SA Social Worker of the Year Awards - 2021 CASE BOOK
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SA Social Worker of the Year Awards 2021 CASE BOOK
Acknowledgements
The AASW acknowledges that we work and live on the traditional land
of the Kaurna people.
We pay our respect to elders both past and present.
We respect their spiritual relationship with their country.
We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the Adelaide region and that their
cultural and heritage beliefs are still as important to the living Kaurna people today.
We also pay respects to the cultural authority of Aboriginal people from other areas
of South Australia / Australia involved in the Awards process.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those
people who took the time to submit nominations for the Awards
in recognition of the work being undertaken by our nominees.
Without your efforts,
the Awards would not happen.
# saswotya2021
Contents Acknowledgement 2 Sponsors 4 Awards Judging Panel 5 Student Of The Year - Nominees 6 Student Of The Year - Winner 7 Rising Star - Nominees 8 Rising Star - Winner 9 Supervision In The Workplace - Nominees 10 Supervision In The Workplace - Winner 11 Rural And Remote Impact - Nominees 12 Rural And Remote Impact - Winner 13 Head, Heart And Hands - Nominees 14 Head, Heart And Hands - Winner 16 Agent Of Change - Nominees 17 Agent Of Change - Winner 19
SPONSORS
GOLD
SPONSORS
SILVER
SPONSORS
CASE BOOK GUEST GIFT NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES TABLE CENTREPIECES
IN KIND SUPPORT HOSTED BY
Catherine House offers crisis, longer term
accommodation and support services for women
experiencing homelessness. All programs and services
are recovery-orientated and provide trauma informed care.
Providing support for women
experiencing homelessness
Catherine House deals with the immediate issues
created by homelessness and supports women in planning
a future that helps her sustain housing and builds a life
www.catherinehouse.org.au
that is meaningful and purposeful for her. 8232 2282
4 Student of the Year - NominationsAWARDS CATEGORY JUDGES
STUDENT OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY
Sponsor Representative: AASW BMC Representative: Social Worker:
Michele Wachla Azmiri Mian Maria Scicchitano
RISING STAR SPONSORED BY
Sponsor Representative: AASW BMC Representative: Social Worker:
Dr Carmela Bastian Colin Sparrow Yolanda Evans
SUPERVISION IN THE WORKPLACE SPONSORED BY
Sponsor Representative: AASW BMC Representative: Social Worker:
Dr Mary Hood Patricia Muncey Wendy Studholme
RURAL AND REMOTE IMPACT SPONSORED BY
Sponsor Representative: AASW BMC Representative: Social Worker:
Sarah Watson Karin Bolton Dr Cate Hudson
HEAD HEART AND HANDS SPONSORED BY
Sponsor Representative: AASW BMC Representative: Social Worker:
Colleen Hogan Jeanne Lorraine Bonnie Yates
AGENT OF CHANGE SPONSORED BY
Sponsor Representative: AASW BMC Representative: Social Worker:
Sue Macdonald Patricia Muncey Dr Naomi Blake
*BMC = Branch Management Committee
Student of the Year - Award Winner 5STUDENT OF THE YEAR
NOMINATIONS
Student of the Year Award’ recognises a current student who is
achieving outstanding results in their studies (GPA 5.5 or higher)
and who is already giving back to the social work community.
LINDA HARMAN
Linda is a Bachelor of Social Work student at Flinders University (current GPA 6.14).
Linda has been employed at the Hutt St Centre for more than six years. Her most recent
role sees her work within a case management role supporting clients who are experiencing
homelessness, and other barriers and concerns. While data records are a crucial part of a social
worker’s role, Linda has shown her determination to ensure the team and she are reflecting a
client’s ‘journey’ through the homelessness sector, through data input into the H2H reporting
system, where Linda has become a H2H Super user and a peer mentor to others in the team.
Linda’s passion around securing housing saw the commencement of the Private Rental
Information and Support Service (PRISS) at Hutt Street Centre. This pilot project allowed case
managers within her team to refer clients to the service in order to assist with any potential
barriers they may face to secure a property in the private rental market.
NATALIE FULCHER
Natalie is a Master of Social Work student at UniSA (current GPA 5.80).
Natalie volunteers with The Reily Foundation including advocacy support, therapeutic
counselling and coordinating the fundraising bear “Reily Bear”,
which she was an integral part in establishing.
Natalie has also volunteered as an advocate for clients navigating the child protection
system so they are empowered to attend meetings at the Department for Child Protection
and know that someone is supporting them to ensure that they understand what is
expected of them but also ensures that they are treated with respect and are heard.
6 Student of the Year - NominationsSTUDENT OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY
AWARD WINNER
SHER LUHAR
Sher is a final year student in the Master of Social Work from UniSA (current GPA 5.80)
and is a lifelong learner with a passion for social work and human services.
For the past 10 years, Sher has been directly working with asylum-seeking children, youth and Aboriginal communities
experiencing homelessness and mental health issues in Adelaide through Baptist Care SA.
His nomination outlined his sophisticated ability to successfully translate his theoretical knowledge of social work into
practice, both at his placement and work environments. Sher has demonstrated a sound ability to unpack complex
theoretical concepts into simple applications to articulate how these inform his social work practice using a culturally
sensitive and child focused approach throughout.
Along with psychodynamic and post-structural social work theories, Sher studied the Adverse Childhood Experiences
(ACEs) study at UniSA and implemented this knowledge at his final placement at CPS. At the placement, he further
completed an ACEs related training called the CANS (Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths), a trauma
assessment tool that assisted him to practically assess the transgenerational impact of childhood trauma on parents
subjected to child abuse and neglect, and its flow-on effect on the holistic development, and safety of their children.
Sher is also a volunteer UniMentor for new students at UniSA. He has been empowering his 22 mentees by sharing his
study experiences, connecting them to relevant support services within the university and out in the community. Sher
has demonstrated outstanding skills in his role as a mentor and supporter of his peers as he shares his own study and
work experiences and his developing social work identity.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 7RISING STAR
NOMINATIONS
‘Rising Star’ Award recognises the outstanding performance of a
recently qualified social worker (less than three years), demonstrating
potential leadership within the industry and making an outstanding
positive difference to individuals, families or communities.
NADIA BERGINETI
Having graduated a Masters of Social Work in 2020, Nadia has assisted setting up The Reily Foundation
working directly with the Dept for Child Protection to assist children and support families who have had
their children removed. She volunteers her time to the foundation in a fulltime capacity, leads a team of
volunteers and recently gained a $10,000 grant for the foundation.
CALIE MAYER
Calie commenced working in Suicide Prevention as a new graduate three years ago. During this time,
Calie has supported a large number of people following a suicidal crisis. She has made a significant
impact on the lives of many people who had a recent suicide attempt, supporting them to develop
individual goals and reasons to live. A number of clients supported by Calie have indicated they would
possibly not still be alive without her support.
TAYLAH MCPHERSON
Taylah’s work through the Eastern Generic Homelessness Service at the Hutt St Centre in the Intake and Assessment role has
seen her identify areas for service improvement and subsequently implement them, this includes ensuring clients requiring
basic needs support are met with by the Wellbeing Centre team, and training staff in the new processes thereby ensuring
that a more consistent service and more appropriate referrals were made to meet clients needs. Taylah also created a
booking system for Intake appointments and has been instrumental in the increased use of the Vulnerability Index - Service
Prioritisation Decision Assistance Pre-screen Tool (VI-SPDAT) which has been used across homelessness agencies to
direct and prioritise interventions. Both helping to drive individualised outcomes for clients and assist in the reduction of
homelessness within South Australia.
CARMEN KA MAN TONGT
Carmen graduated from her Master of Social Work end of 2020. In a very short time Carmen has
demonstrated her ability to engage with the wider South Australian Community in her role as a Community
Worker (Financial Inclusion) at Uniting Communities and has started to address important social justice
issues in her professional capacity. The main area being addressed is inequity due to lack of financial literacy
and therefore poverty, and the many challenges that people face as a result. Carmen actively engages the
community such as NGOs and Universities where, due to COVID-19 impact, some of the most financially
vulnerable people would be found.
MARNI WALLIS
Marni works for the Dept for Child Protection where she values the dignity and worth of each person she
encounters through her professional practice. An example of this is through her working with Aboriginal
people. Marni demonstrates her knowledge of the diversity between different clans and respect for the
differences that may be present. This has included working with remote Aboriginal communities in the
Northern Territory and engaging an interpreter to communicate with the family members. Marni respects and
has strived to understand the strengths, capabilities and contributions that Aboriginal people make to their
community and how they can provide safe care of their children.
8 Student of the Year - NominationsRISING STAR SPONSORED BY
AWARD WINNER
TARA HOLLAND
Tara is a social worker of two years of experience in an Assessment and Support team
at the Dept for Child Protection.
Tara works tirelessly to enhance the individual and collective wellbeing of identified children and their families.
Tara builds rapport with children and their families and develops and maintains constructive relationships with clients
and stakeholders to achieve outcomes for children.
An example of this is when Tara was able to develop and maintain a large care team using relationship-based practice.
By using a range of professional strength-based approaches like the resolutions approach of Susie Essex and excellent safety
mapping, Tara is able is to use her humanity and natural client centred view to bring people together around a common purpose.
Tara co-ordinated, facilitated and participated in a collaborative approach to achieve the goal of creating safety for children through
a care team comprised predominately maternal and paternal family members, where the children in need of protection had been
physically harmed in their parent’s care. Through working with the family members to resolve their personal and interpersonal
problems, building genuine relationships with individual family members and listening to them to understand their perspective
she searched for common interests when there were significant points of difference between the two families and managed to
communicate effectively with the family members to reduce the hostility and build their trust in the solutions for the children. Further
her nomination demonstrated, with specific examples, her approach to working with Indigenous clients in an inclusive, collaborative
and compassionate way to achieve positive results which are genuinely respectful of cultural identity which was clearly demonstrated
in another example provided which resulted not only in building a positive relationship with the mother upon the removal of a child but
that the removal was undertaken with such kindness and compassion that the mother thanked Tara for keeping her child safe.
Tara has demonstrated her commitment to social work values by undertaking a leadership role in working with her team colleagues to
develop her own and their skills in family-led decision-making and strengths based work. Tara identified the social systems, structures
and practices that preserve inequalities and injustices and advocated for change, not only in her own work and in that of her broader
team. By doing this work, Tara exemplifies the social work values to improve and facilitate engagement with broader society as well as
addressing systemic barriers to full recognition and participation. For example when conducting team based training on this topic, Tara
is both challenging and supportive. She is clear about expectations and the support she is able to provide to meet expectations.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 9SUPERVISION
IN THE WORKPLACE
NOMINATIONS
‘Supervision in the Workplace Award’ recognises a social work workplace
supervisor who is actively and successfully demonstrating the AASW Supervision
Practice Standards in enhancing the knowledge and skills of their Supervisee/s.
STACEY GRAY
Stacey Gray as a professional Aboriginal woman has made more than 20 years of contribution to individuals,
community, and families in the social work / human service field. Having spent 15 years at the Dept for Child
Protection in a number of roles Stacey then moved to Centacare Catholic Country SA successfully transitioning after
three years to her current role as a Senior Aboriginal Case Manager in the TALI program (Transition to Adult Living
and Independence). The TALI program was initiated as a pilot program in the South Australian region and Stacey was
tasked with developing the program and supports for young people and the lived experience mentors for the young
people. This meant understanding the needs of the community, clients, mentors and agencies and ensuring that the
service provided was tailored to meet individual needs. Stacey successfully developed case management responses
and structures to assist in filling service gaps and providing best practice guidance for mentors to meet the needs of
the young people. Stacey’s support and supervision of the mentors saw each of them grow in their confidence and
resilience in the workplace.
SHARNA HARDIE
Sharna is a keen advocate for the profession and takes pride in sharing her knowledge to others within the profession
as well as within her work group. While highly skilled and knowledgeable in her own right, Sharna continues to seek
contemporary learning and applications for the profession in a rural and remote setting. In recent years, Sharna has taken
the lead for Centacare Catholic Country SA’s Port Lincoln and Lower Eyre office in providing field supervision for students.
In addition to this, she has also taken on a mentoring type role to a fellow Social Worker who is preparing to take on
their first student. She advocates passionately for high quality Social Work services and shares this learning and passion
with the students who have reported that Sharna has been able to provide highly skilled supervision, reflective practice
skills and quality self-awareness in managing caseloads and skill sets. Sharna has an unwavering level of kindness and
care that is underpinned by her strong values and ethics consistent with the AASW. It is these values and ethics that she
imparts to her students offering them a placement experience that has resulted in fellow students requesting the Port
Lincoln office specifically for their field placement.
AZMIRI MIAN
Azi is a well-known and respected member in the Muslim community in South Australia. She is an active member of the
Adelaide Mosque Islamic Society of South Australia (AMISSA) and co-founder of Community Development, Education and
Social Support Australia Inc (CDESSA), serving the Adelaide Mosque Community. Azi uses her knowledge and connections
to empower muslim community members by offering low cost and free workshops, programs and services. Azi has recently
provided several mental health first aid accreditation sessions to muslim community members, linked up with local non-profits
to offer free financial literacy programs and emergency relief to members in need and provide supervisions and guidance to
muslim social work students on their social work journey and muslim identity in Australia. Azi provided supervision for three
placement students who were on placement with AASW SA Branch. Not only did Azi provide students in-depth, reflective and
insightful supervision sessions, Azi acted above and beyond in providing social work experiences for her placement students
including inviting them to observe and work with her private practice clients, involving them in community development
works at CDESSA and providing them additional Mental Health First Aid training and with social work career advice and
strategies. Azi is always respectful, open to new learning and challenges and most importantly, she always demonstrates her
professionalism and commitment in social work and to social work values through all her work.
MARIA SCICCHITANO
Maria received two nominations for Supervision in the Workplace.
Maria is regarded by her colleagues as being an expert in her field and is used as a consultant and/or mentor where her
colleagues recognise her help and advice through her ability to impart knowledge and develop skills. She engages well with
her many colleagues and across disciplines, bestowing her knowledge often in complex clinical issues and is recognised as
an excellent clinical supervisor across a wide range of services within the Children’s Hospital and broader health network, as
well as to students and qualified social workers. In training others, she is able to teach and bring together theory and practice
using her experience in the field. She is a strong advocate and encourages students to be members and have a voice. She
continues to promote and be a champion for supervision and provides both individual and group supervision and training
for others to become supervisors. Maria has, through the change process within the Children’s Hospital, advocated for best
practice, access to services for all clients especially those who are most vulnerable, and has not shied away from challenging
the organisation when she has felt strongly that the rights of clients and their families, effective service delivery, and the role
of the social worker, are being insufficiently recognised.
10 Student of the Year - NominationsSUPERVISION SPONSORED BY
IN THE WORKPLACE
AWARD WINNER
DARLENE WYATT
Darlene’s Social Work career has spanned more than 30 years of practice,
mostly in rural and remote communities.
During her career, Darlene has supervised approximately 60 students in most of the fields that she has worked.
As the Placement Co-ordinator at the University of SA, Darlene was responsible for increasing the profile of
Social Work students within rural and remote placements, supporting potential field placement supervisors
through the interview process to create better placement matches and safe learning environments for both
students and sites, mentoring Social Workers who were supervising students for the first time as well as
managing the placements in the rare event that a student placement was not tenable with the current field
supervisor.
Whilst employed by Country Health SA, Darlene was responsible for the clinical supervision of up to nine Social
Workers in the Whyalla, Eastern Eyre and Far North (WEEFN) Region during the initial phase of their clinical
governance roll out ensuring that Social Workers had access to quality clinical support, guidance and supervision
and provided relevant feedback to assist in shaping the process within Country Health SA.
Since commencing work with Centacare Catholic Country SA in 2019, Darlene has continued to be the lead in
arranging for student placements. In addition to this role, Darlene is currently in the process of increasing her own
skills to take on the supervision of students completing the Low Intensity Mental Health qualification through the
Flinders University.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 11RURAL AND REMOTE IMPACT
NOMINATIONS
‘Rural and Remote Impact’ Award recognises the outstanding performance of a social
worker or social work team who work(s) for a rural or remote community in South
Australia, working creatively with the resources and assets of a rural or remote context.
CHRISTINA MERCORELLA
Christina has been working in the Hills Suicide Prevention Service at AnglicareSA for more than two years. Throughout
that time, Christina has worked tirelessly to support her clients to see hope and create meaning in their lives. The Hills
Suicide Prevention Service operates in the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsula and typically takes on more complex
clients than the Metro service due to less services and supports in the area and services a large area for a team of
two. Christina maintains a client focus when working with her clients and uses her tireless work ethic and creativity to
ensure no client is exited from the program without appropriate supports in place. Christina has passed on her technical
knowledge as well as her frontline experience in working with people that have had recent suicide attempts. A recent
student has grown in confidence under Christina’s supervision to the extent that AnglicareSA are allowing the student to
have their own caseload, reinforcing that they do not do this with every student in their programs, and it is a testament to
Christina’s skill as a social worker that the student is at this stage of their placement. Several examples were provided on
specific cases which saw Christina make significant impacts on the lives of individuals who sought her assistance. After
supporting a recent client to seek appropriate medical treatment and police assistance to investigate a sexual assault
crime Christina identified that she felt lacking in knowledge in how to respond to someone disclosing sexual assault.
Consequently, Christina arranged training for herself in this area evidencing Christina’s commitment to improving her
practice to ensure her clients have the best support possible.
PAIGE MALCOLM
Paige is currently working as Community & Engagement officer at headspace Whyalla engaging with the local Whyalla
community to meet the needs of young people between the ages of 12 and 25. Paige’s commitment to ethical practice and
her ability to build rapport with the young people, colleagues, and the community members that she works with makes her a
shining beacon within the social work field within the Whyalla Community. Paige uses her role to ensure she is able to reach
and empower as many young people facing the many different challenges that are common within regional communities
with a particular focus on mental health. She is a strong advocate for a the LGBTQIA+ community and is a facilitator of one
of the only safe spaces for young people who identify as a part of the LGBTQIA+ community in Whyalla. Through her work
with this group Paige’s contribution has led to many positive outcomes for the LGBTQIA+ young people include developing
a safe, judge free space for people to meet, enabling a platform to empower young people to choose what change they
would like to work towards implementing within the Whyalla community and establishing events to celebrate the LGBTQIA+
young people in Whyalla. Paige is also committed to the ongoing advocacy of mental health and in particular the impacts
of bullying on an individual’s mental health. Her passion on this topic has led to her using ther esources she has through
her employment to engage with as many school students as possible to discuss the importance of taking a stand against
bullying. She has facilitated multiple public speaking workshops targeted towards different ages and year levels in the hopes
that through her advocacy she leaves a lasting impact that will reduce the bullying that takes place.
LAUREN MARTINEZ
Lauren is passionate about improving timely access to high quality social work services in regional South Australia.
Lauren’s saw a need for mental health counselling services in the Port Lincoln community and did not delay in taking
action to address this community need. Recognising the need for more timely access to therapeutic services for the
inpatient and community clients she supported while at the Port Lincoln Hospital Lauren proceeded to pursue her AASW
Mental Health Accreditation in 2018 and in January 2019 Lauren’s private practice Wellness SA was operational. Lauren’s
practice quickly became trusted in the community, heavily booked and highly sought after. Lauren built up respect and
trust with referrers which encouraged GPs to refer under mental health plans. She also positioned her practice working
alongside General Practice which enabled her services to be visible and easily accessible to clients. Lauren also provided
therapeutic services via the County PHN funded programs. Family and work commitments led to Lauren returning to
Adelaide however she continues to offer services to the Port Lincoln and surrounding community clients; through regular
visits and offering online appointments. Lauren continues to explore options to improve access to quality therapeutic
services and is an admirable social worker and powerful change agent. Lauren’s professional integrity is unwavering and
she continues to develop her knowledge and skills to improve her clinical practice.
12 Student of the Year - NominationsRURAL AND REMOTE IMPACT SPONSORED BY
AWARD WINNER
ARMINDA GRAVES
Arminda has been proactive in seeking training and development relevant to the needs of the communities
that she serves in the Far West Region of South Australia.
While based in the Ceduna office of Centacare Catholic Country SA Arminda has provided support to a range of
individuals and families from the broader region, developing a knowledge of local networks that exist to support
families and individuals as well as cultural competency and understanding of the range of issues impacting not only
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people but other cultural groups emerging in the area. This includes seeking a
scholarship to access Circle of Security training when there was a range of clients seeking support for parenting and
child parent relationship improvement.
Arminda is well connected in the communities in which she works and has built good working relationships with a
range of agencies who regularly refer clients to the program in which she works, resulting in improved outcomes for
client’s and supporting clients to engage and be supported across the community in a holistic manner.
Arminda is the sole Counsellor for CCCSA in Ceduna however despite the distance does not hesitate to consider
systems and processes that could support clients across the CCCSA footprint or to support other staff. She is also
an active member of the Far West Suicide Prevention Network and actively seeks to work with other organizations
and community members to support the community with education and opportunities to grow people’s skills
around supporting members of the community who may be experiencing suicidal ideation and/or attempts with the
appropriate skills and knowledge to intervene in a supportive and appropriate manner.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 13HEAD, HEART AND HANDS
NOMINATIONS
‘Head, Heart and Hands Award’ recognises the outstanding career of a social
worker who makes an outstanding positive difference and a significant impact
in their work for clients, community and/or the social work profession.
MICHELLE BIGLAND
Michelle works as a Specialist Placement Support Worker within AnglicareSA’s Foster Care program. Everyday Michelle
provides professional, empathetic support for foster families, caring for their most vulnerable children. Michelle positive
impact on one family in particular has resulted in the foster carer nominating her for this award. Michelle completed a
Graduate Certificate in Developmental Trauma, ACF in order to increase her understanding and skill base around how
trauma impacts a child’s development and recently used this knowledge to develop a therapeutic ice skating program that
was run in partnership with a local rink, that worked to physically to develop the link between left and right brain, increase
social skills and increase the children’s motor skills. This program achieved these goals, as well as acting as an informal
support for foster families to get to know each other and develop supportive relationships.
NASIR HUSSAIN
Nasir Hussain has made an outstanding positive difference and a significant impact upon the lives of children and young
people, families, migrants, and international students in South Australia through his paid and voluntary social work
practice. He has been elected to the executive board of the Multicultural Communities Council of SA, volunteers as the
President of Muslim Australian Connections of SA (MACSA) a registered not-for-profit organisation that he established in
2017 and has been the Secretary of the Pakistani Australian Association of SA. Additionally, he leads and volunteers with
many projects including: Baptist Care Mentor, Red Cross, ‘You are not alone’ & the Positive Change Movement projects
with PEACE Multicultural Services and the Sturt Street Community School Governing Council and in 2020 projects
that have addressed health and wellbeing issues associated with COVID 19, hunger and food insecurity. Nasir has and
continues to enhance the individuals, families, and wider communities he works with to gain a greater participation in their
South Australian life pre, during and beyond COVID 19.
ADRIENNE JEFFRIES
Adrienne has been working as a Social Worker for more than 35 years. When she was employed by Child Guidance in
the mid 1970’s she advocated for Social Workers to be recognised as therapists on the mental health team. She also
developed play therapy techniques and introduced the practice of family therapy into Child Psychiatric Services. Later
she was employed by what was then known as the Mothers and Babies Health Association of South Australia where
she developed and extended her knowledge of Attachment Theory, introducing the importance of appropriate touch
and baby massage to young mothers. She also developed the Early Childhood Clinic, where mothers and their young
children could work in groups, to feel supported and learn to parent and face and manage early childhood behavioural
problems and deal the barriers to attachment and initiated an outreach program for struggling families, a service is still
being offered today. Adrienne helped to develop two training programmes to assist Aboriginal people to heal from the
wounds of the past, recognising the many dimensions of the problems and potentials facing our Indigenous people.
Adrienne presented and trained many Indigenous people in the Family Wellbeing programme and as these Indigenous
Trainees learned, grew and changed they realised that their ability to make a difference in their world, was inextricably
linked to who they are. They had taken a step towards health and wholeness. The Family Wellbeing Programme is still
being offered at Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and other Aboriginal Communities. The program also had an impact with
Aboriginal Communities living on the East Coast of Australia and two Social Work Graduates from the James Cook
University in Cairns, have written about the success of the programme in their PhDs. Further, the head of the Social
Work course at the James Cook University has taken the concept to Ghana and the ideas are also being used in
Canada with the Inuit peoples.
14 Student of the Year - NominationsHEAD, HEART AND HANDS
NOMINATIONS
‘Head, Heart and Hands Award’ recognises the outstanding career of a social
worker who makes an outstanding positive difference and a significant impact
in their work for clients, community and/or the social work profession.
KIMBERLEY PURSCHE
Kimberley has volunteered as the Chairperson of the Whyalla Suicide Prevention Network since 2017 and has a strong
passion for suicide awareness in the local and broader community. Kimberley does this in addition to her full-time
employment. Kimberley has been an integral part of leading the charge with the Whyalla Suicide Prevention Network
committee to increase awareness of mental health and suicide through respectful treatment of all people, inclusion
and ethical practice. As a Training Coordinator at Centacare Catholic Country SA, she applies her in-field knowledge
when delivering training to clinical and non-clinical staff both within the organisation and externally. Her experience
and knowledge value adds to training content and provides participants with valuable examples based on her own
experiences in the field. She is also a responder for their Employee Assistance Program providing critical incident
response across regional and remote South Australia as part of a team of experienced social workers.
GEMMA SHEPARD
Gemma has been exposed to and supported some of the most complex cohort within the homelessness sector. Her
work has defied odds, by supporting clients to secure stable accommodation, address the issues preventing them from
moving forward with their lives and promoting wellbeing when other agencies and systems had labelled these clients in
the ‘too hard’ basket. Gemma has supported the work of homeless rough sleepers within SA, a new initiative driven by
the sector, which aimed to capture the names and location of all the rough sleepers in Adelaide CBD. Gemma led a team
of volunteers through the CBD at nightfall, to ensure the most adequate data was captured for this project. Gemma’s
professional insight and compassion led her team to ensure safety, diligence and accurate reporting. Since then, a new
initiative, driven by the data collected, forced the state government to respond to the needs of an extensive issue, within
Adelaide CBD, resulting in new resources for ongoing services to support this cause.
CASSANDRA WARD
Cassandra was heavily involved in the development and growth of Centacare Catholic Country SA’s School
Counselling Program/service, where it is now recognised for providing proactive and responsive social and emotional
support to students and families through therapeutic counselling, advocacy and support, referral management and
group education and training initiatives. Cassandra has been a strong advocate for the expansion of the program to
be considered and implemented within the public school system, where they are now providing an outcome driven,
integrated model within the school two public school communities within Whyalla, which increases availability and
access and alleviates the stigma associated with seeking help for young people and their families.
Cassandra is able to support positive and significant outcomes for young people and their families through her practice
provisions where young people are provided with the opportunity to build resilience, stabilise and improve mental
health, develop life skills, foster connection through community networks and supports the successful transition of
young people throughout their schooling experience and beyond into adulthood.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 15HEAD, HEART AND HANDS SPONSORED BY
AWARD WINNER
STACEY GRAY
Stacey as a professional Aboriginal woman has made in excess of 20 years of contribution to individuals, community,
and families in the social work / human service field.
Having held a number of roles with the Department for Child Protection, where she worked for 15 years Stacey moved to
Centacare Catholic Country SA in the Recruitment and Assessment Coordinator role for Alternative Care, and was in the role for
approximately three years before being successful in her current role as a Senior Aboriginal Case Manager in the TALI program
(Transition to Adult Living and Independence).
The TALI program was initiated as a pilot program in the South Australian region and Stacey was tasked with developing the
program and supports for young people and lived experience mentors. This meant understanding the needs of the community,
clients, mentors and agencies and ensuring that the service provided was tailored to meet individual needs. Stacey successfully
developed case management responses and structures to assist in filling service gaps and providing best practice guidance for
mentors to meet the needs of the young people. Stacey’s support and supervision of the mentors saw each of them grow in their
confidence and resilience in the workplace, which also saw them progress and in one success story a mentor moved from TALI
into studying a Cert IV in Community Services and working within the Residential Care Program, continuing the support role of
young people.
Stacey is currently undertaking a project to establish a Women’s Safety Hub in Whyalla. This involves conducting community
consultation to understand what violence against women in Whyalla looks like, understanding what services the community
provides, what the community strengths and weaknesses are and based on consultation and information gathered, establish a
Women’s safety Hub model to meet the individual and community needs for Women in Whyalla who are experiencing violence and
needing services/support.
Stacey maintains Cultural connections within the community which assists in her ability to provide connection, support, guidance,
and advocacy regarding culturally safe and responsive practice and support to colleagues, students, and community members.
Stacey continually works in partnership with other NGO’s such as AFSS, Uniting Country SA and Centacare Adelaide to develop
and share resources and facilitate training and guidance to staff to assist in continuity of service delivery and the common shared
goal of having relevant and safe services available for children and young people in our region.
16 Student of the Year - NominationsAGENT OF CHANGE
NOMINATIONS
‘Agent of Change Award’ recognises the outstanding contribution by a social
worker who makes a transformative difference through organisational or
systems change to individuals, families or communities.
HAYLEY BLANCH
Hayley has consistently demonstrated her commitment to social justice as the supervisor of a social work team. Hayley
has worked for DCP for just almost 20 years, in a variety of roles. She is committed to the safety and protection of
children, through working with family, communities and support agencies. Hayley appeared before SACAT in 2020 to give
evidence on behalf of DCP. The case was sensitive and was seen as a test case for decision making in consideration
of the DCP Aboriginal Child Placement Principle. Hayley presented clear well researched evidence with compassion
for the carers and for the family, with a clear view of the child’s best interest and rights. As an Aboriginal woman Hayley
has a passion for Aboriginal children, and community. Hayley has been a significant leader in the partnership work with
KWY and the Woodville office. This practice model seeks to divert Aboriginal children and families away from the child
protection system by providing them with support to address issues that are placing children at imminent risk of removal.
Hayley has demonstrated a commitment to working in partnership with KWY to develop a common language and
understanding of key concepts such as imminent risk, and to build the working relationship between the DCP office and
the Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisation (ACCO). Hayley was a key member of the panel that appointed the
Central Principal Aboriginal Constant. As a member of the panel Hayley demonstrated her ability to advocate for the voice
of children in strategic decisions. Hayley was able to articulate a clear line of sight between the strategic process of the
panel and the needs of children in the community.
CIARA MERRIFIELD
Ciara received two nominations in this category.
Ciara has demonstrated a passion for embedding social justice principles in the residential care homes she has set up.
Her practice is clearly formed by a desire to ensure that all young people understand their rights and have them met.
Ciara has worked closely with the Department for Child Protection to ensure that Lifestyle Solutions residential care units
go beyond the service required. She has designed the requisite 90 day placements to deliver quality assessment and
therapy to children in need of emergency accommodation. She has considered many facets of this such as ensuring
the home is inviting, and safe for children and young people. She has applied her therapeutic knowledge in training and
supervising staff to create safe and nurturing environments. While setting up their PaSP residential care units, Ciara
invited the Create Foundation and the Office of the Guardianship to speak at staff inductions to ensure that staff are
aware of maintaining the rights of children in Out of Home Care. Since then, Ciara has been encouraging her staff to form
relationships with key staff within these offices. Ciara considers the rights of the young people whom she is responsible
for in all her interactions with both Lifestyle Solutions and with external stakeholders. When coordinating individual care
plans, Ciara considers all life domains for the child. She closely supervises her team to ensure they understand what is
required of them, and why these actions are important for the development of the child / young person, particularly when
working with children and young people who have experienced developmental trauma and advocates for children and
young people at all levels. Ciara consulted with Aboriginal Family Support Services (AFSS) on a ‘Trauma Competency
Development’ with Aboriginal Family Support Services (AFSS in 2021). The remit of the project was to write a trauma
competent framework with AFSS to embed protocols into their supervision practice approaches. The framework, as
co-designed with AFSS leadership, outlined the difference between line management and practice supervision, explored
lateral violence, strengths based practice and the importance of a trauma informed, relational approach in the space.
It also generated a ‘map’ for facilitating trauma responsive practice supervision conversations. Throughout the project
with AFSS, Ciara upheld her commitment to social justice. She strived to actively engage in cultural safety and humility,
acknowledging the impact of colonisation on intergenerational trauma experienced by Aboriginal communities across
Australia. Ciara embodied trauma informed practice through her constant curiosity and provision of safe reflective
spaces for the staff of AFSS to reflect on what it means to provide safety for staff in a complex system.Despite the many
significant complexities associated with supporting an Aboriginal led organisation to build their practice capacity (including
the significant impacts of intergenerational trauma) Ciara brought a great sense of respect for all the experiences of
participants. She listened carefully to the impacts of intergenerational trauma and the resultant challenges with lateral
violence and walked alongside them to develop authentic and meaningful tools to support each other in a way that
responds to their trauma and avoids compounding it.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 17AGENT OF CHANGE
NOMINATIONS
‘Agent of Change Award’ recognises the outstanding contribution by a social
worker who makes a transformative difference through organisational or
systems change to individuals, families or communities.
KACI MARSHALL
During Kaci’s time at Centacare Catholic Country SA she has been directly involved in the development of school
counselling documentation such as the program manual, which explains, guides and supports staff in practice standards
and continuity in service delivery. Kaci was one of the counsellors approached to complete this task due to her experience
and expertise in the program. Kaci was a leader in the development of a new concept and practice/service model trial,
where therapeutic support was provided within residential aged care facilities across the region. Kaci was chosen to
conduct, monitor and review the trial due to her experience in the counselling field and through the supervision of the
Social Work students who piloted the first counselling trial period in the Aged Care Sector and identifying the outcomes
Kaci was then able to develop a concept brief which is being utilised to advocate for funding and therapeutic supports to
be provided in residential care facilities as an ongoing and needed service. Kaci is now working within the Residential
Care Program for young people in care as a therapeutic response trial. Kaci has been able to adapt service models and
implement support structures to ensure that the relevant training and responses are being provided by staff to young
people, which is already proving to be beneficial and creating positive change outcomes with the young people.
Kaci has played an active role in planning and organising community events for increasing the change opportunities
around community connection, decreasing isolation and divide and improving wellbeing and personal functioning/self-
worth. Events include Families Week, R U OK Day, Mental Health Week and Youth Week; for these particular events Kaci
has been involved in them on more than one occasion and has taken on more of a lead role by being an active member
on the event organising committees.
AZMIRI MIAN
Azmiri (Azi) has a strong sense of professional integrity and is particularly interested in work place culture. In addition
to her own learning, Azi supports the development of others, both through her career as well as in a voluntary capacity.
Azi demonstrates this by working with students who are undertaking their placements. This is an extremely big voluntary
commitment that Azi is proud to undertake, in addition to doing well incorporating years of work experience, life
experience and her extensive education. Azi has spent many years teaching in a variety of capacities at universities in
Australia and abroad. From this experience, Azi was able to identify an area of social work practice that she recognised
as lacking. Azi took a gamble in her own life by developing her own practice with the aim of supporting people in this area.
Her knowledge, experience and ongoing drive has enabled her to support many people who would not have been able to
receive such support otherwise.
Azi has worked tirelessly to educate as many people as possible to reduce ignorance surrounding racism aiming to lessen
the impact of the systems and policies that continue to perpetuate this. While working in tertiary education, Azi would
often support students who had faced or were continuing to face racism while at the same time educate those committing
the offences in a calm and innately empathic manner.
Azi is passionate about social inclusion and cultural diversity. Having identified a need to increase social inclusion locally
for many people who feel isolated, excluded and sometimes even vilified, Azi has actively sought to set up the first
Muslims in Social Work networking group. This has been a wonderful addition to the ongoing groups supporting a range
of social work interests. Despite the difficulty of people feeling comfortable attending a new group and consequently, the
group was not always well attended, Azi has persevered and is now supporting many more people.
18 Student of the Year - NominationsAGENT OF CHANGE SPONSORED BY
AWARD WINNER
JESSICA DOBROVIC
Jessica’s primary interest has been in the advance of data informed practice and the use of evidence
as a means of providing support for individuals with a high complexity of needs.
In this regard her work has been an enabler in the decision making processes at both individual and program levels within Hutt St Centre and across the
wider collaboration of services within the inner city of Adelaide. She has influenced, guided and supported the Adelaide Zero project data capacity through
her knowledge and foresight and has leveraged her knowledge to be a key driver for advocacy in a range of community led groups and projects.
From March to July, during the Covid-19 pandemic, she worked significant overtime due to the multitude of client needs that emerged and the belief that she
could play a role in providing equitable outcomes to complex rough sleeping clients. During the CEARS initiative, where a collaborative of inner city agencies
put 542 people experiencing homelessness into motel accommodation in the city, Jess was the contact for Hutt St Centre, coordinating approximately 200
people into motels. Jess also represented Hutt St at the daily housing allocation meetings to get people out of motel into permanent accommodation. She
provided a multifaceted role and offered a critical element in the provision of the project across the services.
Jessica also demonstrates her commitment to the social work values and the pursuit of her desire to support individual and societal change in her out of
work activities. As examples she, over the last year or so:
• Went to Cambodia and fitted hands on people who had lost their hands through the Khmer Rouge regime, through freak accidents,
or individuals who were born without hands.
• Supported some of her local schools, provided sanitation supplies and educated around safe storage of medication.
Student of the Year - Award Winner 19www.aasw.asn.au
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