Aboriginal Art Award
In 2016 the Health District held its first Aboriginal Art Award. The competition was open to all members of the Aboriginal community across our health District. It was held in recognition of the International Day of the Worlds Indigenous People.
The themes for the competition were Partnerships and Collaboration, designed to reflect our District’s commitment to improving engagement and health outcomes for Aboriginal communities and mothers, families and children, which is being used to promote the District’s programs delivered to mothers and their children.
The winners were:
- Mothers, Families and Children.
- Partnerships and Collaboration: Alison Simpson and Wayne Williams.
My name is Alison Simpson. I’m an Aboriginal woman from the Kalari clan of the Wiradjuri nation from central NSW as well as Wemba Wemba from northwest Victoria.
I am married with no children. I am an aunty to 38 nieces and nephews, and I have 9 siblings. We lost our father when I was four years old, and we were raised by our single mother.
I have 14 years’ experience working in Aboriginal health - 3 years in the community-controlled sector and 11 years in the public sector.
I have recently moved from Albury NSW and am employed in the community service sector delivering aged and disability services to the Aboriginal community in Eden. I have a private consulting business delivering cultural competence training which I do in my spare time, and I am also a student, studying Public Health.
I enjoy socialising and being around family and friends. I also love learning and being around knowledgeable people, especially older people. I love being outdoors and have great appreciation for nature and the environment.
I started painting in 2013 for therapeutic reasons and have been painting in my spare time ever since. My artwork is contemporary, and each piece tells a story.
Artwork selection | Description |
---|---|
The small dot in the centre represents the child. The child is being cradled by its mother and the mother and child being cradled by the father/partner. The orange circle signifies the strong family unit. | |
The people outside the family unit represent service providers and community who work closely with families supporting them. | |
The orange circles flowing out from the centre represent the positive ripple effect that strong family/community has on the growth of a family. | |
The bright colours represent the joy/hope that comes with having a strong family/community. | |
The blue stream represents water which is significant to our survival. |
Excellence Awards
The annual Southern NSW LHD Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the tremendous commitment and innovation of staff to improve what we do in all aspects of our health service.
Staff and teams from across our health District submit entries leading up to the Awards, with projects focusing on ways better health results can be achieved for patients through innovation.