Sue Woodward awarded Queen’s Birthday Honour
16 Jun 2021
Justice Connect is proud to celebrate the well-deserved recognition of our Head of Not-for-Profit Law, Sue Woodward AM, in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for ‘significant service to the not-for-profit sector, fundraising and the law’.
In Australia, over 4 million people volunteer, and charities alone employ 11% of the workforce, while delivering vital services to communities. And for over 20 years, our Head of Not-for-Profit Law, Sue Woodward, a proud ‘not-for-profit (NFP) law nerd’, has led numerous campaigns, advocating for better policies and laws for charities and community organisations.
This is why we’re proud to see her crucial work recognised in the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
“Sue has worked for Justice Connect for over 12 years, and in that time, she has shown incredible dedication and commitment in her role advocating to improve the regulatory and policy environment for not-for-profit organisations and volunteers across the country,” said Justice Connect CEO Chris Povey.
“The work that Sue leads at Justice Connect is recognised by Federal and State Governments, and respected by our partners and colleagues.”
Sue Woodward said, “It’s such an honour to receive recognition for my contribution to charities and community organisations across Australia.”
“This Honour is a shared one – with this extraordinary sector, my fellow volunteers, and my passionate and inspiring colleagues.”
“I want to recognise those who work and volunteer in the myriad charities across Australia, doing amazing work supporting people and communities, the majority of whom are small and volunteer-run,” said Woodward.
“COVID-19 has put many charities and not-for-profit organisations under huge pressure. Many of them have faced greater demand for services but less resources.”
Sue’s award is a timely acknowledgement of the need to support charities so they can pursue their purpose to serve community.
In her time at Justice Connect, Sue has created many key and lasting partnerships with peak and other sector stakeholders. Some of the achievements she has led include:
- Scoping, establishing and heading up our award-winning Not-for-Profit Law program, including taking it to a national service that supports the estimated 600,000 not-for-profit groups across Australia
- Successfully advocating for the establishment of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
- Launching one of Justice Connect’s major campaign coalitions #FixFundraising with the aim of advocating for a simpler, single national scheme for the regulation of charitable fundraising, as recommended by the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements
- Being a leading public commentator and spokesperson advocating for improved regulatory reforms for not-for-profits and social enterprises – making sure there is a simple, clear and strong framework, not one that adds to the red tape burden
- Advocating on key policy issues including those affecting volunteers such as the pandemic insurance gap for volunteers
- Supporting plain language legal education for the sector and promoting charity law as a specialist and important area of legal practice.
