Friends and colleagues are paying tribute to the Tasmanian-born melanoma researcher Professor Richard Scolyer, who has been remembered for his “magnificent” and determined cycling in Tasmania just months before his death from brain cancer. A state memorial service for the 2024 Australian of the Year will be held today at the Sydney Opera House.
Professor Scolyer, who grew up in Launceston, was a world-renowned pathologist whose work is credited with saving thousands of lives from melanoma. After being diagnosed with incurable grade-four brain cancer in 2023, he underwent an experimental treatment based on his own melanoma research, publicly documenting his journey. He died on 7 June 2026, aged 59.
In March, despite being in the final stages of his illness, Professor Scolyer joined the Tour de Cure charity cycling event as it travelled through Tasmania. The tour, which raises funds for cancer research, travelled from Canberra to Hobart.
Channel 7 presenter and Tour de Cure board member Mark Beretta recalled riding up a steep mountain during the Tasmanian leg of the tour when Professor Scolyer overtook him. Oz Arab Media reported that Beretta described Scolyer as “just a machine” who completed the stage with his family alongside him. During the ride, Professor Scolyer completed 500 kilometres in four days.
Professor Scolyer was born in Launceston and attended Riverside High School and Launceston Community College before studying medicine at the University of Tasmania. A speech in federal parliament in March by the Member for Bass, Michael Ferguson, noted Professor Scolyer’s family has a 100-year legacy with the Bridgenorth Football Club, where he was the number one ticket holder.
The state memorial service will take place at 11:00 am and will be broadcast live on ABC TV and streamed on ABC iview, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet confirmed. In a statement, the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said the world had lost “one of our brightest lights and one of our biggest hearts”.