Congratulations to the winners and finalists of the 2018 Consumer Protection Awards and many thanks to all the nominees for their dedication to advancing consumer protection and injury prevention for children in Western Australia.
Rona Okely Award
Finalists:
- Helen Creed
- Merv Mancer
Winner:
- Nanette Williams
Nanette Williams arrived in Karratha in January 1982 and since that time she has been a vital part of the community and its development. Nanette originally moved to the area to help establish the Community Health Centre. The project took six years and tremendous dedication to complete but was ultimately successful.
Nanette’s work with the Health Department progressed and she held the roles of Coordinator at the Karratha Community Health Centre, Hospital Administrator and Pilbara Regional Manager. During this time she was also involved in setting up the North West Regional Women’s Association, Women’s Health Centre and the Pilbara Social Justice Council.
After 17 years working for the Health Department, Nanette accepted a role with the Pilbara Community Legal Service as a financial counsellor. After eight years she was appointed Chief Executive Officer and built the organisation from 7 to 30 staff, delivering services from four separate locations across the region.
Richard (Dick) Fletcher Award
Finalists:
- Goldfields Community Legal Centre
- Kimberley Money Management Services
Winner:
- Consumer Credit Legal Service WA
The Consumer Credit Legal Service is unique in Western Australia as the only community specialist legal service providing free assistance, advice and representation to Western Australian consumers in the areas of: home loans; banking transactions; debt collection; personal loans; motor vehicle finance; credit reporting; and the Australian Consumer Law.
The service commenced operations in 1991 as a specialist, not-for-profit community legal centre, advising West Australians in the area of banking and financial services. They expanded their service 25 years ago to provide advice on consumer law matters. They provide a telephone advice line offering legal advocacy services for people experiencing credit and consumer issues and debt. In the last financial year, 2677 West Australians were provided with their free legal advice.
Kidsafe WA Award
Finalists:
- Bolt It Back For Reef
- Britax Childcare Pty Ltd
Winner:
- Nature Playgrounds
Nature Playgrounds was founded in 2013 after Stewart Winsor’s landscaping company was approached to help build a nature playground project. The plan for the business was to supply safe quality materials to construct their playgrounds, while also providing a much needed supply chain for other businesses.
Nature Playgrounds is now a leader in design, supply and construction of nature based playgrounds for early learning centres, schools, public spaces and private use. Their product range has quickly expanded from the basic logs and steppers to custom forts, musical instruments, hand water pumps, flat packed vegetable/herb gardens and playground games. Now delivering products and services Australia wide, they deliver a safe, quality product that will stand the test of time in a playground setting.
Ruby Hutchison Award
Finalists:
- Bret Christian and Ben Dickinson
- Helen Shield
- Noongar Radio
Winners:
- Daniel Emerson
Daniel Emerson graduated from Curtin University in 2002, beginning his career at Community Newspaper Group in 2003 before securing a cadetship at The West Australian in 2005. He worked as a rounds man and online journalist before being posted to State Parliament bureau. He left briefly to travel and then returned to The West Australian and state politics. In 2011, he became the President of The West Australian parliamentary press gallery.
Daniel has followed the progress of ‘Project Sunbird’ – a joint effort between the then Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and WA Police and reported on the challenges facing the future of the project.
- Noongar Radio
Noongar Radio (100.9FM) is Perth’s only Aboriginal community radio station which provides a safe space for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to listen, communicate and share their stories. Noongar Radio provides diverse programming suitable for listeners of all ages and is home to a family of producers, staff, broadcasters and volunteers alike. Station hosts include Jeff Michael and Perth’s first Aboriginal voice of Australia, Jeremy Garlett. Music of all genres is played, particularly First Nations music, and the station has a wide variety of listeners.
Over several years, Noongar Radio has offered Consumer Protection a dedicated weekly spot on their highest rating program, Drive with Jeff Michael. The show aims to promote fairness and equality among its listeners.
The Consumer Protection Awards 2019
The Consumer Protection Awards provides an opportunity to reward and recognise the achievements of individuals, organisations, businesses, local governments, journalists and media outlets that have made gains in increasing awareness of consumer issues, provided support for disadvantaged consumers or contributed to injury prevention for children.
Nominations for the 2019 Awards will open in September 2018.
For specific enquiries about the awards:
- phone 1300 30 40 54
You can find out more about previous ceremonies on the previous winners and finalists page.