2023 Premier’s Excellence Awards

Peter led the South Australian Labor Party to victory at the March 2022 state election becoming the 47th Premier of South Australia.

With a focus on health, education, jobs, skills and the environment, Peter was elected with a plan not just for the next four years but for the next generation.

Prior to being elected Premier of South Australia, Peter was the Leader of the Opposition between 2018-22 bringing a constructive alternative approach to the challenges facing South Australia during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

During the Weatherill Labor Government Peter held the portfolios of Minister for Police, Correctional Services, Emergency Services and Road Safety (2016-2017) and Minister for Health, Mental Health and Substance Abuse (2017-2018).

He first entered state parliament as a member of the Legislative Council in 2015 before being elected as the member for Croydon in 2018.

In Peter’s spare time, he can often be found at a Port Adelaide game or out on the footy field playing with his beloved Adelaide Uni Blacks.

Peter’s great love though is his family. Peter and his wife Annabel have three young children Sophie, Jack, and Eliza.

Katherine Bennell-Pegg is an Australian Astronaut Candidate – the first to be trained under the Australian flag. The Space Systems Engineer is currently training with the European Space Agency in Germany.

Katherine has more than a decade of experience developing space programs and strategies, technologies, and missions across Europe, the US and Australia.

The mum of two is passionate about using human spaceflight and space to unlock opportunities for researchers and industry, and to inspire the next generation.

Katherine’s a keen volunteer, having worked with the Australian Army Reserves, Surf Life Saving, State Emergency Service, and Engineers Without Borders Australia.

Appointed on 1 July 2014, Commissioner for Public Sector Employment Erma Ranieri works passionately towards creating a world-leading public sector that serves South Australians well, does what it says it will do, and to which every public servant is proud to belong.

With the role of the public sector being to serve and support South Australia to thrive, Erma leads sector-wide reform to modernise the public sector and continue to build on its value and service to the South Australian community.

Erma has worked for more than 30 years to help organisations optimise productivity and employee wellbeing. She was named a 2014 Telstra Business Woman of the Year as SA Winner of the Telstra Community and Government Award for her role in leading transformational change throughout the public sector.

With a key focus on flexibility, diversity and leadership development to ensure the public sector is positioned as an Employer of Choice, Erma continues to challenge cultural and structural barriers to drive innovative, collaborative and connected services for the community.