2023 Achievement Awards

Australian Evaluation Society Award for Best Practice in Public Sector Evaluation

Winner: Evaluation of the Aboriginal Community Connectors Program
Department of Treasury

The Treasury-led evaluation of the Department of Communities’ Aboriginal Community Connectors Program was undertaken in partnership with an Aboriginal consultancy business, garnered extensive feedback from community (both users and service providers) and across the sector. The evaluation was guided by the principles of the Indigenous Evaluation Strategy, the Aboriginal Empowerment Strategy and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. It included practical recommendations and insights to improve the delivery and sustainability of the program in the 12 locations across Western Australia in which the Program is delivered.

Office of Digital Government Award for Best Practice in Digital Transformation

Winner: WHS Mines Statutory Positions Portal
WorkSafe, Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety

Implementation of WA’s new work health and safety regime required a new approach to streamline administration of examination and certification processes for mining statutory positions. Imperatives for a digital response were significant increases in the number of statutory positions, and number of industry personnel needing to meet competency and training requirements.
Launched in February 2023, the WHS Mines Statutory Position Portal allows industry to complete examination and certification transactions online. The Portal has driven improved outcomes for all involved, from industry stakeholders to those involved in the administrative and assessment processes. Interactions are simplified and transparency is enhanced.

Business News Award for Excellence in the Not-for-Profit Sector

Winner: Mara Pirni Healing Place
Hope Community Services; Wanslea Family Services Ngunytji Tjitji Pirni; One Tree Community Services; Aboriginal Legal Services WA

Mara Pirni Healing Place is WA’s first regional family and domestic violence hub, providing wrap-around support services for individuals and families trying to build a safer future for themselves. Hope Community Services is the lead organisation for Mara Pirni, partnering with Wanslea Family Services, Ngunytji Tjitji Pirni (NTP), One Tree Community Services and Aboriginal Legal Services WA to offer a wide range of support services to clients. Together the partners offer advocacy and safety planning, legal services, social support, mental health services, cultural healing and family support services.

Moore Australia (WA) Award for Best Practice in Collaboration Between Government and any other Organisation (Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners)

Gold Winner: South Metropolitan Health Service Virtual Emergency Medicine Service
South Metropolitan Health Service; St John’s WA

Virtual Emergency Medicine (VEM), an innovative initiative generated by FSH’s emergency department (ED), South Metropolitan Health Service Innovation team and St John Ambulance WA, is a first service of its kind in Australia that has been revolutionising emergency patient care by improving ambulance and ED flow and efficiency since its launch in February 2021.
VEM enables St John WA paramedics to initiate a remote consultation for non-priority one patients aged 16 years and over, to fast track patients to the appropriate hospital ward away from ED, discharge on scene to remain at home or divert patients to another suitable service.

Silver Winner: Bunbury Outer Ring Road – Yaka Dandjoo Program
Main Roads Western Australia; Department of Training and Workforce Development; South West Gateway Alliance

Main Roads WA and the Department of Training and Workforce Development have led a high level collaboration to support a training and employment initiative, the first of its kind in Western Australia on the Bunbury Outer Ring Road.
The Yaka Dandjoo program offers free training and work placements to disadvantaged jobseekers, preparing them for work in the construction industry. On completion of the program, participants are assisted to engage in a traineeship providing them with a clear career pathway. This contemporary, best practice training delivery model, has created a pipeline of skilled workers, and is considered a sustainable workforce strategy.

Bronze Winner: Karratha Education Initiative
Karratha Senior High School and Woodside Energy-operated North West Shelf Project

The Karratha Education Initiative (KEI) is a voluntary social investment program delivered through a collaboration between the Woodside Energy-operated North West Shelf Project (NWS Project), Karratha Senior High School (KSHS) and the Department of Education WA . Launched in October 2007 and initially designed as a three-year pilot, the KEI was so successful in enhancing student engagement and fostering academic achievement that it has continued well beyond the pilot phase. The core objective of the KEI is to deliver high-quality educational opportunities and experiences for secondary school students and further strengthen professional development opportunities for teachers and leaders in Karratha.

Special Commendation:

• Kimberley Flood Recovery – Working Together, WA Country Health Service

Australia Post Award for Best Practice in Collaboration Across Government Agencies (Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners)

Gold Winner: Ears2Learn and Maaraka Dabakarn (Hands to Steady)
Connecting Community for Kids; Earbus Foundation of WA; Goodstart Early Learning; Wanslea; Just Kids Health; Next Bite Feeding; CDBS; Vivid Therapy

Connecting Community for Kids have co-designed through community collaboration two early child health interventions. Our community identified delayed intervention as the primary cause of children failing to thrive. Community led action teams engaged in a co-design process involving community members, early years services and allied health professionals. Ears2Learn provides free universal access to ear screening surveillance by trained paraprofessionals. Maaraka Dabakarn – Hands to Steady is an early intervention support for families with children experiencing developmental delay enabling them free access to a range of therapists each month to receive information and tools to support their child and family’s wellbeing.

Silver Winner: Small Business Friendly Approvals Program
Small Business Development Corporation

Through its transformative Small Business Friendly Approvals Program (the Program), the Small Business Development Corporation has successfully collaborated with 20 local government authorities (LGAs) over the past two years to streamline regulatory application and approvals processes.

Using design thinking and human-centred design principles (i.e. designing solutions around the needs of the customer), almost 500 reforms were identified to make it faster and easier for businesses to start, relocate or grow as well as improve the organisational effectiveness and performance of participating LGAs.

An independent economic evaluation found the Program will deliver lasting cost and cultural benefits over the coming decade.

Bronze Winner: Total Solar Eclipse Project 2023
Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation

A rare Hybrid Solar Eclipse took place on 20 April 2023 in the skies above the small regional town of Exmouth, WA. The towns’ remoteness and limited exposure to light pollution made for perfect dark sky viewing to experience the total solar eclipse. Though set up for tourism, the town had capacity and amenity limitations not sufficient to host the tens of thousands of visitors anticipated to descend upon the town and the surrounding region to witness the natural phenomenon. A concerted collaborative effort across 15 state and federal government agencies and impacted stakeholders was needed to prepare.

Best Practice in Corporate Social Values

Winner: Two-way Science Initiative
Statewide Services

The Department of Education’s Two-way Science Initiative connects the cultural knowledge of Aboriginal communities with the science curriculum and enables Aboriginal knowledge to be valued in a Western education setting.
Schools partner with local Aboriginal people who work alongside school staff to develop an integrated, culturally responsive program that is shaped by their community’s needs and students learn science concepts from local Aboriginal community members, both on-Country and in the classroom.

Special Commendation:

• The ACL Training Project, Consumer Protection WA

Department of Health Award for Best Practice in Health and Wellbeing

Winner: ePrescribing
Health Support Services

In a first for Public Health in Australia, HSS developed an ePrescribing application which removes the paper aspect of medical prescriptions, creating a more flexible system and enabling convenient access to medications, while improving safety through reduction of transcription errors.

This is the first and only implementation of ePrescribing in public hospitals nationally. The HSS ‘inhouse” developed ePrescribing Application has transformed an outdated system of handwritten prescriptions across all outpatient clinics across the state with digitally enabled transformation. The application’s comprehensive rollout has resulted in a significant adoption rate, with 78% of all outpatient clinic scripts now issued electronically.

Special Commendation:

• Rockingham General Hospital (RGH) Emergency Department Musculoskeletal Diversion (EDMD) Clinic, Rockingham Peel Group

Lotterywest Award for Best Practice in LGBTI Inclusion

Winner: City of Perth LGBTQIA+ Plan actions and LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group
City of Perth

In 2021, the City of Perth’s Council endorsed a three-year LGBTQIA+ Plan, which was a first for WA local government. Since then, and guided by the City’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Group – fifteen members of the LGBTQIA+ community – the City has completed over half of the actions in the Plan. Recent highlights include:

• Northbridge Piazza (‘Pride Piazza’) lease to Pride WA
• The Citiplace Rest Centre now includes All Gender toilets
• Providing local hotels with inclusivity training
• Being the first local government in Australia to offer Gender Affirmation Leave (to four weeks of paid leave plus forty-eight weeks of unpaid leave).

Special Commendation:

• Diversity inclusion Program, Department of Water and Environmental Regulation

Commissioner for Children and Young People Award for Best Practice in Children’s Consultation

Winner: Directions from Young People 2022-2025
City of Melville

The Directions from Young People 2022-2025 is the City of Melville’s four year strategic road map for how the City will deliver initiatives and plans in partnership with young people that will support their health, wellbeing, and connection to community. This new strategy was developed by the Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia who worked with the City throughout the project.

Special Commendation:

• YACWA Consulting, Youth Affairs Council of WA

Best Practice in Innovation (Gold, Silver and Bronze Winners)

Gold Winner: Early Years Partnership
Department of Communities

The Early Years Partnership (EYP) is an unprecedented 10-year partnership between Western Australian State Government Departments of Communities, Education and Health, as well as Minderoo Foundation, Telethon Kids Institute (research and evidence partner) and four WA communities. The EYP is supported by the Australian Government’s Connected Beginnings program.
The Department of Communities leads the partnership to achieve the shared aim of improving the wellbeing and school readiness of children aged zero and four years in four WA communities and in doing so learn what it takes to create change for all children in the State.

Silver Winner: Rockingham General Hospital (RGH) Emergency Department Musculoskeletal Diversion (EDMD) Clinic
South Metropolitan Health Service

The Rockingham General Hospital (RGH) Emergency Department Musculoskeletal Diversion (EDMD) Clinic is a first of its kind model of care in Western Australia. The Emergency Department Musculoskeletal Diversion Pathway (EDMDP) at RGH is an Advanced Scope Physiotherapy (ASP) led and patient-centred program that diverts appropriate patients from the Emergency Department (ED) waiting room to an outpatient physiotherapy clinic for acute assessment and management. The main scope of the pathway is patients 8-65yrs attending ED with simple fractures or musculoskeletal injuries/pain. The pilot pathway demonstrated 98% patient satisfaction and 99% Western Australian Emergency Access Target (WEAT) compliance. At end of the pilot phase, there was an 8% improvement of RGH ED WEAT compliance on EDMDP days. To date the clinic has seen over 2600 patients, conducted over 3000 appointments, reduced patients’ length of stay by 75%.

Bronze Winner: Provision of Aboriginal History Databases
Aboriginal History WA (Specialist Aboriginal Projects and Engagement), Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries

Aboriginal History WA has enabled better community access to Aboriginal history records and information. This has involved extensive research and examination of thousands of state archives to produce a centralised online database enabling users to easily search names, locations, and historical information. Over the past 12 months AHWA has completed or significantly progressed the following key databases:

• Database of Aboriginal people historically incarcerated on Wadjemup
• Database of residential town blocks historically purchased or leased by Aboriginal men and women in WA
• Admissions index of children removed to the Perth Orphanages and Swan Mission
• Aboriginal Trackers historically engaged by WA Police.

Special Commendation:

• Health in a Virtual Environment (HIVE), East Metropolitan Health Service

Department of Finance Award for Best Practice in Procurement

Winner: Transport Portfolio Aboriginal Engagement Team
Main Roads Western Australia

The Transport Portfolio Aboriginal Engagement team is a centre for excellence, building on the strengths across Portfolio agencies to enhance performance in Aboriginal economic participation, cultural recognition and workplace cultural safety. It has demonstrated best practice in procurement by improving contracting and supply chain opportunities for Aboriginal businesses, supporting employment, developing Aboriginal business capability and building relationships with education, training and small business development providers to create pathways for sustainable employment.
The TPAE provides support/advice across the Transport Portfolio including training in Aboriginal Participation reporting systems and input on Aboriginal Participation Plans, driving continuous improvement on integrative Participation initiatives.

Special Commendation:

• Program Benang, Department of Education