Past Award Winners

Individual Youth Winner: Neve Guilfoile, from Northlake

Neve enjoys living an active life – physically, mentally and socially. She is an active member of the ‘peer pals’ program at her school, Corpus Christi College, which supports students with disabilities to develop their confidence and social skills – and encourages them to integrate into mainstream school activities.

Impressively, Neve was awarded a young Champion for the Every Australian Counts campaign for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) for her tireless efforts advocating for the scheme. This involved letterbox drops, packing materials for rallies and assisting her disabled brother to educate people about the NDIS at public events. Neve shows how great life can be when you Act-Belong-Commit and that you’re never too young to start.

Individual Adult Winner: Amer Khan, from Padbury

Amer’s small business, Sculpture Personal Training has the sole mission of enhancing the physical and mental wellbeing of all who attend his classes. Amer goes above and beyond to create an inclusive environment for everyone, from disadvantaged and disabled people, to those suffering weight-loss challenges; to parents with young children and those who have suffered significant personal difficulties in life. He is committed to fundraising for charities and organises regular social events for everyone in the community.  Amer is passionate about the Act-Belong-Commit message and seizes every opportunity to extend the message to others. 

Individual Senior Winner: Les Dearden, from Bunbury

Les is a fantastic example of someone who epitomises the Act-Belong-Commit ethos and has a long list of contributions to the Bunbury community. Les teaches up to five Tai Chi classes per week at various centres in the area, either for free or for minimal pay.

In addition Les assists the staff at the Milligan Community Centre by helping out as their handyman and gardening guru. Les has made financial donations to the centre’s annual fundraising quiz nights, demonstrating his commitment to helping the centre thrive as a hub of the community.

Most impressively, Les is the coach and coordinator for the local ‘Big Issue Community Soccer Program’ supporting marginalised people to become more productive members of their community through soccer. Les goes above and beyond to ensure that team members get the most out of the program, including travelling with the team to Sydney for four days to compete in the National Championships last year. The program’s participants attest to the changes they have seen in their lives and the improvement in both their physical and mental well-being.

Act-Belong-Commit Partner Winner: Men’s Resource Centre, in Albany

The Men’s Resource Centre has a multi-faceted approach to promoting Act-Belong-Commit to the whole Albany community, ensuring the message is heard loud and clear.

The Centre hosts an annual ‘Australia Day Act-Belong-Commit Fun Run and Family Walk’ for the whole community. This event encourages participants to be mentally, physically and socially active and lifts the spirit of everyone involved.

The annual Belt It Out for Blokes concert is another of the Centre’s initiatives; encouraging men in the Great Southern region to spend time with others who share the same values, interests and hobbies. Participants have reported a great sense of belonging to the group and performing to their friends and family each year gives them a great sense of achievement and pride.

One of the main strategies that the Centre uses to promote good wellbeing is through their Pit Stop Wellness checks that they deliver to local businesses, government organisations, schools, sporting clubs and various other community groups throughout the year.

The Centre’s programs play a vital role in improving and maintaining the community’s wellbeing.

Act-Belong-Commit Site Winner: City of Rockingham

The City’s dedication to developing innovative community programs that get people thinking about their mental health and what they can do to stay mentally healthy is the key to their success.

The City has taken the extra step and committed to improve the mental health and community participation of their citizens by listing Act-Belong-Commit as a strategy within their Health and Wellbeing plan.

Rockingham was the first local government in Western Australia to become an Act-Belong-Commit community in 2008. Since then, over seven local governments have followed their lead.

In particular, Mentally Healthy WA applauds the city for its annual PhotoVoice competition and exhibition which encourages participants to take photos based on the mentally healthy theme.

Other initiatives include a Walking Group for parents, an Act-Belong-Commit Rockingham newsletter, placing print adverts in local papers, message promotion at Healthway sponsored events, merchandise give-aways to community groups, and sponsoring the local sports clubs uniforms.

The City of Rockingham utilises the Act-Belong-Commit message as a valuable mental health promotion tool for the whole community as well as assisting to support the campaign state-wide and nationally.

Primary School Winner: Cooinda Primary School, in Bunbury

The staff at Cooinda Primary School are committed to promoting positive mental health and well-being throughout the whole school community.

The school has established strong partnerships with community organisations including the local church as well as various service providers and agencies.

A ‘kids hope’ mentoring program has been established with the local church to assist students with their education, self-confidence and overall well-being.

In addition, every fortnight Cooinda Primary School hosts ‘KidsMatter Cuppas’  whereby parents and local community organisations and services are encouraged to interact, socialise and learn about local community issues. Each classroom has a parent ‘rep’ to connect the families in that class and increase the connectedness of the students and overall Cooinda Primary School Community.

In order to support the growing number of non-English speaking families, Cooinda Primary School has established a community connection group that brings greater recognition of different cultures into the school; activities include a Bollywood Dancing group and hosting community festivals.

Being part of the KidsMatter Framework has provided staff at Cooinda Primary School the ability to look closer at the mental health of students and take action to improve their well-being.

Secondary School Winner: Lockridge Senior High School, in Kiara

Since launching their partnership with Mentally Healthy WA two years ago, Lockridge Senior High School staff have organised a great range of activities to improve morale within the school and increase connectedness between staff, students and parents.

The school has a wellbeing committee that guides the implementation of the Act-Belong-Commit campaign within the school. One of the main initiatives includes teaching mental health resiliency within the classroom by delivering programs such as Shine (self-esteem), M Power (anti-bullying) and Drumbeat.

In addition, the school recognises ‘RU OK?’ day each year, which encourages students to ask their peers if they are ok.

Students have produced the ‘school clubs’ initiative which involves various lunchtime clubs that anyone can join, including a soccer club, a rubix cube club and a running club. Another innovation is the Music Rock program that allows disadvantaged students to make music with professional recording artists.

Lockridge Senior High School has some strong partnerships with external organisations such as Youth Focus, Youth Connections, City of Swan Youth Services and Generations Centre which aids the success of their mental health promoting activities.

The wide range of activities each term ensures positive mental health behaviours are instilled in the whole school community.

2011 Individual Youth Winner: Nick Maisey

Nick Maisey from Ardross was the deserving winner of the 2011 Act-Belong-Commit Individual Youth Award. Nick acts, belongs and commits every day and thoroughly enjoys the mental health benefits he gets from staying involved in his community.

Nick is involved in a wide variety of activities and organisations, which he agrees helps to keep him mentally healthy. Some of his interests include reading, kayaking, indoor soccer, trivia nights with friends and going to the movies. He belongs to many different groups including the Rotary Club of Crawley, the Curtin Go-Global program and Befriend Inc.

Nick has made a notable contribution to the wider community by starting up Befriend Inc, a non-profit organisation that aims to reduce social isolation in the community and works towards a more socially inclusive society. Befriend organises monthly social events that welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to come and socialise in an inclusive environment. Since its inception in 2010, Befriend Inc. has grown to around 300 active members.

2011 Individual Adult Winner: Tanya Dupagne

The winner of the 2011 Act-Belong-Commit Individual Adult Award was Tanya Dupagne from Wellard. Tanya has been involved in her community for a long time and has made valuable contributions to a number of groups and programs, most importantly the Koorliny Arts Centre Boys and Girls Club, a club that teaches basic life skills to local youth. She also organises the Live and Loud concert, an annual event that brings together all community groups in her area.

Tanya enjoys setting personal goals and challenges—and achieves them by continually training and up-skilling herself with the necessary expertise. Tanya's latest challenge is through her position as the General Manager of the Global Good Foundation, which works with individuals who have been affected by domestic violence.

Tanya's passion and dedication for building a stronger Kwinana community has brought numerous benefits to the region. All programs have instilled a sense of social responsibility, particularly among children and young people—and have created and strengthened links with other services and organisations in the area. One noticeable difference to the Kwinana community is increased community participation among children and young people. More children and young people are joining in community events and clubs and there is an increased level of family involvement within the town.

2011 Individual Senior Winner: Karen Ducat

Karen Ducat of Northam was the winner of the 2011 Act-Belong-Commit Individual Senior Award. Karen has immersed herself in a variety of activities and groups over the years. Her main passion includes taking care of the animals on her farm, something that keeps her physically active. She has also been a local rehabilitator and releaser of wildlife animals for the Department of Environment and Conservation for the past 23 years.

Karen belongs to the Northam Over 60s, a vibrant seniors' group she has led for the past 12 years and in 2010 she achieved her lifelong goal which was to organise a Historical, Agricultural and Environmental Festival. The festival was a huge success, and now attracts over 3000 people from around the state annually.

Karen is skilled at linking groups and organisations together to help and support mutual efforts. She has made a valuable contribution to the community through the numerous groups she is devoted to— and feels this is what living and belonging to a community is all about.

2011 Act-Belong-Commit Partner Winner: Men’s Resource Centre

The Men's Resource Centre (MRC) in Albany was the deserving winner of the 2011 Act-Belong-Commit Community Partner Award.

The Men's Resource Centre hosts singing concerts and workshops and offers free Health Check Pit Stops to local businesses, governments, schools, sporting clubs and prisons. The Australia Day Fun Run and Family Walk is a particularly successful community event that lifts the spirits of all participants.

The Centre is dedicated to promoting the Act-Belong-Commit message. This is evident through the effective way the message is communicated to a diverse audience at all events. All clients that attend the Men's Resource Centre are reminded why the Act-Belong-Commit guidelines are beneficial for good mental health and wellbeing. The message is also spread via radio and newspaper promotions, community announcements and signage and merchandise is displayed at all Men's Resource Centre events.

2011 Act-Belong-Commit Site Winner: City of Rockingham

The City of Rockingham has excelled in the local implementation of Act-Belong-Commit, epitomising how a local government can play a part in promoting good mental health and creating resilient communities.

Specific strategies include a "What's on?" update to community members to advertise the many activities that are available to them in the Rockingham area, merchandise packs for community clubs and groups as an incentive to run mentally healthy activities, and the Annual PhotoVoice competition that encourages participants to take photos relating to the Act-Belong-Commit theme.

The City of Rockingham was the first local government site to adopt the positive mental health promotion campaign Act-Belong-Commit— and since then many other local councils have followed suit.