The 2025 Augusta Zadow Awards winners were presented by the Governor of South Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, at a Government House ceremony today.

Presented each October during National Safe Work Month, the awards support initiatives, research or further education that improve health and safety for women and young workers in South Australia.

The Augusta Zadow Awards have been run by SafeWork SA since 2005. To celebrate 20 years of the awards, funding was increased this year to $40,000 maximum per project.

The 2025 winners are:

Education and Awareness Presentation to Reduce Electric Shocks in SA – Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union

Chris Green, Max Mawby and Michelle Rath (pictured below from left).

The education awareness program is targeted at workers aged 16-23 in response to a high number of electric shocks among this age range. SafeWork SA is awarding $39,600 to support the project.

When ShIft woRk meets mENopause (SIREN) – University of South Australia

Dr Linda Grosser and Dr Crystal Yates (pictured below from left).

This project will identify strategies and develop resources to help women facing the simultaneous challenges of menopause and shift work. SafeWork SA will support the project with $17,752 in funding.

Culturally Safe WHS Induction Toolkit for Young Aboriginal Construction Workers – University of South Australia

Jayne Boase, Dr Udara Ranasinghe, Dr Chamitha Wijewickrama, Janet Doolan, Associate Professor Karen Sinclair and Dr Aparna Samaraweera (pictured top from left to right).

$15,000 in funding will support this culturally safe toolkit to help address the higher risk of work-related injuries among young Aboriginal construction workers.

The project is a collaboration between the University of South Australia, the University of Adelaide, and the South Australian Aboriginal Building and Civil Construction Academy.

Augusta Zadow was an advocate and safety champion for women’s rights in the workplace as South Australia’s “First Lady Inspector of Factories” in 1895 – 130 years ago. She was a woman ahead of her time, with many of today’s working conditions attributable to her advocacy.

The wide range of high-quality and innovative applications this year made it a highly competitive round.

Quotes attributable to SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell

It is exciting to see such a diverse range of winning submissions that proactively address current incident trends and risks in South Australian workplaces.

Each year, we see a wide range of innovative ideas that could address common issues while being widely applicable across many workplaces.

SafeWork SA is proud to run the awards and looks forward to seeing the winning projects come to fruition.