The winners of the 2025 Vision Super Local Heroes Awards were revealed at a gala awards ceremony that took place at the Victorian Trades Hall Council on Thursday 15 May.
In partnership with the Australian Services Union (ASU), the Vision Super Local Heroes Awards recognise the local government employees who go above and beyond for their community.
The awards ceremony saw strong representation from across the local government community and a genuine sense of pride as the outstanding contributions of over 30 individuals and teams were recognised.
The winners each received a trophy, certificate and $1000 Etfpos gift card, acknowledging the significant difference they have made to their community.
Demonstrating an unwavering dedication to their community and a commitment to empowering others, the winners of the 2025 Local Heroes Awards are:
Environment, Infrastructure and Recreation Local Heroes Award – Metropolitan
- Jamie Cooke, Wyndham City Council
For well over a decade, Jamie has been an invaluable figure in the FReeZA program, which aims to help young people lead the planning, development and delivery of safe, youth-friendly events for young Victorians. Jamie’s mentorship has allowed young people in Wyndham and Melbourne’s west to take on real responsibilities and develop practical skills, which in turn has helped them grow as leaders and for many, even become professionals in the music industry.
Families, Health and Community Development Local Heroes Award – Metropolitan
- Hoa Le, Brimbank City Council
In a community with more than 160 cultures represented, Hoa’s work as a CALD outreach worker for the kindergarten team is essential to ensure children get the best start in their lives. Her skillset sees her use trauma-informed practice techniques and her own lived experience as a refugee to support newly-arrived families and families who have limited English to ensure their children are connected to maternal child health, kindergarten and playgroups across the municipality. Her work is crucial in breaking down barriers and building connection to community for highly vulnerable families.
Environment, Infrastructure and Recreation Local Heroes Award – Regional
- Rachel Whittaker, Northern Grampians Shire Council
When the devastating Grampians bushfires started in December 2024, Rachel was instrumental in supporting the Halls Gap community through its own unique experience of disaster and the beginnings of its recovery. She assisted with relief payment applications, correspondence between community and shire, and streamlining emergency funds for recovery activities, but was also the human face of council – being a friend, a neighbour and a trusted community member for people to talk to in their time of need.
Families, Health and Community Development Local Heroes Award – Regional
- Carol Rosentreter, Mitchell Shire Council
Carol is a Family Social Worker who regularly goes above and beyond, often in her own time and at her own expense, when responding to the needs of her clients. Carol has been known to arrange and participate in weekend clean ups of people’s yards, deliver emergency food and formula to families late on Friday afternoons and provide flexible appointment times out of hours to accommodate parents’ work commitments. She strongly agitates other agencies to do more for families and builds strong support networks around families to facilitate sustained change.
Runner-up prizes, consisting of a certificate and a $500 eftpos gift card, were awarded to the following nominees for their tireless efforts improve the safety and well-being of their communities:
- Declan Napier, Greater Shepparton City Council
Flood recovery is a lengthy and complex process, and Declan has played a key role in the establishment of council’s Resilience in Recovery program, taking a community-led approach to disaster recovery. As the first Community Recovery Coordinator employed as part of the program, Declan has led a range of initiatives including community movie and comedy nights, psychological first aid training, sport and music activities for young people, post-flood gardening events, pool parties in small towns and community check-in and emergency management planning sessions. Her leadership, community engagement skills and commitment to creating positive change at the ground level are creating strong social community ties in the region’s most flood impacted communities.
- Housing Services Team, Melton City Council
Across the City of Melton, there has been significant increase in the number of community members who are experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, there are no existing funded assertive outreach services that provide specialised support to people who are sleeping rough, so the Housing Services Team led the establishment of a working group to develop the Rough Sleeping Response Initiative. This initiative allows the council and other key stakeholders, including Melbourne City Mission, IPC Health, and Salvation Army, to pool their resources to better support people who are sleeping rough across the municipality.
- Melanie Van Dyk and Fern Sugars, Yarra City Council
Melanie and Fern were nominated for their work as ASU delegates, putting themselves out there to stand up for workers and secure better outcomes for them. They often volunteer their own time for meetings, calls, attending various rallies, training sessions and campaigning events and were instrumental in getting the recent multi-council employer agreement over the line. They advocate for individuals or groups facing discrimination or disadvantage and raise the profile of important issues within the community.
Three nominees also received ‘Honourable Mention’ certificates, designed to acknowledge and praise those who came very close to winning one of the official prizes. These were given to:
- Angelia Norman, Melton City Council
- Emma Foster, Ballarat City Council
- Luke Walker, Maribyrnong City Council
Nominations were open to all local government workers, including employees of associated organisations operated by the council and local libraries, who could demonstrate at least one of the criteria:
- Made a significant difference to a community or member of a community
- Contributed to the safety of an individual or group in the community
- Made a substantial contribution to the welfare of a vulnerable person or group in the community.
People who submitted a nomination were asked to select a category based on whether the nominee works for a metropolitan or regional council and in what capacity they have positively impacted their community.
Every year, the judging panel, comprised of members of the leadership teams at Vision Super and the ASU, is amazed by the quality of the nominations they receive – although this makes choosing the winners no easy feat!
Vision Super was founded in 1947 and was originally established as a public sector fund to provide superannuation cover for local government, the water industry, and other authorities in Victoria.
The fund now has over 167,000 member accounts and works on behalf of members across all industries to help them retire comfortably — but retains a strong link to its local government heritage.
