In what she has called a “bittersweet victory” Lisa Brock won a Best National Achievement gong in the Australian Awards for Teaching Excellence in Canberra last week.

Deputy Pime Minister and Education Minister, Julia Gillard, presented Ms Brock with her award at Parliament House.

Strongly involved in the development and maintenance of employment and training programs for disengaged students, Ms Brock was credited with creating significant and rewarding employment outcomes for young people in the region.

Nominated by ATC principal, Damien Judd, the nomination cited Brock’s success in bridging the gap between workplaces and disengaged students and her infectious sense of enthusiasm, dedication and ability to meaningfully connect and inspire young people.

Ms Brock said she was overwhelmed by the award.

“It was just an honour to be nominated in the first place … so when they rang me to tell me I had actually won the award, it was such a huge surprise.”

However with the predicted closure of the college at the end of the year – due to the termination of Federal Government funding - she said the win came at one of the worst times for the college.

Now working in a similar role with the State Government as the regional co-ordinator for Aboriginal Employment Initiative, she said she is still doing what she loves.

“I still deal with a lot of the same people, and a lot of the same issues … It’s like I haven’t really gone anywhere different really.”