SafeWork SA has put up $25,000 in grants to develop health and safety initiatives for women or young people.

The 2020 Augusta Zadow Awards were established in recognition of the work done by Augusta Zadow in the late 1800s in gaining health safety rights for women and young workers that we now take for granted.

“I encourage South Australian’s to continue the legacy of Augusta Zadow in submitting their initiatives that champion innovation and improve the health and safety of women or young people working in South Australia,” SafeWork SA executive director Martyn Campbell said.

The award grant can be used to develop a work health and safety initiative, meet the cost of further education or research.

Successful applicants must propose a project that will benefit women and young people by providing a solution to a work health and safety issue, and/or significantly improving health and safety through research and further education.

“SafeWork SA has recently seen many ways that businesses have adapted to new ways of working and innovated in how they operate during COVID-19 restrictions, while maintaining health and safety in the workplace,” Mr Campbell said.

“It would be great to see people apply for a grant to share these innovations so the wider community can also benefit.”

Last year’s award recipients received $10,000 each.

Cassandra Deon-Wierda from the Working Women’s Centre has used the grant to develop training for hairdressers in regional towns to recognise and respond to domestic and family violence.

The second award recipient for 2019, Georgia Thain from Sex Industry Network Incorporated (SIN), put it towards research to help understand the specific health and safety requirements of the sex industry as it goes through proposed reforms.

More information is available here.