In the 1800s Augusta Zadow fought for the work health and safety rights of women and young workers that today we take for granted. Find out more about the pioneering work of Augusta Zadow.
In recognition of her work, SafeWork SA established the Augusta Zadow Awards to support initiatives, research or further education that improves health and safety for women and young workers in South Australia.
2020 winners
Stephen Sverchek and Larry Waller
Organisation: Youth Opportunities
Project: Young people in the workforce: A pathway to safety and success
Dr Ancret Szpak and Dr Jun Ahn
Organisation: University of South Australia
Project: Testing the effectiveness of virtual reality-based training for forklift operation safety skills among young people
2019
Cassandra Deon-Wierda
Project: Responding to client disclosures: Training for hairdressers in recognising and responding to domestic and family violence.
Award: $10,000
Georgia Thain
Project: Work Health and Safety in the sex industry of South Australia: Beyond criminalisation.
Award: $10,000
2018
Alex Thomas
Project: The #PlantASeedForSafety social media awareness campaign with 100 case studies of rural women who have improved safety to engage and inspire others.
Award: $20,000
Sara Howard
Project: To work with VET students to understand the implications of cobots in the workplace, and how this impacts safety for their career going forward.
Award: $15,000
Jaspreet Kaur and Anne Purdy
Project: To develop and translate multilingual fact sheets to support women to better understand the worker’s compensation scheme and navigate the psychological work injury claims process.
Award: $10,000
2017
Michelle Tuckey
Project: Prevention of workplace bullying through risk assessment: final project report.
Award: $10,000
Andie Xu
Project: Understanding the impact of sunlight exposure on hot flush symptoms.
Award: $10,000
2016
Karen Baines
Project: Safety groups for farm women. A farm safety implementation program pilot model for the future delivery of farm safety improvements.
Award: $10,000
Professor Susan Gordon
Project: Preventing and managing aggression in aged care.
Award: $10,000
2015
Dr Olivia Lockwood and Andy Roberts
Project: Developing strategies to reduce workplace injuries for sonographers.
Award: $10,000
Ms Anne Purdy and Ms Janet Giles
Project: Work health and safety risks associated with social and community services workers who are required to sleepover at their workplaces as part of their job.
Award: $10,000
2014
Gemma Beale
Project: The safety of female casual and seasonal workers during South Australia's 'Mad March'.
Award: $10,000
Renae Fernandez
Project: Identifying occupations performed by women that contribute to an increased risk of impaired fertility.
Award: $10,000
2013
Dr Claire Jones
Project: Biomechanic Evaluation of Spine and Knee Loads in Women performing a novel 'arm-to-thigh' technique for one-handed reaching and lifting tasks.
Award: $10,000
Dr Joy Penman
Project: Mental, psychosocial and emotional-safe environments for female immigrant nurses in rural and regional aged care services : an educational resource manual for new recruits.
Award: $10,000
2012
Dr Moira Jenkins
Project: Developing a group program to help workers who have sustained psychological injury as a result of workplace bullying or harassment, and as a consequence are no longer working, to return to safe work.
Award: $16,900
2011
Kathryn McEwen
Project: Building resilience at an individual and collective level for staff.
Award: $10,000
Sharyn Gaskin
Project: The influence of cosmetics on the skin absorption of chemicals amongst female workers.
Award: $9,150
2010
Nadine Levy and Anne Purdy
Project: Experiences of sexual harassment amongst young women workers: an exploration of power and opportunity.
Award: $10,000
Valerie O'Keeffe
Project: Nurses health and safety decision-making and the role of safety information.
Award: $5,000
Jessica Smith
Project: Raising awareness in the workplace of the potential impact of hazardous substances on fertility and pregnancy.
Award: $5,000
2009
Vicki Hutchinson and Belinda Purvis
Project: Management of aggression/violence in a clinical environment.
Award: $8,000
Kathy Grieve
Project: Menopause & work project: final report
Award: $6,760
2008
Georgina Upton and Bronwyn Knight
Project: Risk management techniques for digital mammography.
Award: $10,000
Susan Mitchell
Project: Minimisation of musculoskeletal sprains and strains in the Early Special Education field.
Award: $7,350
2007
Dr Elspeth McInnes and Christy Ward
Project: Supporting the occupational health and safety needs of Family Day Care providers in South Australia.
Award: $12,000
2006
Sharon Henderson, Alex Neill, John Packer and Craig Brown
Project: The three firms combined to produce a prototype motorised 'comfort chair mover' for residents of aged care homes, as well as motorised trolleys for high use and heavy duties.
The Scholarship will go towards funding a multi-language DVD-based training tool, and research to identify other industries where manual handling tasks may affect the well-being of women and to demonstrate the product to them.
Award: $10,000
2005
Alana Hale
Project: This scholarship was awarded to Alana Hale to undertake a study trip to London to participate in the Health and Safety Representative training for occupational stress and to work with the trainers in the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The focus of this work was to identify what had worked well in minimising the risks of stress - particularly in women.
Award: $10,000
Karen Grogan
Project: The project examined ways of reducing bullying in the Public Sector, a major employer of women and also examined how women's leadership styles were being challenged in traditional patriarchal working environments.
Award: $10,000
Augusta Zadow
27 August 1846 - 7 July 1896
Augusta Zadow was an advocate for women's rights in the workplace and became South Australia's 'First Lady Inspector of Factories' in 1895. She was a woman ahead of her time, with many of the working conditions women enjoy today attributable to her advocacy.
She became an advocate for women working in clothing factories and was a major contributor to the establishment of the Working Women's Trades Union in 1890 and was a delegate to the United Trades and Labour Council of South Australia.
An outspoken supporter of women's suffrage, following the franchise of women in South Australia in 1894 she was appointed as a factory inspector to monitor working conditions for women and children.
Augusta is buried in the West Terrace Cemetery. Her gravestone was built with 1,000 threepenny subscriptions from factory workers.
In recognition of her work, SafeWork SA's Augusta Zadow Awards can help you meet the costs of a work health and safety initiative that benefits working women, research or further education.
Find out more: