Sharon Lockwood, the Anglican Diocese of Adelaide’s Survivor Advocate, has been named a finalist in the 2026 SA Women of Impact Awards, recognised in the Impact on Ending Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence category for more than three decades of work supporting victim-survivors of sexual, domestic and family violence.
Sharon was nominated by Archbishop Brad Billings in recognition of her significant contribution to the work of the Anglican Church – in the Diocese, across the State and nationally – in the fight against domestic, family and sexual violence.
Finalists and winners in the four award categories, run by the State Government’s Office for Women, were celebrated on 8 September at a ceremony at Government House hosted by the Governor of South Australia. The Ending Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence award went to Stacey Nelan, with Sharon named alongside fellow finalists Debra Swann, Julie Maloney and Sally McLaren.
Sharon’s career in the sector began in 1991, when she worked as a social worker advocating for victims reporting offences to SAPOL’s then Sexual Assault Unit. She went on to hold specialist roles supporting South Australian women and girls affected by sexual, domestic and family violence across health, higher education, community and religious settings, including more than 21 years at Yarrow Place Rape and Sexual Assault Service – 11 of them as Social Work Coordinator – as well as roles with Victim Support Service, Respond SA, the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.
In 2021 Sharon was appointed the Diocese’s Survivor Advocate, the first role of its kind in the Anglican Church of Australia.
In that position she supports adult survivors of sexual assault connected to the Diocese, including those ineligible for the National Redress Scheme, drawing on trauma-informed practice and restorative justice approaches to help survivors navigate alternative paths to redress. Her nomination credits her with strengthening partnerships across the sector and improving how institutions respond to disclosures of abuse.
Sharon is also a key member of the Diocese’s Domestic and Family Violence Working Group, which has driven the rollout of purple benches in public spaces across South Australia – including outside St Peter’s Cathedral – as a visible sign of solidarity with victims and survivors of domestic and family violence.
Her nomination points to the Purple Bench project as just one demonstration of the passion and creativity she brings to getting that message across.
Her work is felt well beyond Adelaide. Sharon is a member of the National Women’s Safety Alliance’s Sexual Violence Working Group, contributes to the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW) and the Australian STOP Domestic Violence Conference Advisory Committee, and recently presented at the Anglican Church of Australia’s Faith, Hope and Love National Conference.
She also featured on a CEVAW podcast discussing a 20-year study, commissioned by the Diocese, into how clergy and church workers respond to disclosures of abuse.
In 2025 Sharon made a submission to the SA Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, drawing on more than 30 years in the sector to put forward recommendations on prevention, response, recovery and system coordination, and highlighting the heightened risk of gender-based violence faced by marginalised groups. In 2012 she was recognised with a Women’s and Children’s Hospital Friends Fellowship, which took her to an international violence-prevention conference in California.
