Town of Port Hedland Council trainee, Annika Brown, has been named the state’s trainee of the year at the WA Training Awards 2026.
Ms Brown completed a Certificate III in Sports, Aquatics and Recreation while undertaking a traineeship with the Town of Port Hedland.
“During the traineeship she had a positive impact in her workplace, introducing collaboration between teams while serving as a positive and inspiring role model for her peers,” WA Training Awards stated.
“She is described as demonstrating a level of capability, maturity, and professionalism well beyond her trainee status and exemplifies the success of traineeship programs.”
Each year, the WA Department of Training and Workforce Development hosts the awards to celebrate the individuals, employers and organisations driving excellence in vocational education and training (VET) and highlight future leaders whose success stories help inspire others to pursue VET pathways.
This year’s awards recognised 30 individual finalists across eight award categories, including the WA Apprentice, Trainee and Vocational Student of the Year.
“The WA Training Awards play a vital role in promoting vocational training pathways; highlighting the training and career journeys of students, apprentices, trainees and graduates,” said Department of Training and Workforce Development Director General, Jodie Wallace.
“The training journeys of this year’s finalists highlight the diverse career pathways and opportunities available through Western Australia’s world-class vocational training system.
“From secondary school students to mature-aged career changers looking to gain skills for the future workforce, vocational training has a pathway for everyone and can open doors to a world of opportunities.”
Seven of this year’s eight individual WA Training Awards winners are women, and several finalists are women working in non-traditional trades, highlighting the growing contribution of women to skilled occupations across WA, the Dept said in a statement.
