For the last six years the National Drug and Alcohol Awards have been held as a final event of Drug Action week. The NDAA are held to honour the dedication and innovation within the Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) sector.

This year TCF was nominated for “Excellence in services for Young People” and out of a very completive field were named one of three finalists and invited to the Gala Dinner, held in the Grand Ballroom, Parliament House Canberra.

Triple Care Farm was named the winner of the Excellence in Services for Young People award.

There were around 300 guests from throughout Australia at the Gala Dinner hosted by The Hon. Nicola Roxon Minister for Health and Ageing. There were also representatives from the AER Foundation, Australian Government: Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Government: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, ACT Health and The Pharmacy Guild of Australia.

The National Drug and Alcohol Awards is a collaborative effort of the Ted Noffs Foundation, the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, the Australian Drug Foundation and the Australian National Council on Drugs.

This award is a fantastic acknowledgment of the work Triple Care Farm does to support young Australian’s to make real and lasting change in their lives.

Acceptance Speech
“Thank you so much. It is a wonderful thing to accept this on behalf of the team at Mission Australia’s Triple Care Farm.

A growing number of young people are faced with and overcoming our communities most difficult challenges: addiction, mental illness, homelessness, unemployment, violence, trauma and disconnection. At an age where most Australians are forging an identity and building their future, these young people are struggling to survive.

Mission Australia’s Triple Care Farm has always sought to be a safe place for young people to make change, guiding them on a pathway through a successful youth.

A place where who you are is more important than where you’re from or what you’ve done. A place where it’s okay to be afraid of the dark but there is no reason to be. Where having a voice is valued, and there is space to make a change.

Thank you to Mission Australia for their continued strengthening of the program to met young people where they are at.

To our corporate and community partners, particularly Sir David Martin Foundation, thank you for your heartfelt generosity and connectedness with the work.

To our government partners thank you for recommitting to resourcing the program.

Thank you to the amazing team of staff and volunteers at Triple Care Farm for their genuine compassion, their tirelessness even when they are tired, their patience with the process, and their eagerness to acknowledge achievement.

Finally I’d like to dedicate this award to the courageous young people who are willing to change and the resilience of the communities who support them. Thank you”

More Information about the Award from the National Drug and Alcohol Website
www.drugawards.org.au

2009 Awards
Now in its sixth year, the National Drug and Alcohol Awards (NDAA) honour the dedication and innovation within the Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) sector. Award finalists and winners were announced at the Gala Dinner at the culmination of Drug Action Week, Friday 26 June 2009 in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra.

The hosting of the National Drug and Alcohol Awards is a collaborative effort of the Ted Noffs Foundation (TNF), the Alcohol and other Drugs Council of Australia (ADCA), the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF), the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD).

The NDAA was sponsored by the AER Foundation, Australian Government: Department of Health and Ageing, Australian Government: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, ACT Health and The Pharmacy Guild Of Australia.

Excellence in services for young people (from the NDAA website)
This award recognises that young people are important and any service/organisation that targets young people is eligible to apply. It is not just limited to alcohol and drug-specific services, but includes any service/organisation that has an impact on the alcohol and drug use of young people.

Judging criteria — that the service:
• is based on good practice and/or research evidence
• recognises participation as vital, and involves young people in as many phases of the project as possible (ie developmental, intervention delivery, evaluation)
• values monitoring and evaluation, and has as been found to have a positive impact on the lives of the young people involved.