WA’s champions named in Australian of the Year Awards
Geriatrics specialist Dr Penny Flett has been named the WA Australian of the Year. She recently also won Aged and Community Services Australia’s (ACSA) 2008 National Award for Excellence.
She holds a number of roles in the aged care industry including Brightwater Care Group chief executive and chairwoman of the WA Aged Care Advisory Council.
Dr Flett was recognised for her work in enhancing the lives of older people and her passion to change community attitudes about them.
She oversaw the development of the state’s Aged Care Plan in her council role, which has provided a guide to the development of aged care services.
Influential Indigenous leader and reconciliation campaigner Patrick Dodson was named WA Senior Australian of the Year.
Mr Dodson, the recent winner of the Sydney Peace Prize, was recognised for his lifetime commitment to the Australian community.
He was known as the “father of reconciliation” when he became founding chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in the 1970s and has spent his life working for the rights of Indigenous Australians.
Australian of the Year Awards director Tam Johnston said the winners of the State awards would be finalists in the 2009 Australian of the Year Awards, announced in Canberra on 25 January, 2009.
