Detective Sergeant Kristi Faber led Strike Force Georgiana, which ran for 12 years and resulted in 19 offenders being charged with more than 600 offences relating to 182 victims.

Sergeant Faber was also the lead investigator on Strike Force Arapaima, which established in 2019 to reinvestigate the disappearances of Amanda Robinson and Robyn Hickie and suspected kidnapping of Gordana Kotesvki.

Her final day in the police force on March 22 was spent being honoured alongside her peers at the 2024 Lake Macquarie police district awards.

Sergeant Faber was awarded the Commissioners Commendation for Service, Commissioners Unit Citation, Northern Region Commander's Unit Citation and Fourth Clasp to the NSW Police Service Medal for 30 years diligent and ethical service.

"I'm pretty honoured to receive all of those awards," she said. "Obviously police do great work every day and there's a lot of police who could get these awards all the time. So to actually be awarded, I'm pretty humbled."

Fellow Strike Force Georgiana investigators Todd Clayton, Luke Briggs and Simon Grob were also recognised with the Commissioners service award, who Sergeant Faber said "worked tirelessly" over the years.

"It has been a long slog, obviously 12 years a long time," she said. "It has been a very hard job and we appreciate the recognition.

"I think my team, we're proud of what we've achieved but I think it's those brave people that come forward that make the difference."

She also paid credit to former Newcastle Herald journalist Joanne McCarthy for her work to expose child sex abuse crimes.

While Sergeant Faber credited many in accepting her awards, others gave full credit to her and spoke incredibly highly of her achievements.

Geoffrey Nash, whose younger brother Andrew took his own life at the age of 13 after being abused at Marist Brothers Hamilton, was full of praise for Sergeant Faber.

"She's fantastic," Mr Nash said. "She's a wonderful woman. She was so good with my mum, so supportive.

"She was really determined, really courageous.

"This is end of an era. She's done such a great job, she deserves it."

Lake Macquarie police commander and relieving Northern region commander Superintendent Tracy Chapman paid tribute to Sergeant Faber's leadership.

"And also each and every other police officer who was involved in that strike force, they really had phenomenal results over a really long period of time," Superintendent Chapman said.

"It was probably a combination of being really tenacious but also having that compassion for the victims and helping them through that process.

"I'm sure for the many victims that were subject of Strike Force Georgiana their lives have been changed through Kristi and her team and all the police that worked on that, to be able to see justice and move forward with their lives."

Sergeant Faber joined the police force in 1992 and became a detective in 1994. She joined the Lake Macquarie district in 1999 and was promoted to sergeant in 2005.