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30 January 2012 Katrine Hildyard

The branch secretary of the Australian Services Union, Katrine Hildyard, was named winner of the Women Hold Up Half the Sky Award for 2012 during the Australia Day Awards ceremony on 25 January.

The award was introduced last year by the Australia Day Council of South Australia to recognise outstanding women.

Ms Hildyard successfully led the “Strong Community, Healthy State Campaign” which resulted in historic pay increases for community sector workers.

Women make up 85 percent of the workforce in this sector.

On June 16, 2011 the Full Bench of Fair Work Australia (FWA) handed down an interim decision confirming that community sector workers were under-valued and underpaid.

The Federal Government subsequently announced in November 2011 it will fund its share of the outcomes of the FWA Pay Equity Case, costed at $2 billion.

In 2005, Ms Hildyard became the first union participant in the Leaders Institute of South Australia’s Governor’s Leadership Foundation (GLF). Two years later, she worked with SA Unions,
Volunteering SA and the Adelaide City Council Volunteer Co-ordinator to develop shared principles between the SA volunteering and union movements, principles that have now been adopted.

In 2009, Ms Hildyard was selected as a “summiteer” at the Federal Government’s 2020 Summit, where she participated in the social inclusion stream.

Ms Hildyard is a director of Local Super and a member of the Premier’s Council for Women. She also chairs the SA Health and Community Services Skills Board.

“I am very pleased to be able to support this important award, recognising the contribution that women make to our community,” Ms Gago said.

“Katrine is an extraordinary woman who has led a campaign to ensure that workers in the community sector, who are predominantly women, are paid appropriately for the demanding work they undertake.

“Employees in the domestic violence services, community care and the disability care sector work with some of the most marginalised members of the community and deserve recognition for their
services.”

Chairman of the Australia Day Council of South Australia Dr Tony Cocchiaro said the award has been established to acknowledge women in the community who have not previously been publicly recognised.

“We received more than 50 nominations for this new award, well and truly exceeding our expectations, and the standard of nominations has been very high,” Dr Cocchiaro said.

“It’s clear there that there are many outstanding women making valuable contributions to our community who deserve to be recognised and celebrated.”

Reference: Press Release of Minister for the Status of Women Gail Gago

Created: 30/01/2012 | Last Updated: 30/01/2012

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