2025 HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards winners — Nurse of the Year Ty Simpson, Midwife of the Year Vanessa Page and Outstanding Organisation Rosemary Bryant AO Research Centre.
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Vanessa Page, born and raised in Kialla, has been crowned Midwife of the Year at the 2025 HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards.
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The HESTA Awards program was established to honour the work of health and community service professionals who make a significant impact in their fields.
The awards recognise achievements in various areas, including nursing and midwifery, early childhood education and care, community services, disability services, allied health and aged care.
And from three nominees in the Australian Nursing and Midwifery category, Vanessa Page was crowned Midwife of the Year on Wednesday, May 14.
“As I stood on the stage with the other two midwife finalists, I really had no idea who was going to win the award,” she said.
“All three of us are doing very inspiring midwifery work.
“There are so many innovative midwives in Australia doing wonderful things, and I am just one of them, so I feel very humbled to have been named Midwife of the Year.”
Ms Page’s journey began when she moved to Melbourne to pursue further education.
She settled on studying nursing at La Trobe University in Abbotsford, before doing her graduate year at the Epworth Hospital.
The beginning of her career quickly found her in New Zealand, where she worked in the surgical ward at Timaru Hospital.
Ms Page then took a trip around Australia, where she stopped and worked in the ICU at Alice Springs Hospital.
She recounts that though it was the “romance of the outback” that drew her to head north, it was the time spent working there that her passion for remote and Aboriginal health truly sparked.
“From a clinical perspective, working in a remote context enables you to work to your full scope of practice,” she said.
“I also thrive on autonomy, which is very much the case when working out bush.”
Vanessa Page at work at Gateway Health.
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But the travel bug quickly called her to the UK, where she worked in ICU at the Royal Surrey County Hospital before heading back to Australia to Melbourne University and The Royal Melbourne Hospital to complete her postgraduate diploma in ICU.
Feeling homesick, Ms Page returned to Shepparton to work in the Emergency Department for 18 months, and from there, it was all remote for the next 15 years.
She worked in various remote clinics, including Alice Springs, Mutitjulu at the base of Urulu and in the Kimberley at Fitzroy Crossing and Derby.
During that time, she achieved the qualifications necessary to pursue midwifery and eventually became a nurse practitioner at Yackandandah Health Medical Centre and both a nurse practitioner and endorsed midwife at Gateway Health in north-east Victoria.
“Vanessa’s passion for community-led, inclusive maternity care shines through in everything she does,” Gateway Health chief executive Trent Dean said.
“This recognition is a testament to her skill, dedication and tireless advocacy for people and families in our community.”
Ms Page describes her work in nursing and midwifery so far as being her calling.
“I love what I do,” she said.
“I couldn’t imagine working in a job I didn’t really enjoy.
“A highlight would be the places (my work) has taken me, and the people I have met along the way.”
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