NORTHERN TERRITORY
Northern Territory Community Achievement Awards
2022 Winners
Towards Zero Road Safety Award
Belinda Morton began the Mums on Bikes Group in Galiwin’ku, initially aimed at helping mothers of babies and young children to get fit, healthy and have fun. Following an expansion, MOB was compelled to get the road safety message into the community. MOB printed and distributed onesies and t-shirts with the slogan, ‘Stay on the left side of the road!’. They ran community announcements and created posters.
Claire Brown, General Manager, Transport and Civil Services with winner Belinda Morton of Mums on Bikes
Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade Small Business Award
Annabel Curtain is the co-owner and operator of Katherine Outback Experience (KOE), a tourist attraction that celebrates life on Northern Territory cattle stations. KOE offers experiences that include a two-hour outback show, a VIP ‘behind the scenes’ called Stockman’s Workshop, horse-riding lessons and experiences, and a Farm Therapy Program. KOE won 2021 Best Tourist Attraction in Australia at the Australian Qantas Tourism Awards.
Teresa Holdsworth, A/Regional Manager Top End, Northern Territory Government, accepting on behalf of Katherine Outback Experience
Zip Print Sports in the Community Award
Clubhouse Territory is a local not-for-profit organisation, specialising in a range of community events, and projects. Clubhouse Territory have created bespoke programs that promote and educate the community on inclusion, which include the Be-Inclusive Games, A Day in the Life Workshops, and the All-Abilities Come-n-Try Program, all offered under the banner of The Clubhouse Project. Around 4,000 attendees participate annually.
Shane McCorkell, Senior Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Sport, Recreation and Strategic Infrastructure, Territory Families, Housing and Communities, Northern Territory Government with Deb Jones from Clubhouse Territory
Northern Territory PHN Health & Wellbeing Award
Gary Strachan is the founder and director of Deadly Hair Dude, a not-for-profit Indigenous and special needs hairdressing training provider founded in August 2020. Gary actively trains Indigenous people in 30 remote communities, detention centres, youth suicide prevention centres, and more to help them gain meaningful employment. Having a job improves physical and mental health and boosts a person’s self-esteem and confidence.
Kristy Brain, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Manager Corporate Services for Northern Territory PHN and Eve Favreau representing Gary Strachan
Woolworths Community Group of the Year Award
Bereaved Parent Support NT Inc was founded in 1985. They provide support to parents, families, and communities who have experienced the loss of a child up to 18 years due to miscarriage, termination or sudden infant death syndrome. It holds two Community Reflection Events yearly: ‘A Walk to Remember’ and ‘Light the Lagoon’. It also provides training to first responders and frontline personnel on providing initial support.
Paul Burgess, Store Manager, Woolworths with Katy Chin and the rest of the Bereaved Parent Support Team
Awards Australia Local Legend Award
Dylan Bennett is empowering the local videogame industry. In 2022, Dylan ran three gamejams and produced The Finke Desert Race Game. He is an advisor to the NT Government Department of Innovation and mentors emerging videogame professionals. Dylan founded NT Game Designers, co-founded the Geek Culture Collective, co-produced TROPiCON, and is currently developing Diets and Deities, a music/cooking game.
Liz Cruse, Executive Board Member, St Mary's Football Club and Winner Dylan Bennett
2021 Winners
AANT Road Safety Award
DriveAbout evolves road safety education using edtech. DriveAbout converted the Drivers Licence User Handbook into competency-based animation of road rules and road safety principles, which is available to download. The animation comes in 14 languages, including eight indigenous languages. They are delivered from an app platform with a test, effectively replacing the road rule book and testDriveAbout teamed up with Arnhem Land Progress Association to place a free ALPA DriveAbout in Indigenous Languages in app stores to impact road safety statistics, reduce incarceration and increase employability. DriveAbout also gifted $240,000 worth of interactive eBooks to Northern Territory youth to save lives.
Edon Bell, Senior Manager Retail & Operations, AANT & DriveAbout (Matt McCourt)
Northern Territory PHN Health & Wellbeing Award
Jintangka is passionate about destigmatising mental health and suicide amongst First Nations people. Jintangka is a small operating Aboriginal-owned business that focuses on providing mental health training and holistic cultural and spiritual wellbeing to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Jintangka, which means “all together”, is managed by Billy-Jo Napaljarri Wesley, a young Warlpiri and Marrathiyel First Nations woman with strong connections to culture and country. Jintangka provides a platform for community members to discuss surreal issues, providing culturally appropriate mental health training on what warning signs to look out for and how to initiate conversations in both English and traditional language.
Rob Moore, Executive Manager, Strategy Implementation and Partnership, Northern Territory PHN & Jintangka (Billy-jo)
Awards Australia Small Business Achiever Award
Bush Medijina is empowering women to connect and have a sense of purpose. Bush Medijina is an Indigenous-owned-and-operated business that combines traditional knowledge and scientifically proven formulas to create natural skincare products. Governed by an all-female board, they support Warningakalina women and families across the Groote Eylandt Archipelago. They hand-harvest botanicals and hand-make and package everything. They engaged a chemist to show them how to blend modern skincare techniques with traditional knowledge to get the best of their bush medicine plants. In 2021, Bush Medijina won the Nourished Life Wellness Awards, Best products award for their miracle balm and lip balm.
The Hon Paul Kirby MLA, Minister for Small Business & Bush Medijina
Inspirational.Australians Podcast Local Legend Award
Dianne Tynan helped establish the Elizabeth Valley Volunteer Bushfire Brigade, where she has been the Captain for 37 years. She was appointed member of the Bushfires Council in 1999, a position she still holds today. Dianne has lobbied the Government for improvements to support for volunteer brigades and in capacity to manage bushfires and keep rural communities safe. She co-founded the NT Bushfire Volunteers Association in 1993 and was its president until 2021. She also served as NT delegate to the Council of Australian Volunteer Fire Associations, where she contributed to developing the national standards of safety and support for volunteer firefighters.
Rachael Bowker, Executive Director, Darwin Community Legal Service & Dianne Tynan
Woolworths Community Group of the Year Award
Kalano Community Association Inc is dedicated to improving the quality of life, dignity and respect for Indigenous people. Established in 1975, Kalano Community Association is an Aboriginal organisation that delivers fourteen community-based culturally appropriate programs and services. The Big Rivers Child and Family Centre helps improve children’s health and create family resilience. The Youth Diversion Program uses early intervention techniques to identify causes of youth crime/anti-social behaviours. The Community Development Program offers assistance in securing a job, training or skill. Their Youth Outreach Transport service transports youth to self-identified safe locations. Kalano also holds and funds events such as NAIDOC festivities and Indigenous Careers Expo.
Anthea Halliday, State Marketing Manager SA, NT and WA, Woolworths & Kalano Community Association Inc
Zip Print Sports in the Community Award
Swampdogs Rugby Union Club is helping nurture a sense of belonging and pride. Swampdogs Rugby Union Club is a not-for-profit sporting organisation and the only rugby union club in the rural area of outer Darwin. They have both senior and junior teams in the Darwin Club Rugby Competition. The club caters to both junior girls and boys aged 4 to 17, senior men’s and women’s, and players 35 and over. They support mental health development in rural areas and prioritises support to members through peer support initiatives. They actively support the T for Thomas Sepsis Awareness Initiative in honour of their member Thomas Snell.
Mark Teakle, Managing Director, Zip Print & Swampdogs Rugby Union Club
2020 Winners
AANT Road Safety Award
DRV4LYF Driving School of Katherine started in 2007 to help reduce injuries and deaths on the roads, specifically focused on the dangers of drinking, drugs and fatigue. They conduct training and testing for C class licences in automatic and manual cars and METAL courses for motorcyclists. They deliver the Drivesafe NT program, both theory and practical and visit Indigenous communities for driver training and alcohol and drug awareness. Advise has been provided to the Rotary Club about re-establishing the Katherine Road Safety Centre and DRV4LYF purchased a $20,000 driving simulator which is on loan to the Katherine High School Flexible Learning Centre.
Anthony Hill, Chief Executive Officer, AANT & DRV4LYF Driving School
Awards Australia Health & Wellbeing Award
“Ask the Specialist: Larrakia, Tiwi and Yolngu stories to inspire better healthcare” is a podcast by the Menzies School of Health Research, which aims to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people. Menzies’ PhD student Vicki Kerrigan created the podcast series with Aboriginal community leaders and Royal Darwin Hospital staff. They share their personal experiences as patients and professional health workers and impart their cultural knowledge to enhance the health workers’ ability to deliver culturally safe care to Aboriginal people across the Top End of the NT. The podcasts have been downloaded 6,000 times globally and have been endorsed by the Top End Health Service. The creators are working to embed it into cultural education delivered to all staff
Le Smith, Acting Chief Executive Officer, NT PHN – Rural Workforce Agency & Ask the Specialist
Awards Australia Small Business Achiever Award
Outlook Psychology – Nhulunbuy was established in 2016 in an attempt to meet the extreme mental health needs of East Arnhem communities. Outreach Psychology services help improve accessibility, and social and emotional wellbeing groups have been created for young Indigenous men. They contract with local stakeholders to provide Employee Assistance Programs, allowing staff to access counselling sessions for free. They conduct the annual RU ok awareness and community event. Outlook Psychology is an NDIS provider and has accessed Government funding for Access To Allied Psychological Service (ATAPS). They have four full-time psychologists and two admin staff, servicing a region of 16,000 people.
Inspirational.Australians Podcast Local Legend Award
Tristan Duggie is an advocate of good quality education for his people. Tristan is a local Aboriginal male leader of the Barkly Region. As full-time Student Engagement Officer, he works with community principals, teachers and families targeting school student attendance, travelling four days a week to Epenarra, Canteen Creek and Ali Curung. He is a newly elected volunteer Director at the Barkly Regional Arts Organisation and a member of the Celebrating Aboriginal Culture, an Australia Day Grant of the Consultative Committee under the Office of Aboriginal Affairs. Tristan also represents the Barkly people as an Aboriginal Advisor to the Chief Minister of the NT Government.
Woolworths Community Group of the Year
Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation aims to build financial independence through diverse and sustainable business enterprises whilst protecting and honouring the environment, traditional culture and languages. BAC is a not-for-profit, membership-based organisation, governed by a board of predominantly Indigenous Directors. Their program, “Tucker Run,” is a weekly mobile shopping service provided to the 32 homelands in the Maningrida region. They have been operating the program for twenty years. This is in response to inadequate access to food and living equipment supplies due to poor road conditions and distance to the supermarket. During the wet season, BAC’s retail supermarket delivers by boat or aircraft to areas that are inaccessible.
Paul Burgess, Store Manager, Woolworths Nightcliff & Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation Winner
Zip Print Sports in the Community Award
Watarrka Foundation - Annual Sports & Story Telling Festival aims to bring together distant communities, generate excitement around education and promote good health habits. The Festival is organised by Wattarka Foundation, a not-for-profit founded by Reg Ramsden and supported by his company Remote Educational Tours. The organisation is focused on young people, delivering programs that support a sustainable organisation, education, healthy lifestyles and independent livelihoods for Aboriginal communities in the region. During the Festival, there are drama performances and sport and exercise. The Festival is attended by over 40 children from remote communities, as well as their teachers, community elders and volunteers. They hope to create leaders of tomorrow.
Mark Teakle, Managing Director, Zip Print & Watarraka Foundation - Annual Sports & Story Telling Festival Winner