuse.

Thousands of people are alive today in Australia, and beyond, because of his ability to see that beyond the forensic issues related to individual events, lay fundamental social and moral questions that had to be asked with courage and answered with passion. As some recognition for his work, he was awarded the Imperial Service Order in 1977, and Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997. In 1986, he was awarded the Widmark Gold Medal by the International Committee on Alcohol Drugs and Traffic Safety in Amsterdam. He was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Law (honoris causa) Monash in 1998.

John was a talented footballer in his young days, playing as an amateur for University Blacks. In the early 1940s, but for the war, he may well have played Victorian Football League (VFL) – a great full forward. He loved gardening with a particular interest in Australian native trees. He was a compulsive tree planter. Look out any vacant allotment! His vegetables were truly magnificent.