Work at Home Mum Nominated for Australian of the Year Award - The woman who has been the driving force behind the Virtual Assistant Industry in Australia was nominated for the 2008 Australian of the Year Award in Community Service. When Kathie M. Thomas, Founder & CEO of a company known as "A Clayton’s Secretary" received word of her nomination, her response was, “I have no idea who nominated me but it was a wonderful surprise to receive the letter and certificate in the mail.” Thomas, a work-at-home-mum, is credited with assisting hundreds of women, in Australia and overseas, in establishing home-based businesses as a result of their desires to also be work-at-home-mothers. "Working at home isn't something that everyone could do," according to Thomas, “but for those who have excellent office skills and need to be home for children or aged parents, it's an ideal way to keep those skills and still have an income.