2025 finalists...

Carli Beange

Royal Perth Bentley Group
Bentley WA

Carli is the inaugural Midwifery Manager of Australia's first publicly funded, endorsed Midwifery Birth Centre (MBC). She leads a team of endorsed midwives, advocating for a continuity of care model that empowers women with more birthing choices. Each midwife cares for up to 35 women per year and expects around 300 births annually within the MBC.

Carli is recognised for her ongoing commitment to advancing midwifery care in Western Australia. She has been a dedicated midwife since 2006 and in 2023, Carli became the state’s first publicly employed, credentialed, endorsed midwife.

Her leadership fosters a culture of continuous learning and professional growth, ensuring advanced care for women and babies while aligning with the East Metropolitan Health Service’s vision and values.

Vanessa Page

Gateway Health
Wodonga, VIC

Vanessa is recognised for her role as the Endorsed Midwife and Nurse Practitioner at Gateway Health, where she set up and delivers the innovative Endorsed Midwife Care Program.

The program addresses the need for Medicare funded continuity of midwife care to support pregnant people with complex needs in the Albury and Wodonga areas, mainly benefiting culturally and linguistically diverse clients.

Vanessa supports women throughout their pregnancy journey, from early conception up to the six-week postnatal period. Her approach emphasises understanding clients' lived experiences and advocating for their needs, ensuring a holistic and positive pregnancy outcome.

Since the program’s inception in 2021, around 240 clients have accessed the service. Her efforts include collaborating with other care providers and assisting vulnerable clients to navigate the Australian maternity system.

Additionally, Vanessa has worked extensively in remote Australia with First Nations people, and volunteered overseas in Tanzania and Papua New Guinea as a midwife to help build midwifery leadership and capacity in both countries. 

Colleen White

Peninsula Health
Frankston, VIC

Colleen is a dedicated leader in midwifery, recognised for driving improvements in care for pregnant women.

She pioneered the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) model for continuity of care and established publicly funded homebirth programs. Her leadership extends to supporting sexual and reproductive health initiatives, focusing on the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Colleen supported the development of the paediatric and newborn Hospital in the Home programs. These programs resulted in more families receiving health care at home and helped expand the nurses’ skill sets. Her impact via the MGP Model of Care resulted in 96% of women being more likely to initiate breastfeeding and 30% more likely to quit smoking during pregnancy.

Colleen also introduced increased graduate rotations to provide midwives increased scope of practice in their graduate year, rotating through pregnancy clinics, birth suite, postnatal and midwifery home care. 

Amanda Butt

NPathy
Sydney, NSW

Amanda is recognised for helping revolutionise mental health care, offering bulk-billed uncapped sessions with no referral required through her innovative clinic NPathy.

As a Nurse Practitioner and Vice President of the Australian College of Nurse Practitioners, Amanda has dedicated her career to advancing the profession. With over 15 years of experience, she combines clinical expertise with visionary leadership, focusing on accessible, patient-centred care. Her virtual clinic, NPathy, has significantly improved access to mental health services for vulnerable populations.

Beyond clinical care, Amanda has co-designed nationally funded health models and influenced policies to enhance access to care. Her advocacy has elevated nursing, empowering Nurse Practitioners to lead innovative healthcare solutions. 

Laura Sadler

Royal Adelaide Hospital
Adelaide, SA

With over 10 years of professional nursing experience, Laura is recognised for her commitment and excellence in nursing, particularly within the South Australia Lung Transplant Unit satellite centre.

South Australia Lung Transplant Nurse Consultant/Coordinator, Laura leads a multidisciplinary team, ensuring seamless patient care and coordination with interstate surgical teams.

Her initiatives reduce patient stress, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance patient experience, including reducing travel burdens. Laura's efforts include developing COVID-19 protocols, streamlining transplant work-ups, and advocating for patient resources.

Laura is a key figure in lung transplantation education and policy development, contributing significantly to the field and improving the quality of life for patients and their families. Her leadership and dedication make her a respected mentor and a vital asset to the healthcare community.

Ty Simpson

The Alfred
Melbourne, VIC

As The Alfred’s CAR-T Cell Therapy Clinical Nurse Consultant (in clinical trials), Ty has been pivotal in enhancing nursing knowledge and helping improve patient outcomes by advocating for staff to be upskilled and educated about Chimeric Antigen Receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy.

His leadership extends to the Australasian CAR-T Nursing Group, fostering collaboration among over 120 nurses across Australia and New Zealand. Initiatives introduced by Ty, including CAR-T study days and protocol reviews, have led to better understanding and support for patients who have received CAR-T therapies.

Ty’s work has been transformative, helping equip nurses to handle cutting-edge therapies, benefiting patients and the nursing profession. His expertise is widely recognised, earning him accolades and invitations to speak at conferences, where he shares insights on emerging therapies and best practices. 

Cabrini Women’s Mental Health

Cabrini Health
Elsternwick, VIC

Cabrini Women's Mental Health (CWMH) is Australia’s first private, women-only mental health service, offering a safe, nurturing, and respectful environment where women can embark on their recovery journey. The 30-bed inpatient facility provides specialised care for women experiencing mood disorders (including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder), burnout and stress, complex trauma (including PTSD), and addiction.

Cabrini’s approach is innovative and person-first, recognises the impact of hormonal changes on mental health across a woman’s life, and tailors care accordingly. It offers a comprehensive range of services, including inpatient programs, an outpatient day program, and 1:1 clinical therapy.

By combining evidence-based therapies with a deep understanding of the complexities of being a woman, CWMH offers a holistic model of care that is compassionate, empowering, and recovery-focused. Philanthropy initiatives like the Access Fund, remove financial barriers to ensure more women can access high-quality mental health care.

CWMH remains committed to reshaping women’s mental health and advocating for gender-specific mental solutions at all levels of government. 

First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing

Frankston, VIC

First Peoples' Health and Wellbeing (FPHW) is a dynamic Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation offering affordable primary healthcare services to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander People and their families.

FPHW is recognised for offering 'Birthing on Country' (BOC), a model that provides holistic maternal, child, and family healthcare that embeds cultural integrity and safety during pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal care for First Peoples'. The service is part of Baluk Balert Barring, Victoria's first Aboriginal Early Parenting Centre, offering care until a child is six.

A multidisciplinary team of midwives and other health professionals deliver BOC. Babies, children, and families who attend FPHW are provided access to culturally safe healthcare and the cultural, educational, and social supports they need to stay together and thrive, removing potential barriers to health services.

Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre

University of South Australia
Adelaide, SA

The Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre is recognised for leading changes to health inequalities in rural and regional Australia with the first free nurse-led skin cancer screening pop-up clinics in rural areas supported by AI to provide education to nurses.

Project Check Mate adopts cutting-edge technology to build a sustainable model that enables nurses to identify suspicious lesions and refer patients to dermatologists, improving early detection and access to care. It empowers nurses with advanced skills and strengthens rural communities by providing essential health services.

Delivered in partnership with the University of South Australia, Skin Check Champions, Skin Smart Australia, and The Hospital Research Foundation, the project initially received grant funding and has expanded to prisons, mines, and other communities.

Project Check Mate has significantly impacted rural South Australia, with 10 clinics screening 509 people and managing 341 suspicious lesions.