Seven University of Wollongong trailblazers have earned top honours at the 2026 UOW Alumni Awards for driving breakthrough impact across clean tech, mental health, journalism, and community leadership.
The 2026 honourees are
Ricardo Gonçalves – SBS journalist and presenter
Chelsea Pottenger – Mental health advocate and author
Dr Suzy Green – Psychologist and entrepreneur
Mark Swinnerton – Founder, Green Gravity
Joe Williams – Community leader
Natalie Piucco – Tech innovator and leader
Prof Jun Chen – Clean energy researcher
“A university’s reputation is shaped by its people,” vice-chancellor Professor Max Lu said. “It travels through the way our graduates care for others, create opportunity, and contribute to the communities around them.”
Joint Vision celebrated
Wollongong-based Joint Vision Orthopaedic Group was named a top-10 finalist in its category at the 2026 Australian Financial Review BOSS Most Innovative Companies Awards.
The Illawarra group stood alongside global medical giant Medtronic and Australian med-tech leader Nanosonics at the Sydney ceremony in a program that drew more than 500 entries.
The national recognition highlighted an approach focused not on developing a new medical device, but on fundamentally rethinking how patients access and experience orthopaedic care.
CEO Wynter Dares called the recognition “a remarkable achievement for an independent organisation”.
“To see Joint Vision’s name on that stage alongside companies such as Medtronic and Nanosonics was an incredibly proud moment,” Mr Dares said. “We’re an independent healthcare group from Wollongong, and to be recognised in that company shows that meaningful innovation doesn’t have to come from a major corporation or a capital city.
“But what’s especially rewarding is that this recognition is about something our team has built together, and something our patients experience every day.”
And the stats don’t lie, the group said. It delivered more than 21,000 appointments and 3654 new patients in the 2026 financial year, alongside tracking 10,000 research outcomes with the University of Wollongong.
Shellharbour shenanigans
There’s never been too much love lost between Shellharbour mayor Chris Homer and state MP Anna Watson. The angst amped up and became more personal early 2023 when Homer announced he would contest the NSW state election against Watson, who went on to retain the seat for a fourth term.
But add in an airport funding fiasco when Watson accused the mayor of misleading the community, then governance issues at Shellharbour council in 2025, and things haven’t improved.
That’s probably all the less likely given a post this week on Mayor Chris Homer’s Facebook which included a screenshot from his Wollongong counterpart’s account. There Cr Tania Brown shared her appreciation for the support of state MPs, including the Member for Shellharbour, as the NSW Local Government Grants Commission abandoned its review of how federal Financial Assistance Grants are shared. Had it gone ahead Wollongong would’ve been almost $16 million short annually.
It prompted Mayor Homer to express his disappointment - especially as the u-turn meant Shellharbour would not get the $5.5m increase the proposed methodology forecast.
It was left to commenter “John Smith” to make the point: “The seat of Shellharbour also encompasses part of Wollongong city, so the MP had a difficult position here. Cannot always keep everyone happy.”
Dapto, Kanahooka, Koonawarra, Horsley and Wongawilli and others on Wollongong’s south-western edge overlap into the state seat of Shellharbour.
Kiama goes to the people
Kiama Municipal Council is offering ratepayers a chance to have their say on how to fix its financial woes.
Under the pressure of a NSW Government Performance Improvement Order (since November 2022), the council has rolled out a suite of revenue-raising measures to balance the books and keep administrators at bay.
Most notably is “special rate variation” in the form of a 20% rate hike. That would inject $4 million a year into council coffers, wiping out its $3.8 million shortfall in one hit. For an average household paying $2000 annually, it means an extra $400 out of pocket, the council says. Whether residents are quite so civic-minded is a completely different scenario.
It’s not just residents on the hook. Council is also considering paid parking for non-residents, with initial modeling projecting over $1 million in net annual profit. The potential sale or commercial development of Havilah Place and the council’s administration building also is being considered.
“We’ve slowed expenditure to the bare minimum,” Mayor Cameron McDonald said. “Our community knows that we’ve stripped our finances right back already. We simply have to get on with the job of finding a workable long-term solution.”
Community consultation is now underway to determine whether Council formally pulls the trigger on the rate-rise application to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal in February.