Awards For Excellence in   Community Business Partnerships 2007 

Representatives from business, community organisations and government judge the Prime Minister’s Awards. Past winners are also represented on the judging panel.

Ms Peta Winzar—Group Manager, Communities

Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

As the Manager of the Communities Group in the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA), Peta’s responsibilities included disaster recovery, pandemic influenza, community development strategies, and programs to encourage financial independence and self-reliance among low-income families.

Peta has previously held a number of senior positions within the portfolio, including responsibility for working-age income support payments, welfare to work programs, and the Australian Government’s policy leadership role on disability issues. Her other significant policy and program responsibilities have included housing policy, youth and family assistance, labour market programs, and a range of cross-program issues such as homelessness, migrant services and rural assistance. In 2005 and 2006 Peta managed the Queensland State office of the department.

Dr Denis Bourke—Managing Director

Centre for Executive Development

Denis has in excess of twenty years of business experience in both the public and private sector, and for much of that time he has held senior manager and executive positions. His special interest is in the design, management and facilitation of applied learning and development programs and the use of case studies and scenarios to assist senior managers and executives with their development needs. He is also a coach of Personal Branding DNA, a self awareness program for senior executives who are preparing, or who are being prepared, for more senior responsibilities.

Through his company, The Centre for Executive Development (CED), and as a result of his broad operational experience at senior manager and executive levels, Denis is well qualified to provide advice and assistance in all strategic and operational aspects of Human Resource management and development.

Denis is also an advisor to the Blackwood Annexe, a secondary school for young children at risk, and Canteen Australia, an organisation for young people living with cancer. In 1999, his work with the Blackwood Centre for Adolescent Development was recognised through an Australian Humanitarian Award, and in December 2003, CED was named national winner of the Small Business category of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships.

Mr Robert Reed—Senior Associate

Minter Ellison

Robert Reed received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986 and a Bachelor of Law degree (with Honours) in 1988 both from the University of Queensland. In 1989 he commenced employment with the law firm Morris Fletcher & Cross (now Minter Ellison). He is on the Queensland Law Society Pro Bono & Access to Justice Committee, the CEO Challenge Board, the Brisbane Community Corporate Network Committee, and the Queensland Representative on the Board of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre. He is Secretary/Treasurer on the Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House Management Committee. In 1999 he was given full-time responsibility to formulate the Brisbane office's Community Benefits Program which was launched in December 2001 and which became the national Community Investment Program in 2003. Robert has continued to manage the Program in the Brisbane office and therefore coordinates all of the office's community work including pro bono legal assistance, donations and sponsorships, and staff volunteering.

Mr Colin Fruk—Communication Manager

Abused Child Trust

Colin is the Communication Manager at the Abused Child Trust, Queensland’s leading provider of services for child victims of abuse. In his work, he manages a complex set of organisational relationships with government, corporate and community stakeholders. His creativity and knack for corporate communication strategy have helped the charity double in size in just 18 months. After a brief stint in law, Colin saw the light and began his career in public relations. Although he romanticises the notion of PR practitioners being all-powerful spin doctors, he believes real success is a result of honesty, accountability and a genuine care for people.

Ms Wendy McCarthy AO—Executive Director

McCarthy Management

Ms McCarthy began her career as a teacher and she remains passionate about the power of education. For 40 years she has been an educator and change agent in Australian public life.

Currently Wendy is Vice-Chair of Plan International; Director and Immediate Past Chair of Plan Australia; Chair of the Accreditation Advisory Board of the Advertising Federation of Australia; Chair of McGrath Estate Agents; Chair of NSW Sustainable Access Priority Taskforce; Chair of Sydney Community Foundation and Member of the NSW Health Care Advisory Council.

Wendy’s corporate advisory practice specialises in providing mentors to major corporations and the public sector and assisting these organisations with issues around diversity, leadership and work life balance.

In 1989 Wendy was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia for outstanding contributions to community affairs, women's affairs and the Bicentennial celebrations. In 2003 she was awarded a Centenary of Federation medal for business leadership and in 2005 was nominated by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of Australia’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals.

Mr Mark Anderson

Fairbridge Western Australian Inc.

Mr Mark Anderson is the Chief Executive Officer of Fairbridge Western Australia Inc, a major youth charitable organisation in WA and the only charity in Australia that owns a whole heritage listed town. Mr Anderson has worked in the community sector of WA for over 25 years, ten of those years being in the Kimberly and Pilbara regions of WA. He is a member of several State and National bodies involving youth, community and economic matters. He held the position of Chair for the State Youth Affairs Council of WA for three years, State Federation Council of PCYC, was on the Commonwealth Family and Community Services State Advisory Group and the Board of the Peel Development Commission until 2004. He currently is the Secretary to the Peel Area Consultative Committee, on the Lord Tavernors Peel Branch, and on the National Board of the Alcoa Research Centre for Stronger Communities at Curtin University. He previously held positions on the ABC National Advisory Council and the Lotteries Commission Board for the Gordon Reid Foundation.

Mr Anderson has a Bachelor of Social Science with a Major in Youth Work, is currently completing his Masters in Leadership and Management and is in the final stages of accreditation under the international Partnerships & Brokerage Accreditation Scheme run by the Overseas Development Institute and International Business Leaders Forum.

Mark’s passion is the development of sustainable and inclusive communities for all people, particularly young people, and is committed to the establishment of effective partnerships between the community, corporate and government sectors to achieve this outcome.

Mr Leon Gettler

The Age Newspaper

Leon Gettler is a senior business journalist at The Age, specialising in management issues. That covers huge territory, including strategy, globalisation, leadership, corporate governance, business ethics, entrepreneurship, innovation, executive education, IT and marketing and human resources. He also manages the blog site www.soxfirst.com which focuses on business ethics, Sarbanes-Oxley and business law, corporate governance, executive remuneration and corporate crime.

Ms Leann Wilson—Community Partnerships Co-ordinator

Red Cross Australia

Ms Wilson is Chair of the National Rural Women’s Coalition (NRWC). This project considers the health and well being of women living in rural, remote and regional Australia. The NRWC is part funded though a research project with the Rural Social Research Unit at Charles Sturt University. This research will deliver statistical results relating to quality of life issues faced by rural women. Leann is currently Community Partnerships co-ordinator for the Red Cross. She is from the small rural community of Barcaldine in Central Western Queensland. Leann has both Australian Aboriginal and South Sea Islander heritage. Leann’s Aboriginal heritage is Bidjara and Kara-Kara, whose traditional lands are located in Central Queensland. Her South Sea links are to Vanuatu and a small Island called Malata in the Solomon Islands. Leann is an elder in her community and has responsibility to ensure that her Indigenous heritage survives and thrives, including taking care of a Sacred Site. Leann has presented at State, National and International conferences. Her current position is with Education Queensland as the Learning and Engagement Manager Central Queensland.

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