2025 ARPA WA Award Ceremony Program

The 2025 ARPA WA Excellence in Workplace Rehabilitation Awards would not be possible without the valued and generous contributions of our sponsors.

Outstanding Consultant Awards

About the award: Nominations in the Outstanding Consultant category included outcomes achieved by the consultant, evidence of employer and worker satisfaction, showing

• how the Health Benefits of Good Work were implemented and
• how the consultant’s achievements contributed to the business and the wider industry

Outstanding Consultant - Same Employer Services

Catherine Nolan : Recovre Group
Catherine has successfully implemented evidence-based rehabilitation programs that have resulted in an increase in employee return-to-work rates, demonstrating their effectiveness in facilitating recovery and reintegration. Additionally, she has played a pivotal role in developing training workshops for supervisors within the business enhancing the team's skills in delivering high-quality care for injured workers. 

Chelsea Arvidson : WorkFocus Australia
Chelsea is a highly respected Senior Consultant, recognised in 2024 with an internal company award for delivering exceptional outcomes and impactful interventions. Renowned for her knowledge, experience and team support, she is always the first to offer guidance on treatment planning, role modification, or to step in and cover other consultants' appointments when needed. She is a trusted mentor, regularly supervising Exercise Physiology students and supporting their professional development. She is also a passionate advocate for workplace rehabilitation, actively promoting the field through her involvement with ESSA.

Jacqui Baldrey : APM WorkCare
Jacqui has received the most NPS feedback across our organisation and sustained 10/10 scores across all surveys for the past 9-months. This includes an even distribution of results from Clients, Employers and Insurers with comments praising her collaboration and support. She is highly valued in the private WC insurance sector, her desire to understand organisations operations has cemented her as a preferred provider with Department of Education, LifeBlood and early intervention and RTW services for national employers including Fenner Dunlop and Australia Post. Her expertise also sees her support highly complex psychological cases with WA Police, receiving direct referrals from Perth Station– their largest district. The above customer portfolio resulted in 81 repeat referrals for the last 12 months

Lucy Hardford : Acumen Health
Since joining our organisation, Lucy has consistently demonstrated excellence in injury management, achieving a 100% same-employer return-to-work rate across 25 closures. Her methodical, proactive approach ensures each case is managed with precision, empathy, and a deep understanding of the health benefits of good work. Lucy's fresh, clinically informed perspective has enhanced injury management practices and RTW outcomes. Her rapid progression from entry-level to Senior Consultant (10 months), and Team Manager (five months later), attests to her talent, leadership, and commitment to quality service.

Outstanding Consultant - New Employer Services

Harrison Gray : WorkFocus Australia
Harrison's success reflects his unwavering commitment to the Health Benefits of Good Work (HBGW) philosophy. He goes above and beyond, coordinating urgent scans and mental health support, engaging vocational counsellors, financial planners, and reverse marketing strategies to help workers see a meaningful path forward. He has a rare ability to work with efficiency, empathy, and unwavering commitment to his stakeholders. In the past 12 months alone, HH has delivered over 1,720 hours of intervention across 4,199 actions, all while consistently managing a caseload of 40 complex files. Despite the volume, HH never compromises on quality.

Tenielle Woodward : WorkFocus Australia
Tenielle is not only an exceptional consultant delivering outstanding outcomes, but also a respected leader, managing a team of seven. While she is widely recognised for her return to work success, her greatest impact is in New Employer. Born and raised in the regional town she services, Tenielle draws on deep community connections to help injured workers find meaningful employment—giving back to individuals and the broader region. Her greatest strength lies in her ability to build and utilise networks—always seeking ways to connect and support her workers, employers, and community.

Linda Bathman : Corporeal Health
Linda's impact on Corporeal Health has been nothing short of transformative. Her deep understanding of the individual needs of clients, combined with her commitment to sourcing meaningful employment, has made Linda an integral part of our team. Linda works across Same and New Employer files, ensuring that clients are matched with the right work trials based on their skills, interests, and capacities. Her efforts extend beyond just identifying work trials, she provides tailored support to clients, helping them refine their resumes, build confidence, and prepare for job interviews. Linda’s extensive network of host employers spans various industries, allowing her to find placements for clients in both metro and regional areas.

Outstanding Achievement in Return to Work Awards

About the award: Nominations were considered on the merit of a return to work outcome on a particularly complex or unique case, requiring: explanation of the case background and any complex elements and how the consultant overcame barriers and difficulties implementing the Health Benefits of Good Work.

Outstanding Achievement in Return to Work Award – Physical Claim

Genevieve Steed : Recovre Group
Genevieve has become the preferred choice among our regional clients. From the moment they receive a referral, they reframe “return to work” as an active treatment, not an administrative after-thought. Genevieve transforms remote injuries into test-beds for innovation: steel-caps on site, tele-rehab in the cloud and data dashboards for total transparency. Their mastery of the HBGW turned a near-lost forestry claim into a thriving return to work, inspiring systemic change across the plantation.

Joanna Townsend : Rehabilitation Services by Altius
Joanna exemplifies excellence in Injury Management through a compassionate approach, strategic thinking, and unwavering commitment to achieving sustainable, worker-centred outcomes. Managing an average caseload of approximately 45 clients on a part-time basis—with 75% made up of direct referrals, Joanna consistently delivers outstanding results across complex injury cases. Maintaining an outstanding 100% return-to-work rate and an average case duration of just 172 days, reflecting her skill in managing complex physical injury claims.

Tayla Cleave : WorkFocus Australia
Tayla is an exceptional Injury Management Specialist. She is dedicated to providing Return-to-Work (RTW) support for workers in regional WA. She advocates for the health benefits of work, leveraging her knowledge of local conditions, injuries, recovery, and the worker’s compensation system to ensure workers receive optimal care and support. Her proactive, approachable nature allows her to quickly build rapport, identify barriers, and set goals, ensuring workers are effectively supported in their Return to Work (RTW) journey.

Outstanding Achievement in Return to Work Award – Psychological Claim

Ellen Allen : Recovre Group
For more than five years Ellen has guided injured workers through the maze of psychological recovery, and in every case the HBGW sits at the centre of the conversation. Rather than treating employment as an end-point, the consultant views purposeful activity as part of the therapy itself. By blending tele-health ingenuity with ground-level empathy, Ellen turned a traumatic underground fatality into a story of renewed purpose and sustainable employment. The result, 100 percent RTW across complex psychological claims, sets a benchmark for our industry and proves that distance and trauma need not dictate destiny.

Rebecca Kidd : WorkFocus Australia
Rebecca's reputation for outstanding RTW outcomes precedes her. She is frequently requested on the most complex files. In the past 6 months, Rebecca has received 29 direct referrals from a range of stakeholders, including Insurers, Doctors and Workers directly. Rebecca has also had an impressive 24 successful Return to Work outcomes over the past 12 months, including 8 New Employer RTW outcomes. Rounding out RR’s metric performance, her average client experience rating of 10/10 couldn’t better reflect the work she does.

Vivian Ma : Rehabilitation Services by Altius
Vivian continuously demonstrated exceptional clinical judgement, empathy, and professionalism in managing complex psychological claims following a traumatic firearm incident at a regional workplace. Through compassionate leadership and expert application of Health Benefits of Good Work principles, Vivan supported three psychologically injured employees back to meaningful employment—demonstrating outstanding injury management and the transformative power of empathy in complex return-to-work cases.

Innovation in Return to Work Award

About the award: Awarded to an individual or group that has developed an innovative approach to a challenge in the workplace rehabilitation industry. Details of the initiative and the stakeholders involved were considered, and nominees were assessed on how the innovation improved return to work outcome or service provision. 

Corporeal Health : Positive Pathways
Positive Pathways was developed in response to a critical gap in psychological injury management, particularly regarding return-to-work outcomes. The program offers a fresh, streamlined, and psychologically informed approach, with an assessment designed to identify both the psychological, and social barriers workers face in returning to work. Positive Pathways redefines psychological claims management, offering an innovative, empathetic, and actionable approach to return-to-work planning. Its focus on psychosocial barrier identification, worker empowerment, stakeholder collaboration, and measurable outcomes makes it an outstanding model for improving return-to-work outcomes and fostering sustainable, long-term recovery.

WorkFocus Australia : Injury Management Support Service
Our innovative Injury Management Support Service was developed in response to data-driven insights gathered through collaboration between our customer and operations teams. Analysis revealed a concerning trend: delays in referral to workplace rehabilitation and reduced success in same-employer return to work (RTW) outcomes, particularly among Small to Medium Employers (SMEs). This service empowers Small/Medium employers to take an active role in injury management from the outset, without relying on complex technology or high-cost interventions. The IM Support Service includes a targeted education module for employers, providing guidance on their role in the recovery process, the value of early engagement, and best-practice approaches to supporting injured workers. It demystifies the return-to-work system and promotes a culture of communication and empathy.

Recovre Group :
This Program represents a bespoke offering for the small to medium employer cohort, combining the expertise across an Occupational Rehabilitation Provider, Workers Compensation Broker and Workers Compensation Insurer to drive improved recovery and return to work outcomes for these employers and their injured workers. Focusing on Employer education within an early intervention model, this program has utilised the HBOGW to achieve fantastic RTW outcome, resulting in vastly improved NPS survey responses from Workers and Employers.

Outstanding Student Award

About the award:
* Examples of outstanding performance and achievements throughout their placement 
* A statement of management support demonstrating how the student implemented the Health Benefits of Good Work
* Details of how an understanding of evidence-based practice had been demonstrated as well as the successful achievement of measurable results

Emma Croker : Custodian Work Assist
Emma has demonstrated an unparalleled speed of learning, excelling in all aspects of the role and operating at the level of a consultant from the very beginning of her placement. Among the 35 students we hosted over the past 12 months, she stood out, showcasing a maturity and professionalism that is exceptionally rare in an undergraduate student. Throughout her placement, she seamlessly integrated theoretical knowledge from her exercise physiology studies, demonstrating a depth of understanding far beyond her status as a student.

Stephanie Phung : WorkFocus Australia
Stephanie demonstrated extraordinary capability, professionalism, and initiative throughout her placement. From her first weeks, she displayed a natural ability to connect with workers, navigate challenging cases, and produce strong clinical outcomes. Her people skills are exceptional, enabling her to manage sensitive and complex situations with empathy and confidence. A standout achievement was her contribution to a 100% same-employer return to work rate across her caseload, with average durations of only 13 weeks, a testament to her clinical insight, stakeholder engagement, and understanding of functional recovery.

William Borger : APM WorkCare
From the outset, William demonstrated a deep understanding of occupational rehabilitation, having proactively researched the organisation and current industry trends. His awareness of key challenges, such as secondary psychological injuries and the complexities of New Employer RTW pathways enabled them to contribute meaningfully from day one. William's passion for the field was evident, citing to another consultant their belief that “work provides purpose, meaning, and a sense of belonging,” a sentiment that consistently guided their client interactions.

Best New Starter Award

About this award: Nominations in this category included details of successful case management and professional development undertaken, as well as a statement of management support and how the nominee promoted the Health Benefits of Good Work

Mariam Liddell : Konekt
Mariam's drive and passion to support her clients are exceptional. Every stakeholder is at the forefront of her mind when managing her claims, ensuring that collaboration and prompt and thorough action are taken to ease her client’s stressors. As a new starter, Mariam has gone above and beyond, achieving successful return to work outcomes with complex scenarios in as little as seven weeks. Her professionalism in tackling tough conversations to care for her clients is second-to-none, shown by the overwhelmingly positive feedback from clients and customers.

Megant Andhika : Acumen Health
From day one, Megant has demonstrated clinical excellence, seamlessly integrating a strong background in both physical and psychological health to support clients with complex, multifactorial needs. Their ability to understand the broader psychosocial impacts of injury and apply this insight to case management has set a new benchmark for early-career professionals.

Nathan Ellett : Recovre Group
Since commencing, Nathan has anchored every recommendation in the HBGW framework, reframing “work” not as the endpoint of recovery but as an active ingredient in it. His signature strength is translating clinical science into achievable, on-site solutions, particularly in remote Western Australia, where service gaps often derail progress. Nathan also champions the HBGW philosophy inside our organisation. He runs fortnightly micro-tutorials for fellow consultants on topics such as task-specific load progression and fear-avoidance. The consultant has taken the evidence base off the page and into paddocks, workshops and mine sites, proving time and time again the benefits of following a framework such a HBGW, no matter how far you are from a metro clinic.

Exceptional Leadership Award

About the award: For demonstrated leadership in the provision of workplace rehabilitation or return to work services. Nominees were measured on an assessment of their leadership impact on consultant outcomes and provider performance, and also how they incorporated the Health Benefits of Good Work.

Carl Della : Corporeal Health
Carl's leadership exemplifies what it means to guide a workplace rehabilitation provider through sustainable growth whilst maintaining an unwavering focus on staff wellbeing and client service excellence. As the founder of the organisation, he has transformed what began as a small regional service into a nationally recognised provider with operations across multiple states. Carl leads with empathy and vision. Implementation of flexible working models, including a 9-day fortnight and reduced billable targets, demonstrate a genuine commitment to work-life balance. This approach has driven industry-leading staff retention, even as the business has grown to accommodate customer demand.

Chandra Jayakumaran : Recovre Group
From the moment they accepted the State Manager role, the message was clear: “we must live the HBOGW inside our own team before we prescribe it to anyone else.” That philosophy now permeates every corner of the Western Australian office. The manager embedded HBOGW indicators, functional capacity, social connection and psychological safety into our internal team culture. Team huddles open with a short wellbeing check; caseloads are redistributed when red flags surface, and extra leave is authorised before fatigue becomes illness. This model for managing workload has assisted employee well-being and normalised the very conversations we urge clients to have.

Lisa Lange : WorkFocus Australia
Lisa exemplifies exceptional leadership in workplace rehabilitation through her visionary direction, deep clinical insight, and unwavering commitment to excellence. She leads one of WA’s largest rehabilitation teams, over 65 consultants spanning metro and regional areas, supported by a strong leadership structure that she has empowered with her vision. Under her guidance, the team has delivered quality, outcome-focused rehabilitation services to more than 3,300 workers across WA in the past year. Her leadership is built on a foundation of continuous improvement and evidence-based practice, resulting in respect from her team and stakeholders. She has implemented systems to ensure consistent service delivery across the state, including the use of ODG guidelines and a tailored risk matrix to guide mentoring and case reviews. 

Exceptional Case Management Professional Award

About the award: For demonstrated leadership in the provision of workplace rehabilitation or return to work services. Nominees were measured on an assessment of their leadership impact on consultant outcomes and provider performance, and also how they incorporated the Health Benefits of Good Work.

Alexander Nguyen : Allianz Australia
Alexander has consistently demonstrated how good work can be a powerful driver of health and well-being. As a Claims Specialist, they have championed a holistic, person-centered approach to case management that goes beyond administrative processes to actively promote recovery and sustainable return-to-work (RTW) outcomes. Their work reflects a deep understanding that meaningful employment contributes significantly to physical, psychological, and social health.

Hayley Baptista : GIO Workers Compensation
Hayley consistently demonstrates dedication to her customers, commitment to the continuous improvement of the WA Claims Team and strives for market leading claim outcomes every day. With 20 years’ experience in Workers Compensation, Hayley is well-known for her outstanding achievements throughout the industry. her skills as a Senior Claims Advisor and technical mentor make them a recognised expert within our organisation and across the industry.

Paige Mokole : QBE Insurance
A true professional renowned for her exceptional case management of regional WA claims, for the WA Exceptional Case Manager Award. Paige consistently demonstrates a strong commitment to the principles of the Health Benefits of Good Work (HBGW), embedding them in her approach to deliver outstanding outcomes for workers and employers alike. She excels in managing claims for small to medium enterprises in regional locations, navigating complex situations with agility and professionalism. Paige has built strong relationships across regional locations, specifically in the southwest region developing strong links to the community but also in small, remote communities with limited support. Her proactive engagement and collaboration with key stakeholders have made her a trusted partner for employers and injured workers.

Exceptional Injury Management Professional Award

About the award: For demonstrated leadership in the provision of workplace rehabilitation or return to work services. Nominees were measured on an assessment of their leadership impact on consultant outcomes and provider performance, and also how they incorporated the Health Benefits of Good Work.

Mereesha Gadiagellan : LGISWA
Mereesha has been involved with the WA Workers Compensation Scheme for 14+ years commencing as a Rehabilitation Consultant, then working as an Injury Management Advisor (IMA) in the Insurer and Self-Insurer space. Nominee has worked closely with all parties involved in the scheme including, WorkCover WA, Workplace Rehabilitation, Employers, Injured Workers, Medical and Allied Health, Legal and Brokers, to support the overall goals of helping injured workers with their recovery and return to work. Mereesha has uplifted the industry with her collaborative and innovative approach to injury management. She has redeveloped our services, brought them into evidence-based practice and supported expanding our preventative services.

Paris Champion : Barminco
With over 15 years of experience, Paris has evolved from a technically outstanding consultant working across various jurisdictions and industries, to a strategic leader who now plays a pivotal role in shaping the direction of our injury management and return-to-work function. In her current leadership role as Superintendent of Injury Management for our Australia division, she empowers her team to drive innovation, consistency, and effectiveness in injury management outcomes. She leads with a clear vision, aligning operational delivery with best practice frameworks while fostering a high-performing, values-led culture. Her collaborative approach has strengthened stakeholder relationships across all levels of the business, from frontline teams to senior leadership.

Tara Banks : Allianz Australia
Leveraging her extensive clinical experience, Tara provides support to both internal claims staff and external stakeholders to improve the recovery and rehabilitation experience for injured workers. Her ability to communicate complex clinical concepts clearly and empathetically plays a pivotal role in driving successful return-to-work (RTW) outcomes and ensuring adherence to best-practice treatment approaches for the claims team. A key component of their role involves managing relationships with multiple Workplace Rehabilitation Providers (WRPs). By acting as a central escalation point, she can address complex claim particulars and identifies barriers to RTW.