Wiradjuri woman Amy Sutherland has taken out the region's top title for Aboriginal Nurse/Midwife of the Year at the 2025 Western NSW Local Health District Nursing and Midwifery Awards on Tuesday 20 May.

Ms Sutherland is a transitional nurse practitioner with Gilgandra Health Service.

She described the win as humbling both personally and professionally, and said it has been incredibly significant and identity-affirming for her.

"I actually didn't grow up strongly connected to my culture when I was younger," said Amy.

"So when I became an adult, I had to reconnect with my identity. It's been a really big part of my journey.

"I've worked really hard to learn to be involved in my community and to represent my culture and my practice, and so now to be recognised for that just means the world to me."

Her message to young Indigenous people who are considering a career in the healthcare field is simple: "you should never feel that you have to do this alone."

"That's been the biggest takeaway for me, realizing that I can lean on my community. I can lean on mentors. There is help and support available there for Aboriginal people."

Amy also stressed that you don't have to leave your community to have a great career in healthcare.

"I think there's still this assumption from a lot of people that you have to leave home and go to a big city in order to be successful, to study and to do something, and that's not the case at all. I'm proof of that.

"If you want to get into healthcare, do not feel that you have to leave your community to do that. It's actually your community that needs you, and you belong in your community."

WNSWLHD Executive Director Quality, Clinical Safety and Nursing Adrian Fahy said he was thrilled to personally congratulate each recipient.

“Nurses and midwives make up the largest part of our workforce with more than 3,300 committed professionals across the district,” Mr Fahy said.

“Their tireless efforts are at the heart of the care we provide, whether in hospitals, community health centres, or in the homes of our patients.

 “Every year I’m impressed with the quality of all our nominations, as usual it was an incredibly difficult task to select our Award recipients, which is testament to the commitment of our workforce."

The recipients from the WNSWLHD award categories will now be put forward as nominees for the 2025 NSW Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards.