Professor Gordian Fulde, the longest-serving head of an emergency department in Australia, is the Senior Australian of the Year.

His three decades in charge at St Vincent's and Sydney Hospital count for more than that, considering the inner-city hospital is on the front line of Sydney's sometimes infamous nightlife and treats more than its fair share of bashing victims, drug addicts and homeless.

Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital Director of Emergency, Professor Gordian Fulde, is Senior Australian of the Year for 2016. Credit:Jessica Hromas

"As a young person would say, 'OMG'," Professor Fulde said, accepting the award.

"But ... it's really not about me. What it is about is us as a community."