Minister Barr: Recognising inclusive leadership in the ACT
- Written by ACT Government
Released 06/12/2023
WaterWombats’ innovative in-and-out-of-pool support programs for children with disability and their families have headlined the winners of the 2023 ACT Chief Minister’s Inclusion Awards.
The Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements and leadership of people with disability as well as the business, organisations and individuals who have demonstrated their commitment to advancing disability inclusion in their workplace, business, and community.
WaterWombats Aquatic Disability Services received the Awards’ top honour, the Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence, in recognition of their holistic approach to supporting children with disability.
This includes providing a range of water safety and aquatic therapy programs delivered by allied health professionals. These are complemented by an out-of-pool team who offer expressive arts therapy, counselling and social work to the parents and carers of the swim students.
WaterWombats also provide consultancy services and training to mainstream learn to swim programs and therapy organisations.
During the ceremony at The Hotel Realm on 6 December, a total of 12 awards were presented to individuals, businesses and organisations for going above and beyond to create a more inclusive Canberra for people with disability.
Award recipients were determined by a judging panel comprised of people with disability, Inclusion Council members, people with lived experience, sponsors and members of the Canberra business community.
The full list of Award winners is below and you can find more about them by visiting the ACT Inclusion Council website http://actinclusion.com.au
- Emerging Young Leader - Daniel Bartholomaeus
- Achievement in Inclusion - Lauren Cannell
- Excellence in Making Inclusion Happen - Muhammad Rahman
- Inclusion in Employment - Peter Snell from Eastlake Football Club
- Inclusion in Education and Training - Rebus Theatre
- Inclusion in Business - Inclusive Volunteering Pathway to Employment Program
- Excellence in Innovation, Design and Access - Handmade Market Canberra
- Excellence in Inclusive Services and Disability Support - WaterWombats Aquatic Disability Services
- Excellence in Volunteer Support - Mijica Lus
- Excellence in Support Work - Monica Rukavina
- Sue Salthouse Award for Championing Human Rights & Equality - Guide Dogs NSW/ACT
- Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence - WaterWombats Aquatic Disability Services
Commendations went to:
- Wayne Herbert
- Brate Group McDonalds
- Derek Brewer from Panache Driver Training
- Yellow Bridge.
Quote – attributed to Mr David Smith - ACT Inclusion Council Chair and Chair of the 2023 Inclusion Awards Judging panel.
The ACT Inclusion Council wish to thank the 2023 Inclusion Awards Judging panel for sharing their highly valued time and expertise to assess the 66 nominations received this year. I’m sure everyone can appreciate assessing so many worthy nominations is always going to be a difficult task and this year was no exception. We thank the panel for undertaking this task with such conviction and enthusiasm. Additionally, we wish to congratulate all the finalists and winners for their outstanding work to remove barriers to inclusion right across the Canberra community.
- Statement ends -
Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
