Ten category winners have been celebrated at the 2026 WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards, recognising outstanding contributions from nurses and midwives across the state’s public, private and non-government health services. The winners were announced at a gala ball on 9 May, drawn from a field of 41 finalists and three nursing and midwifery teams selected across 14 award categories.
Health Minister Meredith Hammat praised the state’s nurses and midwives for playing a vital role in caring for communities and supporting patients and families through some of life’s most significant moments, describing the calibre of this year’s finalists as reflecting the exceptional standard of care being delivered across Western Australia.
This Year’s Winners
Among the ten category winners, Noreen Gould of the Armadale Kalamunda Group took out Excellence in Enrolled Nursing, while Melanie Woodhams, a Clinical Midwife Consultant with WA Country Health Service in the Wheatbelt, won Excellence in Midwifery. Fiona Kane of King Edward Memorial Hospital was recognised with Excellence in Education, Naomi Hallsworth of Royal Perth Bentley Group won the Emerging Leader category, and Mary-Anne Lynch of Donate Life WA took out Excellence in Registered Nursing.
Nicky Duncan, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the South West, won Excellence in Rural and Remote Nursing, a category that also recognised Pilbara-based Clinical Midwife Specialist Wendy Hoey as a finalist for her more than three decades supporting birthing women in remote communities, alongside her advocacy work for midwives and mentorship of junior staff throughout her career.
Why Rural and Remote Recognition Matters
The strong representation of rural and remote nursing and midwifery professionals among this year’s finalists reflects the particular demands and significance of healthcare delivery outside the Perth metropolitan area, where practitioners often work with fewer specialist resources and greater geographic isolation than their metropolitan counterparts. WA Country Health Service staff were prominently represented among the finalists, underscoring the essential role country-based nurses and midwives play in keeping remote and regional communities healthy.
Health officials have consistently highlighted that rural and remote nursing and midwifery roles require a distinct combination of clinical versatility and community relationship-building not always required in more specialised metropolitan hospital settings, making dedicated recognition categories for this work an important part of the broader awards program.
A Workforce Under Sustained Pressure
The awards arrive at a time when WA’s broader health workforce, including nursing and midwifery, continues navigating sustained pressure from population growth, rising patient complexity and persistent recruitment challenges in some specialist and regional roles. Recognition programs like WANMEA serve a dual purpose in this context, celebrating individual excellence while also helping maintain morale and visibility for a workforce that has faced genuine strain in recent years.
National Recognition Too
WA practitioners have also featured prominently at the national level, with WA Country Health Service midwife Alison Weatherstone named a finalist for Midwife of the Year at the 2026 HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards, recognised for her transformative leadership shaping national maternity care policy and championing midwife-led care models for rural and remote Australian women.
What It Means for the Profession
For current and aspiring nurses and midwives across WA, awards like WANMEA offer visible role models and a reminder of the genuine career recognition available within the profession, potentially helping counter some of the retention challenges the sector has faced in recent years. As the health system continues navigating workforce pressures documented across the state, celebrating the dedication of practitioners like this year’s winners and finalists offers a meaningful, if partial, counterbalance to the more challenging headlines the sector has generated around shortages and burnout.
