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WAFA loves to cel­e­brate the achieve­ments of our mem­bers and the great organ­i­sa­tions that sup­port us. Although the 2020 Con­fer­ence was can­celled, and we not able to announce the win­ners at our Gala Din­ner it is still impor­tant to cel­e­brate their out­stand­ing achievements.

Con­grat­u­la­tions to all the win­ners and those who were recog­nised and nom­i­nat­ed by their peers.


Out­stand­ing Con­tri­bu­tion by a Female Firefighter
This award is designed to show the appre­ci­a­tion, ded­i­ca­tion and con­grat­u­la­tions to a woman work­ing in the Fire and Emer­gency Ser­vices indus­try who has:
• demon­strat­ed con­sis­tent leadership;
• encour­aged and sup­port­ed the devel­op­ment of women;
• been an inspi­ra­tional role model;
• giv­en self­less­ly of them­selves in sup­port of their com­mu­ni­ty; or
• shown unwa­ver­ing ded­i­ca­tion to our industry.

Win­ner: Karmell Frost, Fire and Res­cue New South Wales

Hon­ourable men­tions: Michelle Engels­man, FRN­SW; Chris­tine Whit­by, QFES; Robin Weck­ert FRN­SW; Shaki­ra West­dorp QFES.

Youth Lead­er­ship Award
This award recog­nis­es a young woman (16−20 years) who is a vol­un­teer in the fire and emer­gency ser­vices indus­try who has demon­strat­ed strong and con­sis­tent lead­er­ship and a com­mit­ment to the safe­ty of their community.

Win­ner: Kiara Mura­ca, Queens­land Fire and Emer­gency Service. 

Male Cham­pi­on Award
With­out our male col­leagues sup­port­ing and encour­ag­ing us, our abil­i­ty to influ­ence the indus­try would be a lot hard­er. This award recog­nis­es a male cham­pi­on with­in our indus­try who has:
• con­sis­tent­ly men­tored and coached women;
• cre­at­ed, pro­vid­ed and active­ly pro­mot­ed a work envi­ron­ment that sup­ports the inclu­sion of women; or
• con­sis­tent­ly advo­cat­ed for diver­si­ty and inclu­sion with­in their organ­i­sa­tion or the indus­try as a whole.

Win­ner: Wayne Phillips, Fire and Res­cue New South Wales.

Hon­ourable Men­tion: Andrew Short, QFES

Mem­ber Organ­i­sa­tion​​‘Diver­si­ty, Fair­ness and Inclu­sion’ award
WAFA recog­nis­es that all organ­i­sa­tions are striv­ing to be proac­tive in the Diver­si­ty and Inclu­sion space. This award recog­nis­es an organ­i­sa­tion’s effort and ded­i­ca­tion to diver­si­ty and inclu­sion through pro­grams and ini­tia­tives which have pro­duced tan­gi­ble results.

Win­ner: Queens­land Fire and Emer­gency Service.