Community Partnership Award finalists

Nomination: Care for Hedland

Working to improve and build upon local sustainability practices with a variety of projects has strengthened Care for Hedland’s overall capacity and enabled initiative diversification.

Partnership programs include the inaugural flatback turtle monitoring program which holds a lifetime achievement of 64,900 turtle eggs protected from predation, waste management and recycling programs, containers for change refund point operations as well as home and community sustainability.

Between 2022 and 2025, community impact has been large across the board with Aboriginal employment reaching 32 percent, 2.9 tonnes of litter was removed from local environments, 10,613 hours expended on environmental and sustainability endeavours with continued success in the protection and monitoring of flatback turtles.

The enduring partnership continues to evolve with a focus on long‑term, evidence‑based environmental sustainability facing climate change with community stewardship.

Nomination: Rio Tinto Children’s Diabetes Centre

In 2026, 1,300 children in WA are living with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) with approximately 150 children diagnosed each year. This partnership integrates research, clinical care and community advocacy that translates into research and tangible change for long term impact. 

Working to increase community and medical practitioner involvement at every level to pioneer T1D medical research, the partnership has supported the creation of a Community of Practice of over 200 T1D healthcare professionals. The Community of Practice is supported by funding for program delivery, community engagement and stability to attract and retain high-quality researchers. 

The partnership works towards shared goals of increasing life expectancy, improving the ability to predict, diagnose and prevent T1D, facilitating faster translation of new technologies into routine care, personalising care and increasing access to clinical trials to bring new therapies to patients faster.

This partnership positions WA as a global leader in paediatric diabetes care and research, supporting innovative and world-leading approaches.

Nomination: Youanmi Environs Paintings Commissions and Artist Enfranchisement Project

The project brought together young emerging artists with experienced artists working alongside Badimia Elders to guide the process and depictions of cultural heritage in their artworks. As a result of the collaboration, 100 percent of the profits from the resulting exhibition went back to the artists and ultimately back through the local community.

A total of 31 artists were signed under Wirnda Barna Art Centre with each enfranchisement of a new commercial artist representing the promotion of intergenerational knowledge shared by the Badimia Elders.

Through this initiative, school and community commitments improved as the confidence and purpose of participants came hand in hand, with the connection to working towards a shared goal. 

Artwork has been recognised nationally and internationally through website traffic and in person attendance at exhibitions.

Nomination: St Ives Renewable Project Community Program (SIRP)

Artworks created by local regional schools and an emerging Indigenous artist supported broader stakeholder engagement, education and community events that strengthen the interconnectedness of regional communities in meaningful, lasting ways. 

Not-for-profit organisation FORM Building a State of Creativity delivered creative workshops with participating schools, while the Gold Industry Group supported the STEM-focused education rollout.

More than 260 students took part across the Mid West and Goldfields through 16 creative and educational STEM workshops. Student-inspired and Indigenous artwork is now installed on seven 130m-tall wind turbines built as part of the 77MW St Ives Renewable Project.

The program shows how renewable energy and sustainable mining education, underpinned by creative and STEM learning in the classroom, connects communities, builds knowledge and creates shared ownership of decarbonisation infrastructure and sustainability pathways at one of WA’s largest producing gold mines.