Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on a happy note. I warmly and loudly congratulate Trish Keilty on winning the City of Greater Dandenong Citizen of the Year award for her amazing work at Avocare. Some months ago I had the pleasure of touring Avocare with the member for Isaacs. It's an incredible facility. Trish in fact founded this charity over 14 years ago, in 2003. It has now been serving the people of Dandenong for over a decade, supporting local charities to provide care for struggling families, the elderly and the disenfranchised. Trish and her team have managed all this while never receiving any direct or untied government funding at any level. Their workforce includes unemployed people, who learn employability and industry based skills while also supporting the community. There is this incredible map—I wish I could table it, but that's not permitted at this time in the House—which shows 100-plus charities that Avocare provides assistance and distribution to, not just in Dandenong but across the whole south-east of Melbourne. They partner with Foodbank to provide much-needed food relief to the local community. They are the lead partner in the distribution of 421,000 kilograms of food.

Trish's compassion and energy are palpable and shine through whenever you meet her. It is typical, when Trish received this award, that the first thing she did was acknowledge the work of others and the other volunteers, but I congratulate Trish Keilty and the team at Avocare, and urge them to keep up the work.