2026 ARPA TAS Award Ceremony Program

Josh Bloom

APM Workcare

Josh has strengthened Occupational Rehabilitation services across Tasmania through practical innovation, steady leadership and lived‑experience insight. His commitment to building capable teams, improving service access and delivering strong, measurable outcomes for clients and insurers makes him a deserving and impactful candidate for this award.

Scott Bunton

IPAR Rehabilitation

Scott stands out for his consistent, values‑driven commitment to person‑centred leadership. Through empathetic, and informed support, they empower individuals facing complex challenges, build confidence, remove barriers and champion genuine belonging. Scott's deep impact on people, culture and performance exemplifies exceptional leadership that can grow and strengthen teams.

Tracy Lucas

Rehab Management 

Tracy is an exceptional workplace rehabilitation leader who turns the Health Benefits of Good Work into measurable outcomes, building the nation’s most engaged team, delivering high customer satisfaction, zero audit non‑conformance, outstanding team performance, and industry‑leading return‑to‑work results. Tracy is lifting people, performance, and purpose together.

Anita Gooley

IPAR Rehabilitation

Anita is a highly sought after consultant who demonstrates outstanding achievement in RTW by delivering sustained outcomes in highly complex cases, such as this example. Through exceptional clinical judgement, collaborative employer engagement and practical problem solving, Anita keeps injured workers meaningfully employed, minimises business disruption and demonstrates the HBGW in action.

Fakington Wilde

APM Workcare

Fakington stands out for converting one of the year’s most complex trauma cases into a stable, meaningful and life‑changing return to work. His proactive advocacy, persistence and vocational planning enabled the worker to reclaim confidence, rebuild independence and thrive in a new career that restored her sense of purpose.

Timica Hawkins

Rehab Management

Timika is a deserving finalist, she consistently achieves what the most complex cases demand but rarely deliver: clarity, trust, and sustainable outcomes. Through exceptional clinical insight, unwavering empathy, and a deep commitment to the HBGW, she transforms highly complex, high‑risk claims into pathways of meaningful recovery and employment.

Grace Ho

IPAR Rehabilitation

Grace expertly managed a highly complex case involving a vulnerable 16‑year‑old with significant psychosocial barriers. Through adaptive, person‑centred practice, they ensured safety, maintained engagement, coordinated treatment, sourced alternative employment, and guided the client into meaningful retraining; ultimately achieving a meaningful vocational outcome and sustainable full‑time employment.

Jana Hindryckx

APM Workcare

Jana guided a complex psychological claim to a safe, sustained return to full function through extraordinary commitment. Beyond typical RTW planning, the nominee invested hours in stakeholder mediation, practical coaching that strengthened resilience, and clear provider communication that enabled confident capacity decisions. A true example of RTW excellence.

Merima Pasalic

Total Workfit Solutions

Merima navigated a tragic, high risk psychological claim through an active fatality investigation and achieved safe, same employer return to full duties within 40 days. Early action, the right trauma specialist, and a clear graded exposure plan reduced uncertainty, protected safety, and lowered the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sophia Best

Rehab Management

Sophia delivers exceptional outcomes in the most complex circumstances. Her trauma‑informed practice, early risk identification, and outstanding stakeholder coordination enabled a highly vulnerable, remote worker to return to work safely after consecutive injuries. Sophia's approach exemplifies excellence, compassion, and best‑practice case management that transforms recovery outcomes.

Hannah O'Connell

Rehab Management

Distinguished by exceptional capability, versatility, empathy, and professionalism, she consistently delivers high‑quality outcomes, applying HBGW principles with maturity beyond her experience. Hannah's dynamic, solutions‑focused approach builds stakeholder confidence, transforms recovery trajectories, accelerates her own skill development, and fosters trusted relationships, marking her as a standout performer.

Simone Roach

Rehab Services by Altius

Simone delivers outstanding results rare for a first‑year consultant, consistently earning insurer trust, employer praise and 36 direct referrals. Her advocacy, professionalism and client‑centred practice set a new benchmark for emerging consultants. Simone is the standout new starter whose impact, reliability and outcomes already match seasoned performers

Yvette Street

APM Workcare

Yvette has quickly built a reputation for calm, practical problem‑solving and strong early‑activation results. Employers now request her by name, and case managers rely on her for urgent same‑day referrals. Yvette's balanced judgement, steady communication, and people‑focused approach make her an exceptional new starter and a deserving award recipient.

Mitch Houghton

APM Workcare

This year’s recipient has truly excelled, showing professionalism, empathy, and impressive skill in managing complex situations. Mitch has built strong relationships with clients and stakeholders, consistently promoting the Health Benefits of Good Work through a person-centred, recovery-focused approach. Mitch Houghton has automatically progressed to the National Finals in Perth this September, representing the very best of emerging talent in the field. 

Isabelle Odgers

Rehab Management

Isabelle delivers exceptional New Employer RTW outcomes by combining strong HBGW‑aligned practice, high worker engagement, and industry‑leading job‑seeking support. Her ability to stabilise vulnerable workers, overcome psychosocial barriers, and achieve sustainable placements sets her apart as an outstanding, unsung Rehabilitation Consultant worthy of recognition.

Katie Spencer

APM Workcare

Katie is an outstanding consultant who transforms complex cases into sustainable outcomes by empowering clients to regain confidence, independence and capability. Her vocational expertise, compassion and clear judgement consistently lift both client results and team performance, making them a truly deserving recipient of this award.

Naomi Horsfall

Procare Group

Naomi is a New Employer specialist who tackles the hardest files with a "never say die" attitude and a sense of humour. A master of persistence without pushiness she uses her clinical expertise and "parent-level" patience to turn vocational obstacles into life-changing health outcomes for every worker they support. 

Annerie Venter

Rehab Management

Annerie stands out for consistently delivering exceptional outcomes in the most complex cases, achieving both quantify and quality of services, while building trust with workers, employers, and stakeholders. Their leadership, innovation, and unwavering commitment to recovery and return‑to‑work excellence set them apart as truly deserving of this award.

Claire Wembridge

Total Workfit Solutions

Claire supported same employer return to work across health and community services, emergency services, education, construction and civil, trades, transport and logistics including heavy vehicles, retail and customer service, manufacturing and plant operations, agriculture and horticulture, cleaning and housekeeping, and supervisor roles. Injuries included fractures, sprains, soft tissue injuries of ankle, shoulder, wrist, back, and hand and finger trauma, with occasional concussion and exposure related events.

Kristin Visser

Procare Group

Kristin is an outstanding rehabilitation professional whose blend of empathy, expertise, and early identification of psychosocial barriers consistently transforms outcomes. She restores trust, promotes the health benefits of good work, and strengthens every team she works within. Her impact is both measurable and deeply human, a truly deserving nominee. 

Maggie Miller

Workfocus Australia

Maggie is dedicated to implementing thorough assessment and timely and effective return-to-work interventions in order to achieve sustainable RTW outcomes for Tasmanian workers and stakeholders. She has successfully achieved a 100% Same Employer Return to Work in the past year, making her an Outstanding Consultant.  

APM Workcare

Job Seeking Service

This innovative program transformed Tasmania’s return‑to‑work landscape by addressing a long‑standing service gap with a clinically led, outcomes‑driven model. Through expert collaboration, national employer partnerships, and exceptional results, it delivers life‑changing employment outcomes for injured workers demonstrating leadership, innovation, and measurable system‑wide impact.

IPAR Rehabilitation
A Statewide Telehealth Model for Persistent Pain Recovery in Tasmania

This telehealth innovation delivers personalised psychosocial support and pain coaching to injured workers with persistent pain across every region of Tasmania, overcoming geographic and service access barriers. Applied across both workers compensation and CTP schemes, it achieves measurable, system-level impact by combining immersive education, motivational facilitation, and scalable statewide delivery.

Total Workfit Solutions

TWS Physical Solutions

This innovation recognises an employer-engaged service that shifts injury management upstream, into the early awareness stage, so issues are identified and resolved while people are still at work. By combining frontline task observation, immediate practical fixes, and rapid consult access, it prevents escalation, lost time, and avoidable claims.

Workfocus Australia

ADL Capacity Building

The ADL Capacity Building Program restores function and hope for workers who have plateaued in traditional rehabilitation. Delivered in the home, it rebuilds capacity in meaningful daily tasks, strengthens family and social participation, and creates a structured pathway toward sustainable return to work where traditional methods have not been successful. 

Lisa Anderson

CGU

Lisa is an exceptional case manager whose unwavering professionalism, advocacy, and compassion transforms highly complex claims into positive outcomes with dignity, recovery, and lasting employment. They bring calm to conflict, and hope to workers when they are at their most vulnerable. 

Martine Muller

Allianz

Martine exemplifies excellence in case management through her strategic mindset, empathy, and professionalism. Her ability to deliver outstanding outcomes, foster trust, and build strong relationships with stakeholders sets her apart. Her unwavering dedication to her clients and exceptional leadership make her a deserving recipient of this award.

Tania Smith

CGU

Tania is an exceptional case manager whose compassion, and commitment help workers feel supported and employers feel confident. She can bring people together to solve problems and consistently delivers safe return‑to‑work outcomes. Tania makes a real difference to the lives of the people she supports, and those who work with them.