Aboriginal rights campaigner and former rugby league international Katrina Fanning was named Canberra's 2014 Woman of the Year at the ACT Women's Awards on Thursday evening.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
After a year off to ''revamp'' the awards to capture a broader range of women in the community, two new categories were introduced, with Sue Salthouse named Senior Woman of the Year and Dr Kate Eisenberg the Young Woman of the Year.
Ms Fanning grew up in Junee and moved to Canberra after high school, starting her career with a traineeship in the ACT public service while playing rugby league for Australia for more than a decade.
When she retired, she was the most capped female player in the world, and credits her experience on football fields for her professional achievements and leadership style, striving to get the best out of everyone in her team.
Professionally, Ms Fanning is now the general manager of operations for Aboriginal Hostels, a government organisation housing indigenous people living away from home, but has advocated for indigenous people throughout her public sector career.
Whether it's reminding large agencies that indigenous people have skills which can be used beyond indigenous specific roles, establishing the indigenous showcase to promote local businesses or sitting on the board of Australian Rugby League Indigenous Council, Ms Fanning is driven to increase the involvement of her people in all facets of the community.
''It comes from making sure we're as much a part of decision-making processes - whether it's on an indigenous specific topic or not - as anyone else,'' she said.
Minister for Women Joy Burch presented the awards, and praised the decision of the independent selection panel, having seen firsthand the work of Ms Fanning as well as Sue Salthouse, who co-chairs the National Disability Insurance Scheme expert panel in the ACT.
Ms Salthouse has worked to address discrimination which marginalises women - particularly those with disabilities - in private and public spheres.
Dr Kate Eisenberg, 27, is an intern at Calvary Hospital, a board member at the Women's Centre for Health Matters and a support worker at Karinya House.
Minister Burch believes the new awards will continue to expand the recognition of women making contributions across diverse fields.
''In its earlier days there was a strong focus on the community sector … but as women have such high participation across a whole range of employment, I think it's right and proper that we capture that all as well,'' she said.
