Awards highlight extraordinary citizens

What do a young ballerina, an outback chef, and a scientist breaking new ground in amphibian reproduction have in common? The three were among 15 extraordinary citizens and organisations presented with City of Wollongong Awards this afternoon.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM acknowledged and congratulated the nominees and award recipients and said it was an honour to shine a spotlight on their achievements.

“We had an unprecedented 85 nominations across the 12 award categories. As such, we judges had a tough time picking from so many worthy nominees,” he said.

“It’s heartening to see how many people contribute to the strength, success and quality of our community.”

The three top awards—Young Citizen, Senior Citizen and Citizen of the Year—were claimed by volunteer surf lifesaver Morgan Clarke; community champion Dr Munir Hussain; and teacher, poet, storyteller, activist, and advocate Dr Aunty Barbara ‘Barb’ Nicholson.

“Morgan has logged more than 650 volunteer hours of frontline patrolling and countless more hours behind-the-scenes as Director of Lifesaving at Woonona SLSC and coordinator of the annual NSW Junior Lifesaver Program.

“Doctor Hussain is a champion for multiculturalism in our community. He has been a fearless advocate for marginalized communities, speaking up against discrimination, injustice, and inequality.

“Aunty Barb continues to serve the Wollongong community as academic adviser to many university students, a valued committee member of South Coast Writers Centre, and a tireless advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their writing.”

A further wrap of award recipients:

• Rising Star Award - PENELOPE TOWNEY
• Environmental Achievement Award - EMMA ROOKSBY
• Innovation Achievement Award - DR AIMEE SILLA
• Sports Achievement Award - GRACE TRACEY
• Arts and Cultural Achievement Award - JUDY BOURKE
• Diversity and Inclusion Award - DISABLED SURFERS ASSOCIATION, SOUTH COAST BRANCH
• Wollongong to the World Award - Winner RAY COLLINS, Highly commended MARK OLIVE
• Community Group of the Year Award - i98FM ILLAWARRA CONVOY
• Lord Mayor’s Award (x4)– COLEDALE RSL, REBECCA SCHMIDT-LACHLAN, RILEY LAPHAM, and DR SAM WISE

Cr Bradbery said although these special individuals and organisations were not driven by fame nor fortune, they deserved recognition for their hard work and dedication.

“You make Wollongong a better place and we are lucky to have you,” he said.

“I thank you all on behalf of a proud city.”

City of Wollongong Award recipients for 2024:

Citizen of the Year: DR AUNTY BARBARA NICHOLSON

Aunty Barb is described as an exceptional leader, a teacher, poet, storyteller, activist, an advocate for the disadvantaged and incarcerated and an inspirational role model. Amongst her many achievements, Aunty Barb has made more than 300 visits to the Junee Correctional Centre where she’s introduced dozens of Indigenous inmates to the world of creative writing via her Black Wallaby project which earned her a Lifetime Achievement Award to First Nations Literature.

Senior Citizen of the Year: DR MUNIR HUSSAIN

For decades, Dr Hussain has led the Muslim community in Wollongong and is a champion for multiculturalism in our community. He has been a fearless advocate for marginalized communities, speaking up against discrimination, injustice and inequality as the voice for the voiceless, be it for refugees or women’s rights or for our First Nations people and the YES referendum campaign.

Young Citizen of the Year: MORGAN CLARKE

Morgan is a volunteer surf lifesaver who’s in her 14th year as a patrol member at Woonona where she’s Director of Lifesaving. Last summer, Morgan was involved in three major rescues on Wollongong City Beach. She was named 2023 NSW Volunteer of the Year at the Rotary Emergency Services Awards.

Rising Star Award: PENELOPE TOWNEY

Penelope is one of Australia’s youngest First Nations filmmakers, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and has her own YouTube channel, Towney Time. She was a finalist in the 2023 NSW Women of the Year – One to Watch Awards.

Environmental Achievement Award: EMMA ROOKSBY

Emma is Chair of Landcare Illawarra, a network of hundreds of volunteers who work passionately to restore local bushland. She is also the co-founder of the Growing Illawarra Natives website and manages a local Facebook site of the same name with more than 2,000 members.

Innovation Achievement Award: DR AIMEE SILLA

Dr Silla is a motivated and highly successful researcher who has dedicated her life to wildlife conservation with her focus on protecting local frog species through the development of innovative reproductive technologies, including hormone therapies and IVF which has led to the generation and release of more than 800 Northern Corroboree Frogs.

Sports Achievement Award: GRACE TRACEY

Aged just 15, Grace was selected in both the Australian All Schools Netball and Australian All Schools AFL teams. She was named best and fairest at the Australian All Schools AFL Championship and the 2023 Illawarra Academy of Sport Athlete of the Year.

Arts and Cultural Achievement Award: JUDY BOURKE

Judy is an artist, teacher and arts advocate whose contribution has spanned more than 50 years. She has exhibited her work locally, regionally, and internationally, and is a founding member of the Illawarra Association for the Visual Arts, President of the the Barracks Art Studios Thirroul, and helped ensure the revival and survival of the city’s Project Contemporary Artspace.

Diversity and Inclusion Award: DISABLED SURFING ASSOCIATION, SOUTH COAST BRANCH

For more than 30 years, the DSA’s volunteer team has helped Wollongong’s disabled community to experience a fun day at the beach while keeping a perfect safety record.

Wollongong to the World Award:

Winner RAY COLLINS

A multi-award-winning ocean photographer whose aim is to show the ocean as a living, breathing thing. He is recognised as one of the most distinguished photographers of waves and the ocean in the world.

Highly Commended MARK OLIVE

Known affectionately as ‘The Black Olive’, Mark is an iconic ambassador for Indigenous food and hospitality. He has represented Australia in kitchens around the world, he’s starred in his own television series ‘The Outback Café’ and he’s hosted cooking, lifestyle and travel shows nationally and globally.

Lord Mayor’s Awards:

• COLEDALE RSL

Opened 75 years ago, the RSL fell into hard times due to the pandemic and was forced to close its doors. Just over 12 months ago the community rallied to rescue and revive the club and it now has 80 volunteers running the bar, cleaning and maintaining the building to provide a popular meeting place for locals and visitors.

• REBECCA SCHMIDT-LACHLAN

Rebecca has fought back courageously from a severe stroke 15 years ago and was the driving force behind the campaign to have a lift installed at Unanderra Railway Station to improve access for people with a disability.

• RILEY LAPHAM

As a teenager this young Corrimal ballerina was recruited by The Australian Ballet, aged just 14, and she was the sole female recipient of the annual Award for Excellence for every year of her schooling. Last year, before contracting COVID and then long Covid, Riley was one of five nominees for the Telstra Ballet Dancer of the Year Award.

• DR SAM WISE

Sam was successful in winning two gold medals in his division at the National Tae Kwon Do Championships, held in Perth in October 2023. Earlier in the year, Sam won the NSW state title.