Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for International Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to recognise a remarkable member of the Cowan community, Helen Cocks. She has dedicated two decades of service to supporting residents through her work at the Hepburn Centre where she serves as the executive officer. Over those two decades Helen has played an extraordinary role in strengthening the centre as well as the many community groups and individuals who rely on the centre.

Helen first joined the organisation as a part-time staff member, and through her dedication, her leadership and her genuine commitment to helping others she quickly became an irreplaceable part of the Hepburn Centre, and today she's widely regarded as the glue that holds the centre together and as someone who ensure that residents and community groups across Cowan feel welcomed, supported and connected to each other and to the services that are there for them.

Community centres like the Hepburn Centre play an incredibly significant role in our suburbs. They are places where people come together to access services, to participate in activities, to build friendship and to support one another, and they help foster this really important sense of connection and belonging that really, really does hold together communities and that is the very basis of what our nation can be when we come together in these ways. I've attended several events at the Hepburn Centre, ranging from community gatherings to days dedicated to bringing together a range of services for those in need, including homeless people. I'm really proud to have been able to support the centre over the years as the member for Cowan.

Those who work alongside Helen often speak about her unwavering dedication and her willingness to step in wherever help is needed, and I can certainly vouch for that. She rarely says no to a request, and she consistently goes above and beyond to support the centre and, importantly, the community and the people who rely on that centre. Twenty years of service—that is an extraordinary milestone, particularly in community work where compassion, patience and commitment are essential. I dare say it takes a special kind of person, a person like Helen, to dedicate 20 years of their life to this kind of service. Our community is stronger because of people like Helen, and it really is a privilege to be able to recognise her in this place here today.