Dynamic Business was saddened to hear of the untimely death of Jaye Radisich at the weekend at the age of 35.
The immediate past CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA) was a passionate advocate for the rights of small business in Australia. The youngest woman ever to be elected to the WA Parliament, Radisich’s short life was full of achievement.
Tributes have flooded in for Radisich, who had a rare form of kidney cancer.
Small Business Minister Brendan O’Connor paid his respects, saying: “Ms Radisich spent 15 months as the CEO of COSBOA and in that time used her knowledge of Government to push for greater support of small business. She was a hardworking advocate for small business and a passionate Labor figure in WA.
“Ms Radisich had a solid track record of working with the private sector while in her role with COSBOA. For example, she was instrumental in forming a partnership between COSBOA, Telstra and the Federal Government to deliver information to small businesses about new, modernised awards when the Fair Work Act was introduced.
“Her death at the age of 35 was untimely and she will be sadly missed by the small business and Labor community.”
Current COSBOA executive director Peter Strong said: “Vale Jaye Radisich, who fought hard for the small business community. A life well lived and cut short far too early.”
Dynamic Business editor Jen Bishop said: “When Jaye became CEO of COSBOA she was like a breath of fresh air. I thoroughly enjoyed working with her and getting to know her.
“Jaye was a clever, ambitious woman with a genuine passion for small business issues. She was, and is, a great female role model.
“She was also funny and warm and a very real human being. We enjoyed many chats about small business, but also shoes, hair, our partners and the usual girl stuff. I am only glad she is no longer suffering.”
So determined was she to beat cancer that Jaye travelled to China with her partner Brad Maguire last year to seek alternative treatment and kept a blog about her experiences. In an interview she said: “I don’t want to die yet. I am 35 and I’ve got things to do, quite a lot of things to do really. I want to search for a miracle.”
She was admitted to hospital a fortnight ago after the cancer started to spread. She died with Brad and her family at her side. Our thoughts are with them at this very sad time.
If you would like to pay tribute to Jaye, please email jen.bishop@dynamicbusiness.com.au. We will be running an obituary in the April issue of the magazine.
