Winners of the 2005 Catholic Welfare Australia Awards

The Catholic Welfare Australia Awards provide a unique opportunity to herald the outstanding work of the social services sector in Australia and the calibre of this year’snominations were no exception. The winners of the Catholic Welfare Australia Awards for 2005 are:

Award for Excellence in Service (Organisational)

Heritage and Information Service, MacKillop Family Services: This is a free service provided to the community of “Forgotten Australians” whose lives were shaped by family separation: people who spent their lives as children in institutional care, people who as infants were separated from their mothers and people who as young mothers were separated from their children. Through this service, MacKillop Family Services preserves records, releases records, helps search for separated family members and supports former residents. The Award was accepted by the Manager of the Service, Ms Jenny Glare.

Award for the Most Innovative Program – The Norma Parker Award

“The Bilby Bus” – Centacare Catholic Family Services (Adelaide): The “Bilby Bus” is a mobile playgroup which is integral to this Intensive Support Program which was developed to provide free supported playgroup sessions for children 0-5 years and their families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The project targets Caravan Parks and Housing Trust areas where tenants are at risk in the Northern, Western and Southern suburbs of Adelaide. The “Bilby Bus” won this award because it is innovative in that it ‘brings the service to the people’ as well as providing recipients with the ability to capacity build within their own
community environment. The Award was accepted by Mr Bernie Victory, Assistant Director at Centacare Adelaide.

Award for Excellence in Services (Individual) – The Perkins Award

Mr Phil Glendenning, Director of the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education: Phil is the recipient of this year’s Award based on his work for more than 15 years in the area of justice for and service of those on the margins and for those who have specific needs because of poverty, injustice or lack of education. Phil evokes a deep consciousness of the needs of various groups in Australia and overseas and he has worked passionately and effectively in a number of spheres. The Award was accepted on Phil’s behalf by Dr Peter Casey, Principal, St Patrick’s College, Ballarat.

Special thanks are extended to CCI Insurances for their sponsorship of the Catholic Welfare Australia Awards. The Awards were announced during Catholic Welfare Australia’s Annual Conference held in Ballarat, Victoria this week.

For more information please call: Jackie Brady, Communications Officer, 0417 220 779