Awards celebrate community

CHANGE makers and young stars were recognised for their achievements at the seventeenth annual Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co-operative NAIDOC Awards Ceremony last week.

CEO of BDAC Raylene Harradine said the awards were a celebration of recipients’ personal endeavours and the wider impact they have on the Indigenous community.

“It’s noting some of the real experiences and the differences some of the individuals are doing for themselves but also how that trickles on to our wider community too,” she said.

“If we’ve got our young people and even our adults achieving high, that’s a really good thing.”

Zac Gittins received the Aboriginal Employment Award for his dedication to work in times of personal challenge and was nominated by his previous employer, headspace Bendigo.

The 22-year-old was referred to the organisation’s Individual Placement Support program in 2017, which supports young people with mental health concerns in their work, and he continues to promote the program today.

Passionate about breaking the stigma around mental health, Mr Gittins said he wants to pursue a career in the medical field.

“I personally want to get into psychiatry and help young people as well and help see them through their tough times just as mental health practitioners saw me through mine, and hopefully potentially change the trajectory of other young not just Indigenous Australians but even non-Indigenous Australians,” he said.

Another young achiever was 12-year-old Lara Priest, who received the Youth Sports Woman award.

The proud Kamilaroi girl only started playing futsal two years ago but has already been selected to represent Australia in the sport and will travel to New Zealand in December before heading to New Caledonia next year.

Lara said she “wasn’t expecting” the award and is “pretty excited” for the upcoming competitions.