2026 Excellence in Rural and Remote Nursing

Natasha Meredith

Natasha is an exceptional Registered Nurse and the Executive Manager of Hocart Lodge in Harvey, where her leadership has transformed not only an aged care service, but an entire rural community. Appointed as Director of Nursing nearly five years ago, Natasha inherited a facility in distress with low occupancy, community mistrust, and Commonwealth sanctions. Through tireless dedication, strategic vision, and genuine compassion, she has restored the Lodge to full compliance and revitalised it into a thriving, contemporary centre of excellence.

Under Natasha’s leadership, Hocart Lodge has expanded far beyond a traditional nursing home. Today it includes a 27‑unit retirement village, a residential aged care home, the first specialised dementia care unit in rural WA, a memory support unit, transitional care, home care services, and new community initiatives such as a meals program and older persons’ transport project. These achievements have been realised through strong partnerships across Local, State and Commonwealth agencies, and through deep engagement with Harvey’s civic leaders and community groups.

Natasha is passionately committed to reducing the stigma of residential care, ensuring older adults feel safe, valued and connected to the community they helped build. Families describe her as warm, approachable and deeply invested in personalised care, attributes that have restored confidence to the region. Colleagues speak of her transformational leadership, her willingness to work alongside staff, and her unwavering focus on best‑practice and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Beyond the service, Natasha has become part of the fabric of Harvey, joining local organisations, strengthening community ties, and mentoring the next generation of rural aged‑care professionals. Her vision, integrity and humanity have given older residents dignity, belonging and peace of mind, and her community reflects immense pride in the remarkable difference she continues to make. 

Wendy Hoey

Wendy is an exceptional Clinical Midwife Specialist whose career spans decades of dedicated service to women, babies, and families across Western Australia. Her work reflects a rare combination of clinical excellence, deep compassion, and unwavering commitment to woman‑centred care. Over her long career, Wendy has worked alongside extraordinary midwives to achieve positive, lasting outcomes for countless women and their families.

As project lead for the world‑first Midwifery and Obstetric Emergency Telehealth Service (MOETS), launched in February 2022, Wendy played a pivotal role in transforming maternity care for remote and rural communities. She meticulously researched and developed guidelines, refined workflows, and recruited and mentored the inaugural team of senior midwives. Today, three years on, MOETS continues to enhance clinician confidence, improve staff retention, and keep women and newborns safely closer to home, an achievement Wendy is immensely proud of.

Now working as the sole endorsed Clinical Midwife Specialist in Newman, Wendy provides full‑continuity midwifery care in one of the state’s most isolated regions. Serving a diverse caseload, including First Nations Martu families, she tailors care to each woman’s needs, ensuring respectful, culturally safe support. Her dedication has contributed to an extraordinary preterm birth rate of just 4.5% among her caseload, less than half the WA remote average.

Wendy’s warmth, curiosity, and gentle persistence enable her to build trusting relationships, even with women who have experienced trauma or disengagement from care. One recent experience, supporting a Martu woman with previous pregnancy loss to a safe, positive birth at 36 weeks, remains one of the greatest highlights of her career.

Wendy is admired for her calm authority, generosity in sharing knowledge, and her ability to inspire confidence across teams and communities. Her leadership, compassion, and dedication continue to shape and strengthen maternity care across Western Australia

Nicky Duncan

Nicky is an exceptional Clinical Nurse Specialist whose career has been defined by courage, compassion, and a steadfast commitment to person‑centred care. One of her proudest achievements came during the height of the COVID‑19 pandemic, when she stepped into a Nurse Unit Manager role at a time of fear, uncertainty, and unprecedented pressure. With most senior staff gone and a ward full of inexperienced nurses, Nicky rebuilt a team from the ground up. She supported, educated, and stood beside her junior nurses until they grew into confident, capable clinicians who continue to lead today. This legacy of mentorship remains one of her greatest accomplishments.

Nicky’s lifelong passion for honouring and advocating for older adults has shaped her career, from her early years in a South London nursing home, where she organised a joyful resident carnival that culminated in a cherished day trip to Brighton Pier, to her current role as the inaugural Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Specialist Care Dementia Unit in Harvey, the first rural unit of its kind in Western Australia.

In this role, Nicky is pivotal in shaping and leading a highly specialised program for older adults living with dementia and complex behaviours. She provides expert mentorship, hands‑on education, and calm, skilled leadership to staff across residential aged care and hospital settings. She develops processes, partners with multidisciplinary teams, delivers training, and works directly with residents and families, often beyond rostered hours, to ensure safety, dignity, and genuine connection.

Nicky’s colleagues describe her as a servant leader whose warmth, professionalism, and deep respect for personhood shine through in every interaction. Her impact is felt not only in the lives of vulnerable older adults, but in the hearts and practice of the nurses and teams she lifts, supports, and inspires.