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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-02-21 Daily Xml
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Premier's Excellence Awards

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:48): Will the minister inform the council about the great work of the recently announced nominees—

The PRESIDENT: Again, the Hon. Russell Wortley, which minister?

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: The Attorney-General. He is my favourite minister. My question is to the Attorney-General. Will the minister inform the council about the great work of the recently announced nominees for the Premier's Excellence Awards?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:49): I thank the random member for his/her interest in this area and would be more than happy to answer his/her question.

Since I informed the council about the opening of the nominations for the 2023 Premier's Excellence Awards last year, as you would expect nominations have come in thick and fast detailing the outstanding work carried out by South Australia's public sector. A record 177 nominations from over 30 agencies were received across six categories.

As I have alluded to before, South Australia's public sector delivers a huge range of services to assist South Australians and so often does so without seeking any recognition or praise. The Premier's Excellence Awards acknowledge those individuals and teams across the South Australian public sector who go above and beyond, who strive to deliver exceptional outcomes for South Australia while living public sector values.

There are 33 finalists who have been announced this week, representing a vast array of services. The way in which all these public sector staff go about their work is inspiring and part of what makes the South Australian public sector what it is. I would like to spend a very small amount of time outlining a few of the finalists whose work I am familiar with or whose work, particularly in the area of bettering the lives of Aboriginal people, caught my interest when the finalists were announced.

First, Paul O'Connor of the Legal Services Commission has been nominated in the Connecting Communities—Individual category. Paul led the development and delivery of the Legal Services Commission's community education program Healthy Relationships and the Law to Aboriginal and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Paul set out to develop a culturally sensitive program and did so by applying co-design principles that incorporated the needs and perspectives of a range of different cultures.

Paul delivered the sessions across four months of last year, with just over 850 attendees across 35 sessions, including to various community organisations, New Arrivals Program groups, and Aboriginal men's yarning groups. Paul has received excellent feedback from his sessions, with many community leaders asking for a return visit for further sessions.

Another nominee in the Connecting Communities—Individual category is Ali Abdullah-Highfold. Ali is a proud Kaurna Ngarrindjeri Kokatha and Wirangu man who works as part of the Family and Community History Consultant Team at the South Australian Museum. In that role Ali provides confidential family history research, delivers community workshops and repatriates copies of archival materials back to the First Nations people and communities to whom they relate.

Ali managed the Mapping Family Project, made possible by a stolen generations repatriation grant, which created an online index of First Nations people recorded across South Australia to assist members of the stolen generations tracking their family back through generations.

Finally, in the Connecting Communities—Team category, the Aboriginal Education Team at Para Hills High School has been nominated as a finalist. The team provide support to Aboriginal students to help and facilitate culturally safe learning environments. They have seen phenomenal results, with 100 per cent SACE achievements for Aboriginal students and the doubling of enrolment across the last three years, as well as an 89 per cent attendance rate. Para Hills High has become a leader in this field, with other schools in northern Adelaide looking to replicate its fine work and the accompanying results.

I congratulate and thank all the finalists, the ones I have mentioned and all the dozens of other finalists. I look forward to informing the chamber about the winners after they are announced next month.

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