The City of Cockburn has taken out the top honour at the eighth annual 2018 Children’s Environment and Health Local Government Policy Awards for their demonstrated commitment to addressing the needs of children in local community policies.
The awards, hosted by the Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia (PHAIWA) based at Curtin University, recognised the strategies that local governments are undertaking in order to improve and promote child health.
The Shire of Waroona was also named the 2018 Regional Award Winner in recognition of its outstanding policy development and implementation in the area of children’s environment and health in a regional area. The Shire of Waroona was also named the winner of the Aboriginal Child Health award for the development of the Aboriginal youth health program, the Baldja Program.
Dr Melissa Stoneham, PHAIWA’s Director, congratulated all recipients, adding the awards illustrate the important role that local government plays in promoting positive change in Western Australian communities.
“I am delighted to recognise all the winners and nominees from the awards who demonstrated and implemented key policies and processes that had an impact on the future health of children and their surrounding communities,” Dr Stoneham said.
“These awards are important as they recognise the WA local government sector, which plays a key role in the upbringing of local children in the community, for promoting positive change and creating healthy opportunities for children.
“It is fantastic to see the strong commitment from local government and councils across the State and the awards are a great opportunity to recognise and showcase the leaders in this space.”
The local governments are scored through a report card process, which assesses policy, evaluates program quality, promotes program improvement, and informs and advocates for programs in settings such as schools, urban planning and health services.
At an award ceremony held today, 13 metropolitan and 23 regional local governments were involved in the awards, which were presented by the Hon David Templeman, the Minister for Local Government; Heritage; and Culture.
The Children’s Environment and Health Local Government Policy Awards are supported by Healthway and Walga. For further information on the awards, visit here.
