Winners of 2022 NSW Premier’s Awards revealed

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On Tuesday night, the winners for the 2022 NSW Premier’s Awards were announced, including NSW public servant of the year.

In his opening remarks, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet praised the state’s public service for its dedication and responsiveness, specifically mentioning the work done during the floods.

“In the public service, I don’t believe you get the accolades and acknowledgement that you deserve. Now, arguably you don’t get the criticism that I get,” Perrottet said.

“But I think it’s unheralded. Every day, you’re out there doing one thing in your jobs, and that is making people’s lives better.”

The 2022 NSW Premier’s Awards winners are as follows.

NSW public servant of the year was Amanda Causley, welfare services functional area coordinator for Northern NSW and community services caseworker at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.

Causley coordinated over 50 evacuation centres in northern NSW for flood-affected communities, saying there was not “one secret” to getting through the crisis.

“Definitely, a team of supportive colleagues that did help me through being there to support all the communities that were severely affected by the floods in northern New South Wales was just amazing,” Causley said when accepting her award.

Courtney James, a registered midwife, and Aboriginal midwifery caseload model at Western Sydney Local Health District. won the Anthea Kerr Award.

Infrastructure NSW won in the A Strong Economy category for its construction industry shutdown response, with Aboriginal Housing Office getting an honourable mention for supporting homeownership for Aboriginal people.

In Excellence in Digital Innovation, Western NSW Local Health District took home the win for its virtual rural generalist service, with Infrastructure and Place, Transport for NSW getting an honourable mention for M4 Smart Motorway — NSW’s First Smart Motorway.

The Student Assessment Online Reporting Team at the NSW Department of Education won in Highest Quality Education for its Check-in Assessments to enable student learning alongside its partner student assessment and online reporting team, Centra for Education Statistics and Evaluation.

In the same category, the Information and Technology Directorate in the NSW Department of Education got an honourable mention for its rural access gap program, with its partner the NSW Department of Customer Service.

For Putting Citizens at the Centre, the First Nations Support Program in Revenue NSW won.

Patient Transport Service, HealthShare NSW won in the category of Recovery and Resilience for its COVID-19 and Discharge Shuttle Service. Its partners were: National Patient Transport (NPT), Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC), NSW Ministry of Health — System Flow Centre, State Health Emergency Operations Centre (SHEOC), NSW Ambulance & state-wide Local Health Districts.

In the same category, the Learning from Home Team in the NSW Department of Education got an honourable mention for Learning from Home: A Crisis Solution.

Corrective Services NSW won in the Securing Justice and Opportunity for Vulnerable People category for its Pathways to Employment project, with its partners listed as “various organisations and companies in NSW seeking labour” as well as training organisations.

Strategy, Policy and Commissioning at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice got an honourable mention in the same category for its Justice Advocacy Service, with its partner being the Intellectual Disability Rights Service (IDRS).

In Well Connected Communities with Quality Local Environments, Property & Development NSW won for working with local communities to support social and economic outcomes at Brewarrina.

An honourable mention went to Portfolio Management and Policy & Innovation Divisions at the NSW Land and Housing Corporation for the Benefits of Investment in Social Housing Capital Maintenance with its partner PwC.