Tracey Stephens named inaugural recipient of the Aunty Elaine Taylor Award

Tracey Stephens is a proud Kurnai woman, mother, Maternal and Child Health Nurse and now, inaugural recipient of the Aunty Elaine Taylor Award – Walking in the Footsteps of Aunty Elaine.

The award was presented to Tracey at First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing’s (FPHW’s) Annual Conference Dinner on 20 August 2026. It honours the extraordinary life, leadership and legacy of the late Aunty Elaine Taylor, proud Wamba-Wamba and Bunurong Elder. Aunty Elaine’s lifelong advocacy for Aboriginal children, families and communities helped shape health, child protection, justice, education and housing services across Victoria for more than sixty years.

The Award recognises a staff member whose everyday actions reflect Aunty Elaine’s values of compassion, humility, cultural leadership, advocacy and service, and who makes a meaningful and lasting contribution to FPHW and the communities we serve.

“Tracey walks alongside parents and families during some of the biggest moments of their lives, and she does it with compassion, empathy and an energy that can’t be taught. That’s just who Tracey is,” the colleague who nominated her wrote. “Tracey is a fierce advocate for her clients, her community and her colleagues. She’s a staunch Blak woman, and she makes no apologies for that. She leads with courage, honesty and integrity, always putting community first.”

As the Maternal and Child Health Nurse, Tracey’s role is central to FPHW’s work with families. Tracey builds culturally safe, trusting relationships with the community, supporting mothers in particular to know their own strength, wisdom and expertise in caring for their babies.

Tracey’s relationship with Aunty Elaine grew over many years, from Tracey’s time at Monash Health through to Aunty Elaine’s regular visits to FPHW, where the two started to talk more about culture, family and community health.

“Aunty Elaine was always such a huge advocate for Aboriginal health. I’d known of her and her work for a long time, through my years at Monash and here at First Peoples’. It wasn’t until the last couple of years that we really got talking, about breastfeeding practice, family and parenting. She was so generous, always willing to sit down and share her wisdom”, Tracey says.

Much of Tracey’s work centres on reconnecting mothers with culture, and with the knowledge and practices that Aboriginal women have carried for tens of thousands of years.

“Self-determination is everything, including families’ rights to self-determine their care” says Tracey.  Through FPHW’s Bunjil’s Babies playgroup (which has grown from an initial group of five families to now running three groups at once), and a storylines project, mothers are given space and time to yarn, share photos and record their own stories, building the knowledge and confidence to pass culture on to their own children.

“We’re providing these storylines for mums to share, so they can start building their own knowledge and their connection”, Tracey says. “These mothers and babies are our future elders. We want them to be strong, community-minded people who share knowledge – but the only way they can share knowledge is if they have the knowledge.”

Tracey is careful to make sure this work stays led by community rather than resting on her own voice alone, regularly connecting mothers with other Elders and knowledge-holders so that culture is shared as widely, and as authentically as possible.

“They say if you love your job, you’ll never work a day in your life” Tracey says. Colleagues describe Tracey as someone who quietly does far more than is ever expected of her, supporting families with compassion, integrity and unwavering dedication – not because it is asked of her, but because she genuinely cares for community.

In 2024, Aunty Elaine gifted the Bunurong name Baluk Balert Barring – Many Strong Footprints – to FPHW’s Early Parenting Centre, Victoria’s first Aboriginal-led service of its kind. The Aunty Elaine Taylor Award carries that same spirit forward, recognising staff whose everyday actions help many babies, children and families to walk strongly, and whose leadership, like Aunty Elaine’s, is built on service rather than position.

This is the first time the award has been presented, marking a new tradition for FPHW. Colleagues were invited to nominate a staff member whose everyday actions reflect Aunty Elaine’s values of compassion, humility, cultural leadership, advocacy and service, with nominations reviewed independently of FPHW staff to keep the process confidential and impartial.

“I was so proud to receive this Award” Tracey says. “Listening to Sue-Anne Hunter, National Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People speak on the night, I was struck by the link between her work and ours. Our team in Baluk Balert Barring is helping reduce the number of families impacted by the system. We are changing the life course for our kids. Wrapping our services around families, having them feel strong, empowered and safe, supports them to reach their potential and thrive”.   

Nominations for the inaugural award were reviewed by the First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing Board, chaired by Colleen Kelly. Tracey’s name will now be the first plaque added to the perpetual Aunty Elaine Taylor Award – an enduring record of those who continue to walk in Aunty Elaine’s footsteps.

“Tracey is an incredible wife, mum, aunty, cousin, friend and colleague”, the staff member who nominated her wrote. “She leaves people feeling seen, valued and stronger than when they first met her”.

FPHW congratulates Tracey Stephens on this well-deserved recognition, and thanks her for the compassion, cultural leadership and courage she brings to families and colleagues every day. The Aunty Elaine Taylor Award will be an important way to ensure Aunty Elaine’s legacy of service and advocacy continues to guide the organisation for generations to come.

For media enquires:

Karinda Taylor

CEO

Karinda.Taylor@fphw.org.au