Finalists announced for 2022 Prime Minister's National Veterans’ Employment Awards

AUSTRALIA'S top veteran employers, employees and entrepreneurs are being celebrated today as finalists for the 2022 Prime Minister’s National Veterans’ Employment Awards are unveiled.

Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh said the awards provide the opportunity not only to recognise organisations that actively recruit, employ and support veterans, but celebrate the successes of veterans in their careers post service.   

“As a nation we value the contributions made by veterans and their ongoing commitment to service, and we recognise the valuable skills they bring to the civilian workforce,” Mr Keogh said.

“Making sure that our community is aware of the great benefit that veterans can bring to business is so important, that’s why these awards celebrate the businesses who work with veterans and families.

“The finalists for this year’s awards have all gone above and beyond to create environments where veterans and their families will have successful careers.

“Judges were impressed with the quality and calibre of nominations received.  It is clear to me that many Australian businesses know just how great veteran employees are.”

Mr Keogh said that these businesses have a competitive edge.

“Veterans bring with them great skills that they have gained in Defence. These are individuals with great leadership skills, teamwork capacity, analytical skills, with the ability to work under pressure and to be agile, all critical skills in the modern economy," he said.

“I am also so pleased that there’s some new categories in these awards - ‘partner employee’ and ‘partner entrepreneur’.

“It is very hard to find a good ongoing job or further your own career as a Defence spouse or family member if you are having to relocate regularly. We need to work with business so they can better understand that even if this person is only going to be employed for a short time, they are going to provide huge value to business."

The annual awards are part of the Prime Minister’s National Veterans’ Employment Program.

Winners will be announced at an award ceremony taking place in Canberra later this year.

 

Full list of finalists

Category	Name/Representative	Company
Veteran Employee of the Year	Rodney Davis	Sonder
	Nick Elston	GSA Management Consulting
	Chris Gray	Vasey RSL Care
Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year	David Ballantyne & Chris Moss	BMCorp
	Garth Chester	Valenhold
	Warwick Penrose	EPE (Explosive Protective Equipment)
Partner Employee of the Year	Lydia Teychenné	Prince’s Trust Australia
	Tamara Turner	Axon Property Group
	Katie Vidal	She Maps
Partner Entrepreneur of the Year	Hayley Boswell	Defence Kidz
	Jacqueline Brauman	TBA Law
	Kelly Willmott	Green Fox Training Studio
Employer of the Year - Large		Cubic Defence Australia
		Serco Australia
		Veolia Australia & New Zealand
Employer of the Year - Medium		Bluerydge
		JLB-Yaran
		Veterans in Construction
Employer of the Year - Small		BRAVO Electrical and HVAC
		Precision Technic Defence
		Viden Consulting Group
Excellence in Supporting Veteran and/or Partner Employment		Brisbane Motorway Services
		RSL Queensland
		Vertical Scope Group