Augusta Zadow Awards

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:01): My question is to the Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector. Will the minister inform the council about this year's Augusta Zadow Awards?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:01): I would be most pleased to and I note the honourable member's longstanding contribution to the trade labour movement in South Australia, both as a trade unionist and in this place. In the last couple of years I have mentioned the winners of the Augusta Zadow Awards and I have had the pleasure of informing the chamber about some of the nominees in years gone past. I am very pleased to update the council once again about the annual Augusta Zadow Awards.

As members may recall, each year SafeWork SA runs an awards program named in honour of a person who is known as South Australia's first Lady Inspector of Factories. It is worth taking a moment to reflect on the legacy of Augusta Zadow and why she is rightly commemorated in these awards.

Augusta's concern about health and safety was formed by the conditions she observed in clothing factories in Europe while working as a seamstress before emigrating to Australia with her family in 1877. She became a very well-known trade unionist and helped establish the Working Women's Trade Union and became a delegate to the United Trades and Labor Council where her years of campaigning led to the passage of the Shops and Factories Act 1895 after which she was appointed by then Premier Charles Kingston as South Australia's Lady Inspector of Factories.

These awards have been run by SafeWork SA every year since 2005 and have resulted in grants valued at over $400,000. The 2024 award winners were presented by the Governor, Her Excellency the Hon. Frances Adamson AC at a ceremony held at Government House last month. I know a number of members of both chambers of parliament frequently and enthusiastically participate in and support these awards and attend the award ceremonies.

This year there were a number of very worthwhile winners: Matt Lowe from Apprentice Employment Network was awarded a grant of $10,500 for the SMART Kit Project, a program to help employers identify gaps in their work health and safety systems and provide them with the tools to improve. This grant will help those kits be updated and fund consultation with employers to develop resources to be added to the kit.

Jackie Wood, Wendy Foster, Nicola Williams and Micah Peters were awarded a grant of $22,500 for a collaboration with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation and UniSA in relation to whether the case load model for midwives is consistent with modern care requirements. This is important in understanding current case loads and providing a workplace environment which can decrease risks for overwork, fatigue or burnout.

Alison Hunter from Alison in the Universe was awarded a grant of $12,000 for a health and safety training package for workers in the care sector, called Burnout Resilience for Support Workers and Carers. This will enable training to be rolled out, focusing on resilience, compassion, satisfaction and the creation of a personal self-care toolkit for every participant.

I want to take this opportunity, as Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, to congratulate all the winners of the 2024 Augusta Zadow Awards. The breadth of their project once again demonstrates the importance of all parts of the community working together to ensure that every worker can come home safely at the end of every workday.