Cafs (Child and Family Services Ballarat) nudged out the likes of global consulting firm Ernst & Young to claim four categories out of 21 for outstanding leadership in the spheres of workplace diversity and social and cultural inclusion.

Cafs chief executive Wendy Sturgess said the awards - the patrons of which include former High Court justice the Hon Michael Kirby AC, former Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce, Elizabeth Broderick AO, Graeme Innes and Susan Ryan AO - recognised CAFS's commitment to championing the rights and wellbeing of marginalised groups within society.

"We want to be an employer of choice; we don't judge people - we accept people," Ms Sturgess said. "We know once we have all the people from the marginalised workforce, we will have a much richer workplace."

Ms Sturgess, who won the CEO Diversity Champion Award, cited her organisation's work in the areas of LGBTQI rights, family violence and Indigenous reconciliation as particular achievements.

Throughout the twentieth century, Cafs - originally an orphanage and children's home - housed hundreds of Stolen Generations children and many others who count themselves as among the Forgotten Australians.

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"We were complicit in taking children from all around Australia and we now know that was a very destructive role that we took at the time," Ms Sturgess said.

"We put our hand up to be accountable to our past: it's why we have a redress scheme and why we do what we can to assist with [Indigenous] self-determination."

These days, Cafs provides a range of services, from foster care, financial support, family and youth counselling to homelessness support and family violence assistance.

In late 2019, Cafs self-funded the appointment of its first Inclusion and Diversity lead, Liz Hardiman, who was instrumental in the creation of five internal action groups - disability, gender equity, LGBTQI, reconciliation and CALD - that advise Cafs on ways in which it can improve the delivery of its services through diversity and inclusion.

Ms Hardiman, who was awarded the HR Diversity Champion Award, said it was crucial organisations continually seek advice from people with lived experience of discrimination.

"It's impossible to get it right 100 per cent of the time but by always working and aspiring to improve, we can say to our community, 'we see you'," she said.

"We need to keep having conversations about inclusive language and gender identity so we can tailor our services and programs to everybody in our community because we know one model of care doesn't fit all."

Ms Hardiman said she hoped the visibility the awards afford Cafs would encourage other organisations to "take up the mantle" and better serve the community.

It's a sentiment shared by Ms Sturgess, who said all organisations could be pioneers of change if they committed to building diverse workplaces which "celebrate and welcome difference" within the community.

"We recently raised the transgender flag," Ms Sturgess said. "And we did it despite some unfavourable comments because we want to take the work we're doing internally out into the community and show community leadership."

Ms Sturgess credited the organisation's resolve to publicly champion the rights of the marginalised groups, like LGBTQI people, as the reason Cafs was also awarded the Michael Kirby LGBTQI+ Inclusion Award.

"Our actions show we haven't just gone internal, we've gone visible and loud into the community," she said. "Getting it out there is what normalises it."

Ms Sturgess said the increasingly heated national debate around the federal religious discrimination bill in recent weeks had added weight to the importance of expressly supporting marginalised voices.

"It's all ongoing - until we no longer need to talk about [discrimination], we won't stop," she said. "People need to be aware that we're here to support them."

Cafs also won the Wayne Cascio Organisational Development Award for the success it's met since restructuring its family violence program under the guidance of Executive Manager of People and Engagement Robyn Clark.

Cafs has White Ribbon accreditation, Rainbow Tick certification, is a signatory to a Reconciliation Action Plan and is a Communities of Respect and Equality (CoRE) Alliance Partner.

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