A WOMAN from Darwen who emigrated to Australia has been awarded a medal for her work with female AIDS victims.

Stephanie Moore, 53, formerly of South Street, moved Down Under four years ago when given the opportunity to create a service helping women living with HIV and AIDS.

The former Blackburn Girls Grammar School pupil studied at Sheffield Art College and went on to study fine art, painting and sculpting at Portsmouth University.

Stephanie, who now works in Melbourne and lives in the town of Prahran, said: "I've always followed my creative instincts and worked in Oxford in the mid-1970s at a rehabilitation unit for the sick.

"At this point the job in Australia came up and I took it. It's fantastic and a lot like art because it's about building an effective organisation. It's like making a living sculpture with people."

Stephanie developed a service called Positive Women and has employed two more members of staff and helped introduce more women to the service. She said: "It's about empowering women and giving them the confidence to talk about the disease."

Stephanie is currently working on setting up a trust fund for children whose parents are affected by the disease. The centenary award acts as an anonymous thank-you to people who do a good job in the community. The recipients do not find out who nominated them for the honour.

Around 15,000 Australians will be honoured with the centenary medal this year, approved by Prime Minister John Howard.

Stephanie said: "I heard about it one week ago and I was over the moon. I'm very grateful."

Her mother, Maejean Tys, 76, of South Street, Darwen, said: "I'm so proud of her because she's doing a fantastic job and works so hard. I know that, quite often, she's in work when the working day has finished."

The Positive Women website is www.positivewomen.org.au