A record 50 Western Australians were honoured at the Department of Communities’ annual Achiever Awards, supporting young people with a care experience to further their education and training.
The 34th annual Achiever Awards, held at the WA Museum Boola Bardip, recognised these inspirational young people across three categories – the University Achiever Award, the Registered Training Achiever Award for a young person commencing their first registered training course and the Apprenticeship or Traineeship Achiever Award for a young person commencing their first apprenticeship or traineeship.
A highlight of the event were performances by Iconyx and Ronald Dick. Iconyx is a talented singer-songwriter and musician from the East Kimberley Kukatja and Pintupi mobs, with a powerful and passionate voice, while singer-dancer-actor Ronald Dick shared his energy with the 260-plus audience following his recent Sydney-based show Wundig Wer Wilura, a new opera produced by award winning songwriters and storytellers, Gina Williams and Guy Ghouse.
Former Achiever Award recipient Princess Morris shared her story, encouraging this year’s winners to continue pursuing their dreams, no matter what challenges they face.
This incredible young woman has overcome significant difficulty during childhood to gain an education and go on to develop her own clothing brand, run a small business and is now turning her attention to work in the aged care and disability support sector.
One 2024 Achiever Award winner also received the Community Spirit Award, recognising and celebrating a commitment to community service and leadership.
For the past 10 years, the Achiever Awards program has recognised a worthy child protection staff member for excellence in the education and training space. The award promotes positive education and training outcomes in child protection, with nominations from peers and colleagues.
This year’s recipient, Jennifer Slater, has worked at Communities for 17 years as an Education Officer, supporting children in care in the Wheatbelt as well as young people in other districts.
Jen was commended for her practical approach with young people and her commitment to her job, often spending many hours working providing one-on-one support, going above and beyond her job description.
The Achiever Awards was sponsored by Curtin University (major sponsor), Apprenticeship Support Australia, Edith Cowan University, Notre Dame University Australia, the University of Western Australia, Department of Training and Workforce Development and Graduate Women WA.
See our Achiever Awards page for more information about the program.
