Helen Dalton’s leadership and strong advocacy was honoured with the Uniting Political Award in Sydney on 4 November. Photo: Supplied.
Member for Murray Helen Dalton has nabbed the 2025 Uniting Political Courage Award for her leadership and advocacy surrounding issues affecting regional communities, such as gambling and the poor state of rural healthcare.
The award is presented by Uniting NSW.ACT and recognises Australian political leaders who demonstrate integrity, principle and a commitment to social justice even when the odds are stacked against them.
Mrs Dalton said it was a deep honour to receive the Uniting Political Courage Award, which was announced at the Harry Herbert Oration in Sydney.
“Standing up for fairness and social justice isn’t always easy, but it’s always the right thing to do,” Mrs Dalton said.
“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.”
Uniting NSW.ACT Director External Relations Emma Maiden said Mrs Dalton was chosen as she fulfilled the criteria and proved her dedication to the welfare of the people in her electorate.
“That’s why we chose Helen – she’s shown the conviction and compassion this award celebrates,” Ms Maiden 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.”
Ms Maiden said they received more than 150 nominations from members of the public, with “a diverse range of brave individuals from across the political spectrum”.
“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,” she said.
“We know that it takes courageous leadership to champion the sort of social reforms needed to disrupt entrenched disadvantage in Australia.”
At the awards ceremony, inaugural National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Adjunct Professor Sue-Anne Hunter highlighted the importance of holding power to account when addressing systematic inequalities in her keynote address.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Aside from Mrs Dalton, Ms Maiden said former member for Dunkley Peta Murphy, who passed away in 2023, was shortlisted for her advocacy on the same issue.
Ms Murphy was an advocate for reproductive health care, breast cancer screening and early cancer diagnosis, on top of gambling reforms.
“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,” Ms Maiden said.
“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.
“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.”
The Uniting Political Courage Award is inspired by the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, which is named after his 1956 book in which he profiled eight US senators who risked their careers for the greater good, and honours elected officials who act with bravery and integrity in embracing unpopular positions, often when the odds are not in their favour.
