Harvey Norman and The Weekly Times are celebrating the 10th annual Shine Awards and a decade of highlighting more than a thousand extraordinary but unsung achievements and contributions of rural and regional women around Australia.
News Corp Australia’s community ambassador and Herald & Weekly Times chairman Penny Fowler thanked Katie Page and Harvey Norman for the decade-long partnership between The Weekly Times and Harvey Norman.
“When Katie and I started the Shine Awards we could never have imagined how many inspiring women we would have the privilege of recognising, or the extraordinary stories we would hear along the way,” Fowler said.
“Every single woman we have celebrated has helped make her community a stronger, better place for everyone who works and lives there.
“At the heart of the Shine Awards are their amazing stories. This reflects our company’s belief in creating positive change through our journalism and storytelling.”
Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page said: “In the 10 years of Shine, our community of girls and women has grown to over a thousand women – the size of a small country town.
“When Penny and I first started Shine, our aim was to ‘shine’ a light on the extraordinary women of rural and regional Australia. We also hoped that national recognition would raise awareness and reduce the individual sense of isolation that impacts and challenges rural and remote Australians in daily life.”
Samantha Longmore was last year’s winner in recognition of her work as a disability advocate, motivational speaker, world champion waterskier and operator of several rural and agricultural businesses.
She said it was “incredibly special” to be recognised.
“It gave me the opportunity to meet so many other inspiring women who are all making a difference in their own communities and industries,” she said.
“It was a lovely reminder that there are so many people quietly doing incredible things every day, and it was an honour to be recognised alongside them.
“The support from Harvey Norman, The Weekly Times and everyone involved in the awards made the whole experience feel genuinely valued and celebrated.”
Longmore encouraged others to follow in her footsteps and nominate themselves or someone they know.
“Taking the time to acknowledge the work people are doing really does matter. You never know what opportunities, connections and confidence can come from being recognised.”
The campaign will be supported with digital and print advertisements across The Weekly Times, The Australian, The Mercury, NT News, The Townsville Bulletin and The Toowoomba Chronicle.
The Shine Awards honour women in six categories: Belief, Courage, Dedication, Grace, Passion and Spirit. A special Youth award is also given to a nominee under the age of 30 who shows great potential to become a leader in her rural community or industry.
The coverage culminates in a special magazine on 25 November 2026, sharing stories of all the category finalists and announcing the six category winners, Youth award winner and overall winner.
Each category winner and the Youth award winner will be awarded a $2500 voucher from Harvey Norman. The overall Shine winner will be awarded $5000.
