Darraweit Guim resident Christine Craik was made a member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the community as a social worker, to tertiary education, and as a volunteer.
Recognised as part of this year’s Australia Day honours, Ms Craik has served a long career as a social worker and university lecturer, also shaping social worker education across Australia.
She said that it has been a “great privilege” to work in the area of social work, where she has worked across several voluntary roles and led significant change.
Ms Craik said that she has done “a lot of work” with the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW), including a decade on the board and time as national president.
“I got to review the education standards of social workers across Australia and I lobbied really hard and was successful to get family violence … and decolonising subjects compulsory for all undergrad and post-grad social work students,” Ms Craik said.
“A lot of my work has been in family violence and sexual offending, and I think it’s just so important we train our social workers correctly,” she said.
Ms Craik also worked to introduce a specialist family violence accreditation available for social workers.
Working as a lecturer with RMIT in the areas of social work and human services, she has developed family violence subjects and voluntarily developed training material for social work teams, the Magistrates’ Court, and the Family Court.
“I want all professionals to understand and work well in the family violence area,” she said.
As a chairperson for Project Respect from 2012–18, she supported women who were trafficked, advocating for increased government involvement in combatting trafficking.
Ms Craik is currently part of the lived experience advisory group for family violence response centre Safe Steps, where she provides input into policies and procedures for when victims seek crisis assistance.
She also currently provides pro bono support to family and magistrates’ courts through assisting in the creation of family violence reports, which she said helps to “make it easier for the courts and the police … the health system, and the child protection system to understand what’s going on.”
In her local community, Ms Craik has worked as a committee member of the Darraweit Guim Memorial Hall Committee since 1994 and has been the secretary for about 20 years.
Under the hall committee, she is also a member of a resilience committee that helps local residents to be prepared for before and after natural disasters, such as floods and bushfires.
During the October 2022 floods, Ms Craik was heavily involved with coordinating volunteers and organisations to assist with cleaning up damaged houses and gardens.
“I think Darrawerit Guim has got a very active community, and there are a lot of people that pitch in to do work around the town … I think in times of disaster and in times of need, this community really pulls together, which is great,” she said.
She has also worked as a wildlife rescuer in the region and as a volunteer with the town’s community events for over 30 years – including leadership and performance roles within the annual Christmas carols.
When she was first notified by email of her appointment as a member of the Order of Australia, Ms Craik said she thought it was junk mail.
“It’s fantastic. It feels great, but a little bit surreal,” she said.
“I’ve been doing a lot of community volunteering my whole adult life, but so do a lot of people who don’t get this recognition, so I want to shout out to everyone that’s doing community volunteer work. It’s just so necessary.”
