Queen's Birthday Honours: Louise Nicholas

Louise Nicholas has been appointed to the New Zealand Order of Merit.

The voice for sexual abuse survivors has been appointed to the New Zealand Order of Merit.

Louise Nicholas, named the Governor-General's Anzac of the Year earlier this year, was on the steps of the New Zealand Police College - she is patron of Wing 290 - when she read of her nomination.

She said she burst into tears.

"The letter had arrived at the police college. It was pretty surreal," she said.

"It hit me like a tonne of bricks. Not in a million years would I have expected anything like this from speaking out when I did.

"It was huge to get the Anzac nomination and then to receive that and then in the same week get this letter. It was extremely overwhelming."

Mrs Nicholas' own sexual violence experiences have been well documented. A drama based on her story has screened on television.

It was her case that led to a commission of inquiry into police conduct, which was established to investigate the way in which police managed allegations of sexual violence.

The commission resulted in the 2007 Bazley Report that identified a range of systemic issues and behavioural patterns to be addressed to ensure police handled sexual violence complaints appropriately.

Since then Mrs Nicholas was appointed to the first survivor advocate position for rape prevention education, which has involved supporting numerous women who are survivors of sexual violence.

She has represented survivor perspectives in the development of victim services.

"I'm a voice for survivors. It's huge satisfaction to have gone from where we were to where we are now.

"It's not just women who are affected.

"It's men, women, children, families and whanau. That's the harsh reality. If we keep this moving forward we will have that time where we can say there's no more sexual violence."

Wing 290 graduated last week. Mrs Nicholas said she was immensely proud of the new police graduates.

"That knowledge has been bestowed on my newbies. You know they're making a difference in people's lives."

She said the Queen's Birthday Honour was also recognition for her family.

"They have walked this journey too and shed a lot of blood, sweat and tears. It recognises them and the survivors."