Clarence Valley Council has been named the winner of the People, Workplace, Wellbeing Award for our Grow Your Own – Trainee and Apprenticeship Mentoring Program.
The awards were held at the 2025 Local Government Awards held in Sydney on Thursday, 5 June 2025, with Council taking out the People, Workplace, Wellbeing Award for population under 150,000 category.
The Grow Your Own program takes a proactive approach to tackling the need for skilled workers. The groundbreaking program took on its first apprentices and trainees in 2024, with more planned in the coming year.
The program has been designed to support our trainees and apprentices with their learning and performance in their day-to-day roles. The program focuses on supporting the wellbeing of our trainees and apprentices through a combination of structured health focused sessions and monthly face-to-face sessions where the staff can share ideas and learning to support each other on their career journeys.
Clarence Valley Council's Manager Organisational Development, Jess Kennedy said it was an honour to be at the event and accepting the award on behalf of Council.
"It was so exciting to be recognised for such a rewarding initiative we have here at Clarence Valley Council.
"The program has been underway for over 12 months with a retention rate of 95%. The average retention rate for the first 12 months according to TAFE NSW is 67% so we developed this program to address the issue of Trainee and Apprentice wellbeing and retention.
"We are so proud of the Grow Your Own program and how our trainees and apprentices are progressing. It is a project close to my heart having started as a trainee in Local Government at 17," Ms Kennedy said.
The People, Workplace, Wellbeing category recognises the Council's dedication to creating a healthy, supportive, and inclusive work environment, where people feel valued, empowered, and inspired to thrive.
Two more Council projects were also named as finalists during the awards.
The Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre was recognised in the category for projects over $1.5 million (population 50,000–150,000).
Our groundbreaking AI assessment initiative, which utilises Artificial Intelligence to enable a more efficient way to capture defects, saving thousands of staff hours in the Innovative Leadership category.
