ACIA's Awards

The Australian Community Industry Alliance (ACIA) holds an annual Frontline Quality Support Award and Outstanding Auditor Award which is presented at ACIA's AGM to honour the outstanding contributions in healthcare and community services.

Frontline Quality Support Award Winner 2025

The Drake Medox Team

Drake Medox has been recognised for its unwavering commitment to empowering people with disability to lead lives of autonomy, dignity, and self-determination.

For more than 50 years, Drake Medox has championed person-centred, rights-based care, where clients remain at the heart of every decision. Their approach goes beyond clinical excellence, embedding choice, collaboration, and dignity of risk into everyday practice.

From co-designed care plans and client-led recruitment of support workers, to innovative and inclusive planning tools, Drake Medox ensures every individual’s voice is heard and their goals are achieved.

One inspiring example saw Drake Medox support a young man with a spinal cord injury to plan and complete his first overseas trip post-injury, a journey made possible through collaborative risk management and respect for his independence.

Their commitment to cultural safety and inclusion is equally outstanding. Whether supporting gender transition, cultural identity, or complex clinical needs, Drake Medox’s care is guided by respect, transparency, and genuine partnership. Through compassionate collaboration and unwavering respect for human rights, Drake Medox embodies the true meaning of choice and control in community support.

Outstanding Auditor Award Winner 2025

Debbie Fairburn

Debbie Fairburn has been honoured with the 2025 Outstanding Auditor Award for her exceptional professionalism, integrity, and deep commitment to culturally safe, person-centred auditing.

Debbie brings empathy, fairness, and exceptional ethical standards to every engagement. Her transparent and impartial approach builds trust while maintaining the independence and rigour essential to the auditing process.

Debbie’s communication style is calm, respectful, and adaptive, ensuring providers feel heard and supported while upholding the highest standards of compliance. She is known for her “no-surprises” approach, engaging openly throughout each audit so findings are always clear, constructive, and focused on learning.

Drawing on more than 30 years of nursing and leadership experience, Debbie demonstrates a rare balance of compassion and accountability. She applies a strong cultural lens to her work, particularly when auditing services supporting First Nations communities or neurodiverse clients, fostering safety, understanding, and inclusion at every step.

Through her integrity, professionalism, and unwavering respect for the people and providers she works with, Debbie exemplifies the values of independence, fairness, and quality that underpin the ACIS certification system.

Shortlisted Candidates

Assured Auditing – Bernard McNair

Recognised for impartial, evidence-based auditing and a calm, “no-surprises” style. Providers describe communication that is “clear, respectful and open,” with findings based on triangulated evidence, not opinion. His balanced approach ensures every audit feels constructive rather than critical, helping providers say they leave the process “feeling confident, informed, and supported to keep improving.”

Shortlisted Candidates

All About Caring - Serenity SIL Team

Shortlisted for restoring dignity and community life after severe neurological injury through creative, clinically safe engagement (baking, darts, shopping). Outcomes include regained movement and first spoken words post-injury. Clinicians praised the team’s collaboration: “The AAC staff have been great in supporting these trials…” (OT) and "the Client's* support staff are amazing” (Neuro Physio), with Speech Pathology noting “consistent support and responsiveness.”

Shortlisted Candidates

Unidex Healthcare - Emma Webb

Commended for person-led end-of-life planning that operationalised dignity of risk and delivered a safe, joyful final trip to Cairns/Great Barrier Reef with zero adverse events. Daily “options menus,” continuity of workers, and plain-language summaries kept the Client in control. His daughter wrote: “Even though we are heartbroken… it was a pleasure and of great comfort to have you looking after Dad… They looked after him so very well.” Emma’s approach shows how thoughtful planning, respectful risk-enablement and teamwork can deliver meaningful outcomes without compromising safety.

Shortlisted Candidates

Southern Cross Community Healthcare - Koreti Fisbach

Celebrated for steady, compassionate support, especially during palliative care, paired with practical problem-solving. Known for flexibility, reliability and careful observation, Koreti adapts to feedback and leads by example. Her simple but effective medication safety fix (a webster-pack numbering system) improved clarity and reduced error risk across the team.

Shortlisted Candidates

Holistic Nursing Solutions - Louise Kelly

Recognised for championing supported decision-making in complex care, using tailored assessment tools (continence, wound care, sexual health/fertility) and co-designed plans that reduce complications and boost independence. Clients report feeling “heard, respected, and in control,” and one shared they were “in control of my own care for the first time”, a testament to Louise’s blend of clinical excellence and genuine partnership.