Joy Palmer, the chair of

South
Australia’s
Statewide super fund, and former trustee of the then-PSS/CSS Commonwealth
scheme, died last month after a battle with cancer.

With PSS/CSS, now ARIA,
Palmer was a key person in the early promotion of the use of environmental
social and governance (ESG) philosophies within the fund and in the wider
superannuation community. Prior to her funeral in

Adelaide on October 21, Erik Mather, the head
of ESG adviser Regnan and Frances Magill, chief executive of Statewide,
discussed the possibility of a lasting industry award in Palmer’s memory.

Magill
said Palmer would have liked to have a traineeship around sustainability, which
had the support of her husband, Peter. Mather said: “[Peter] thought this would
be wonderful and would be only to pleased to help shape a scholarship/prize/ award
to remember Joy’s pioneering role in driving ESG into the mainstream on an ongoing
basis.”