Citizen of the Year
Terry Hunter
Latrobe City resident Terry Hunter has demonstrated his commitment to the community through volunteer work over many years.
He has also made an outstanding contribution to local sport, including in football and cricket.
A Vietnam veteran, Terry is a dedicated member of the Traralgon RSL Sub-Branch who, since returning from active service in 1969, has volunteered for various RSL roles/activities, working tirelessly for the benefit of fellow veterans and their families for 40 years.
His love of sport has seen him achieve exceptional sporting feats, recognised by his community and peers for the selfless and courageous way he played the games and his willingness to lead and support teammates to play at their best. This commitment has been recognised with life memberships of many clubs and organisations.
A player with the Traralgon Football Club where he served as captain/coach, he played in six senior premierships, spanning 20 years. An all-rounder with Ex Students, Imperials and CATS in the Traralgon and District Cricket Association, he achieved many milestones in the sport, both locally and at a higher level.
Terry is one of the most decorated sportsmen in the history of Traralgon sport
Young Citizen of the Year
Lincoln Ingravalle
Lincoln Ingravalle is the Chair of the Youth Governance Committee at Latrobe Youth Space however his leadership extends to the wider youth community of the Latrobe Valley.
Lincoln embodies the Latrobe Youth Space values of trust, integrity, inclusivity, collaboration, leadership, unity and respect. His peers describe him as determined, considered and thoughtful as well as a valuable member of the organisation.
At Latrobe Youth Space, Lincoln is considered “the voice of reason” who has the ability to consider and embrace all views.
Lincoln won the Spirit of Anzac Prize for Victoria in 2018 and was the 2018 Youth Mayor for Latrobe City where he led by example, representing the municipality on a trip to Timor, organised through the United Nations Youth Program.
Lincoln’s leadership was also recognised as Lavalla Catholic College School Captain in 2019 and he was also the recipient of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s VCE Leadership Award in 2019.
This year Lincoln will continue his studies having enrolled in University.
Community Event of the Year
The Tom Curtain “Speak Up Tour” Boolarra Community Hotel
The Boolarra Community Development Group, in partnership with the Boolarra Community Hotel, hosted Tom Curtain’s ‘Speak Up’ tour on 16 February 2019, an event to raise awareness of bullying.
Touched by the death of teenager, Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett, Tom gave young people the courage and strategies to overcome bullying. The event centred around the Katherine Outback Experience, showing working horses and dogs, with a live music performance featuring a specially written song titled ‘Speak Up’, inspired by ‘Dolly’. Local singer, Courtney, supported the event and “Truck’n with Tim” continued the entertainment into the evening.
Promoted as a family friendly event, Tom engaged with children as they interacted with the animals and took to the stage as a part of the show. Displays, activities and information from partner organisations reinforced the strong mental health message. Local businesses, organisations and many individuals gave generously to support the event with the sponsorship enabling 59 families to attend free of charge.
The event displayed positive community engagement with 22 people involved in the planning, 56 volunteers working on the day and 1262 people attending the event.
Community Service of the Year
Gippsland Rotary Centenary House
Since 2006, Gippsland Rotary Centenary House has provided accommodation to more than 5500 individuals while either them or their family members accessed specialist medical services at Latrobe Regional Hospital (LRH).
Centenary House supports patients and families through a stressful and traumatic time by providing easy access to accommodation and helping reduce the financial burden on families. The community owned not-for-profit facility provides safe, supporting and affordable accommodation to patients and families of the Gippsland Cancer Care Centre and LRH.
The facility has expanded several times since it was established with Stage 3 opened in June 2019. There are now 30 guest rooms available to Gippsland families.
Centenary House is manned by a small number of paid staff Monday to Friday. The organisation also uses volunteers in a broad range of activities, such as governance, fundraising, cleaning, linen, guest support, and gardening and maintenance tasks.
The facility acknowledges the ongoing support from businesses, community groups and individuals whose donations that allow the provision of affordable accommodation.
Adult Citizen of the Year
Dr Carole Broxham
Dr Carole Broxham is a passionate advocate for people with disability, in particular, promoting social inclusion.This is evident not only though her work as the Chief Executive Officer of Moe Life Skills but in her everyday life where she consistently promotes change to community attitudes towards people with disability, especially those with an intellectual disability.
Carole successfully sought funding to develop a project to build awareness of, and reduce barriers to, social inclusion. The project offered Pilates classes in and with the community for people with intellectual disability, followed by a shared social experience. The project was so successful, it was funded for an additional three years to build the capacity of recreation and leisure facilities to provide physical activity opportunities and social interaction for people with an intellectual disability with the general community.
Carole also has a passion for animal welfare and is a supporter of a number of animal shelters. She is currently working with a veterinary service to develop a shelter and plans to be a foster carer for dogs who need to be re-homed, with a focus on training, to ensure they have the best possible opportunity for a new life.
Adult Citizen of the Year
Luke van der Meulen
Luke Van Der Meulen has been active in the Latrobe City community throughout his adult life.In the past, he has been a CFA volunteer firefighter, including Black Saturday, fires at Bunyip/Longwarry and the earlier Mirboo North/Boolarra fires.
He was recently BlazeAid Yinnar Volunteer Coordinator, organising and working with volunteers in fire-affected areas over three months. Working up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week, these volunteers worked with families and individuals in rural Australia to rebuild fences and other structures after natural disasters such as fires and floods.
Luke is on the board of local community broadcaster Gippsland FM and an active member of the Moe Golf Club, especially with the club’s volunteer work. Before his retirement three years ago, Luke was a long-standing union activist and leader within the CFMMEU’s Victorian Mining and Energy division.
He has been involved in various community grassroots campaigns, including the Save Moe Hospital and Public First campaigns in the 1990s, and in more recent times, the establishment and ongoing support of Earthworker Energy Manufacturing Cooperative in Morwell.
Passionate about his local community, Luke has also helped Sudanese families settle in the area in recent years and, more recently, four Cameroonian asylum seekers settle in the Latrobe Valley.
Adult Citizen of the Year
Peter Smith
Peter Smith has been Treasurer of the Morwell Cricket Club for 28 years. Joining the club in 1980, he first became Treasurer in 1986, a position he held until 2011. After retiring from his financial role at Loy Yong Power Station, he once again took on the position in 2017.
Peter quietly works away in the background, engaging across multiple generations with his good humour and good spirits. To acknowledge his contribution, Peter was made a Life Member of the club in 1996.
Morwell Cricket Club is 140 years old this year with Peter treasurer for 20 per cent of its history; a significant achievement.
Peter is also a member and regular supporter of the Morwell Football Netball Club.
Young Citizen of the Year
Danica Di Ciero
Danica Di Ciero is considered an outstanding advocate for Latrobe Valley young people. Her enthusiasm for empowering local youth and advocating on their behalf for a safe and inclusive space where their voices can be heard is widely acknowledged.
Danica is the Secretary for Latrobe Youth Space’s Youth Governance Committee and is also a part-time youth worker at Latrobe Youth Space. Considered an emerging and courageous young leader, she takes pride in empowering the leadership qualities of her peers. She upholds the Latrobe Youth Space’s values of collaboration, unity, integrity, inclusivity, trust, respect and leadership. Danica’s also demonstrates the value of inclusivity through her work with the Rainbow Club, supporting young people to take the role of facilitating these groups.
As a studio head with the Latrobe Youth Film Festival, run in association with ‘We Are Latrobe’, The Health Innovation Zone and Nanoo Nanoo, Danica has stepped into a leadership role, guiding and supporting budding young film makers.
Young Citizen of the Year
Taylah Kilpatrick
Taylah Kilpatrick has taken every leadership opportunity offered, using her skills to represent and inspire the youth of the Latrobe Valley.
An advocate for all young people, Taylah lives the Latrobe Youth Space values such as inclusivity, trust, leadership, integrity, unity, respect and collaboration. Taylah volunteers for the Latrobe Youth Space and her passion has now led to some paid casual work as her enthusiasm for empowering the youth in the community is recognised.
Taylah was part of the co-design team for Latrobe Youth Space in 2017 and has followed the journey through to becoming a committee member on the Youth Governance Committee and now Deputy Chair.
Young Citizen of the Year
Jakey 'Sting' Rae
Jakey Sting Rae is the embodiment of community, according to his peers.
Jakey has been involved in different community groups for at least five years and embraced the challenge of taking on different roles. He also runs a local youth group every Friday night.
The Moe Autumn Community Festival was Jakey’s vision and he worked tirelessly with a small group of helpers to bring his dream to reality. He is also its current Chair.
Currently planning the 2020 festival, he balances all his volunteer commitments with co-parenting a three-year-old.
Event of the Year
Job Shadow Day
Job Shadow Day promotes and celebrates inclusivity, ability and diversity in the Latrobe Valley and across Gippsland. A non-profit event, it is designed to increase community awareness by bringing together job seekers with disability, injury or health condition and local employers for one day. The aim is to promote equal employment opportunities and highlight the valuable contribution people with a disability can, and do, make in the workplace.
Employers’ publicly demonstrate their organisation’s commitment to welcoming people with disability, as well as increasing their confidence of inclusive recruitment.
Job shadow Day, held on September 12 2019 saw over 100 employers host 150 job seekers whom explored the world of work by shadowing someone in the workplace as they went about their normal working day.
Within the Gippsland and Latrobe City community, Job Shadow Day provides employers and their staff the opportunity to appreciate having a person with a disability, injury or health condition in their workplace and in turn, gives job seekers with disability, mental health condition, illness or injury a taste of job requirements and employer expectations, leading to increased motivation and confidence, not just when working but in everyday life
Community Service of the Year
Louise Ponton
Louise Ponton was nominated for a Latrobe City Council Australia Day award because of her dedication to helping those in the community over more than 20 years.
For the last 16 years, Louise and her husband have provided a safe home for many children through foster care. Louise has raised over 20 children as if they were her own. She also recently returned from the Larapinta Trek in the Northern Territory where she raised almost $4,000 for Berry Street to support young people.
A volunteer with Lifeline and the Cancer Council, Louise has also volunteered as an “independent person” at the local police stations. An independent person is called when a child has been taken into custody and they have no parents/guardian available to sit with them through the police interview.
No matter what time of the day, Louise is always there to provide valuable assistance to those who need it.
Over the Christmas period, she made up small Christmas care packs for those who she assisted – she believes everyone deserves something at Christmas time.
Community Service of the Year
Victorian State Emergency Services – Moe Unit
The Victoria State Emergency Service Moe Unit is a volunteer emergency service group that services the Latrobe City. The Moe Unit consists of 35 volunteer members who last year, responded to more than 340 requests for assistance in emergencies that included flood, storm, traffic hazards, road accident rescue and assisting police, fire services and Ambulance Victoria.
Last year was by far been the busiest year for the past 10 years as the Moe Unit is also currently supporting the Morwell and Warragul units with their emergency callouts as well as covering their own general response area.
Some of the assistance provided outside the area included large scale searches, bushfires, storm damage, incident control and peer support.
The Moe Unit has also prepared the community for emergencies by participating in more than 20 public education events in 2019 that have included community events, road safety messages, letter drops, and school events.
The Moe Unit provides training for its 35 members every Tuesday night of the year which not only helps maintain their skills but also provides a place for like-minded people to gather, socialise and build a sense of community.