Monica Hayes Award honours Bellarine volunteer

A long-serving member of the Portarlington Football Netball Club has been named the

recipient of the 2026 Monica Hayes Award.

Club secretary Anne Mathieson received the honour during the annual Northern Bellarine International Women’s Day celebration at Drysdale winery Scotchmans Hill last week.

Mathieson was nominated for the award alongside three other women: the Drysdale Soccer Club’s Grace Hudson, Portarlington Cricket Club’s Sarah Chisholm and Portarlington Golf Club’s Jan Cogger.

Mathieson has been involved with the Portarlington Football Netball Club since the 1970s, contributing as an A-grade player, umpire and office bearer before taking on her role as secretary.

Northern Bellarine International Women’s Day committee member Jenny Wills said Mathieson’s work at the club had helped create a more inclusive environment for women and girls.

“As governance director in 2021, she addressed barriers to participation, with the club mandating zero-tolerance for any form of discrimination and later had a key role in developing the club’s new model strategic plan which reflected gender equality goals.”

The Monica Hayes Award commemorates the life of respected northern Bellarine community leader, activist and feminist Monica Hayes, who died in 2016.

This year marks a decade since her passing, with the 2026 award placing a special focus on the role of sport in community life.

Last week’s celebration was attended by more than 100 women and featured a presentation by guest speaker Mary Crooks, who served as executive director of the Victorian Women’s Trust between 1996 and 2025.

Wills said Crooks reflected on the long history of women advocating for safety and equality in her speech, which will be published online by the Northern Bellarine International Women’s Day committee in the coming days.

“She noted that women active in the early suffrage movement in Victoria sought the vote so as to have their say in combating gendered violence,” Wills said.

“Today, with ongoing violence and coercive control of women and girls, Mary noted the challenge remains, but with a stark difference in that women’s voices will no longer be silent.”