Mr Mackay has received an award for 'distinguished service to the community in the areas of social research and psychology, as an author and commentator, and through roles with visual and performing arts and educational organisations'.

Mr Mackay said he was thrilled with the award and that it came as "a huge surprise".

"I was just getting on with life, but I guess if you live long enough someone looks at what you've done and realises that it was quite useful. But this is not about me; it's about the work in social research," he said.

However his award does reflect the fact that Mr Mackay has a hat in many rings in addition to social research: writing fiction and non-fiction books, the performing arts, education and he is also patron of the Asylum Seekers Centre.

Mr Mackay believed his achievements were in part due to being in the right place at the right time.

"I started work 60 years ago and I have been fortunate that my career has taken place in one of the most fascinating periods in Australia's social history - the gender revolution, the rise of information technology, and changing patterns in marriage and divorce just to name a few. I feel lucky to have been there to document a society in transition," he said.

"Because of the disruption all these changes caused, our anxiety levels increased, so there was a need for research that explained what was happening and why we were feeling insecure."

Producing the Mackay Report continuously four times a year for 25 years is something Mr Mackay nominates as the achievement of which he is most proud.

"I have reached the stage now where I feel I can take a step back and give some ideas about how to respond to these feelings," Mr Mackay said, referring to his recent books.

He has just signed a contract to write two more non-fiction books and one fiction (he has already written 16 books).

"So I guess I'm now a writer but in my head I'm still a social researcher," he said.

Mr Mackay and his wife moved to the Highlands six years ago as he was keen to find the right environment in which to write. "We knew the Highlands was beautiful, but we didn't anticipate how welcoming the community would be," he said.