Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate the Northern Rivers 2016 Volunteer of the Year and Adult Volunteer of the Year, David Steward. David is from Byron Bay, and he was rightly recognised for his really outstanding work at the Byron Community Centre. This year was the 10th annual Volunteer of the Year award, recognising volunteers across 20 regions in New South Wales. Northern Rivers volunteers from Byron Bay, Lennox Head and Yamba were acknowledged for the remarkable work they do within our region.

The volunteer awards are convened by the Centre for Volunteering. The centre's CEO, Gemma Rygate, said:

… volunteers improve people's lives by helping out, keeping people connected and creating a sense of belonging in communities.

This year the Centre for Volunteering received a record number of nominations—more than 7½ thousand nominations acknowledging more than 100,000 volunteers, which is a record number since the awards began 10 years ago. Congratulations to David Steward, who is an integral part of the Byron Community Centre in his work from the back office to the front of office in house ticketing and ushering duties at the Byron theatre. David's talents and enthusiasm are applied across a very wide range of tasks. He also works regularly at the Byron markets. So, congratulations to him. I also note that the Senior Volunteer of the Year is Doug Stinson, of the Cancer Council. Doug lives at Lennox Head. Thanks so much to volunteers like David and Doug, whose great work really enriches the lives of so many people whilst making the north coast an even better place to live.

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