The Transformational Leader Award is presented to a leader whose transformative vision, dedication and ability to deliver change have redefined success and inspired excellence within the dispute resolution industry.
Catherine has steered EWOV through a multi-year strategic transformation, refreshing our purpose and updating our operating model to reposition us as a modern Ombudsman – with complaint handling, systemic analysis, and policy and industry engagement functions working as an integrated system. Her clear strategic direction and leadership, characterised by a strong focus on fairness and a commitment to public value, saw her recognised by SOCAP Australia.
“This award may have my name on it but, the truth is, it's not possible to achieve the transformation we have at EWOV without over 100 dedicated, creative and professional people,” Catherine said.
Under Catherine’s leadership, EWOV has prioritised evidence‑based practice, transparency and accountability, ensuring EWOV’s role extends beyond dispute resolution to drive system‑wide improvements.
EWOV has drawn on its extensive experience and combined it with an enhanced model that targets both individual cases and systemic issues. For consumers, the complaint handling model is designed to build confidence and knowledge that outcomes are fair, and that complaints will help drive wider improvements. For energy and water providers, it means clear expectations and consistent outcomes, and offers the understanding needed to improve processes to prevent future complaints.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve achieved,” Catherine said. “By redesigning our complaint handling model in a way that drives clarity, consistency and accountability, we’re helping to drive confidence and trust in energy and water in Victoria. Our outreach work in the community, our focus on data-rich public reporting and systemic issue analysis, and our targeted engagement in policy setting and industry improvement, sets us up to continue to help people resolve disputes and create a fairer system for everyone.”
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