Media Release 6th November 2025
Mrs Helen Dalton MP is the winner of the 2025 Uniting Political Courage Award – announced at the Harry Herbert Oration last night in Sydney.
The Uniting Political Courage Award is presented by Uniting NSW.ACT to Australian political leaders who demonstrate integrity, principle and a commitment to social justice - especially when the stakes are high.
"We want to recognise and celebrate political leaders who refuse to stay silent, who stand up for social justice and fairness and live out Uniting's core values, even when it costs them personally or professionally," Emma Maiden, Uniting NSW.ACT's Director External Relations said.
"That's why we chose Helen – she's shown the conviction and compassion this award celebrates," Emma said.
"Helen was selected in recognition of her bold and principled leadership on gambling reform. Since her election in 2019 as the Member for Murray, Helen has consistently stood with regional communities harmed by poker machines and gambling addiction.
"She demonstrated great courage during the 2023 state election campaign, declaring that gambling had reached "excessively high levels" and committing to reform despite pressure from vested interests.
Over 150 nominations by members of the public were received, with a diverse range of brave individuals from across the political spectrum.
Mrs Helen Dalton MP said: "I'm deeply honoured to receive the Uniting Political Courage Award. Standing up for fairness and social justice isn't always easy, but it's always the right thing to do.
"I'm grateful to Uniting for recognising the importance of honesty and integrity in public life, and I share this award with every regional Australian who's spoken out for what's right, even when it was hard," Mrs Dalton said
"We know that it takes courageous leadership to champion the sort of social reforms needed to disrupt entrenched disadvantage in Australia," Maiden said.
"With everything happening in the world right now, we need this sort of political courage more than ever. From everyone at Uniting - we congratulate Helen on this well-deserved award.
"Peta Murphy has also been posthumously recognised for her determined advocacy for gambling reform with her nomination and subsequent shortlisting for the Uniting Political Courage Award.
"Peta's fearless leadership and advocacy for gambling reform, culminated in the landmark You Win Some, You Lose More report and set a national benchmark for compassion and political courage," Emma said.
The inaugural National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People, Adjunct Professor Sue-Anne Hunter, who gave the keynote address last night, said: "What Yoorrook revealed is a direct pipeline from child removal to youth detention. Children removed from family and culture, placed in systems that don't understand or value their identity, disconnected from the protective factors that come with kinship and community mean these children are set on a path toward the criminal justice system.
"But truth-telling showed us something else: it showed us that First Nations people have always known what needs to happen. The solutions exist in community. The expertise exists in community.
"What has been missing is the power to implement those solutions.
"Truth-telling shifts power by breaking the silence that has allowed harmful systems to continue. When we shine light on systemic failures, when we centre the voices of those who have been harmed, when we insist that those with lived experience must lead the solutions – that is when power begins to shift," Adjunct Professor Hunter said.
The Uniting Political Courage Award is inspired by the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award® (named after JFK's 1956 book profiling 8 US senators who risked their careers for the greater good) which honours elected officials who act with bravery and integrity in embracing unpopular positions, often in opposition to pressure from constituents, political parties, or other external interests.
