Award categories

• Citizen of the Year
• Young Citizen of the Year
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Citizen of the Year
• Cultural Award
• Sports Award (Junior and Senior)
• Community Group of the Year
• Community Event of the Year

Citizen of the year criteria:

• Nominee resides in the council area
• Nominee is older than 26 years of age as at January 26 in the award year
• Activities result in short and long-term benefits and promote the welfare and wellbeing of the community
• Provides a positive role model for others
• Contributions being completed on a voluntary basis or exceeding the normal requirements of the person's paid work

Young citizen of the year criteria:

• Nominee resides in the council area
• Nominee is not older than 26 years of age as at January 26 in the award year
• Activities result in short and long term benefits and promote the welfare and wellbeing of the community
• Providing a positive role model for others
• Contributions being completed on a voluntary basis or exceeding the normal requirements of the person's paid work

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander - Citizen of the year criteria:

• Nominee resides in the Council area
• Nominee is a person of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent
• Activities result in short and long-term benefits and promote the welfare and wellbeing of the community
• Provides a positive role model for others
• Contributions being completed on a voluntary basis or exceeding the normal requirements of the person's paid work

Cultural award criteria:

• Nominee resides in the Council area
• Level of contribution to, and achievement in, local or regional cultural life and activities. Examples include, but are not limited to: performing/visual arts, literary, and historical conservation.

Sports award criteria:

• Nominee resides in the Council area
• Major sporting achievement or significant contribution to sports administration (including coaches and officials).
• Senior Sport
  • Nominee is older than 18 years of age as at January 26 in the award year
  Junior Sport
  • Nominee is not older than 18 years of age as at January 26 in the award year

Community group of the year award criteria:

• Group resides in the Council area
• Delivery of outstanding community service
• Purpose of group and outcome achieved
• Impact of group activity on the community
• Level of community participation
• Reflection of Australian values

Community event of the year award criteria:

• Event occurred in the Council area
• Delivery of outstanding community service
• Purpose of event and outcome achieved
• Impact of event on the community
• Level of community participation
• Reflection of Australian values

• Nominations must be submitted on our official nomination forms (posted or electronically submitted).
• In the event that no nominations are received in any of the categories, the relevant working group reserves the right to extend the nomination period or make the award to an individual, event or group of its choice.
• Awards will not be granted after death.
• Sitting local, state and federal politicians and current vice-regal officers are not eligible.
• Nominations can be made for only one local area e.g. a person cannot be nominated in two districts. Selection panels may choose to contact the nominee to determine which jurisdiction is most appropriate.
• A person would not usually be awarded the same award more than once; however, a repeat award may be made in exceptional circumstances. In this case, particular consideration will be given to work undertaken since the last time the person was awarded - the award should not be given twice in recognition of the same work. Community Groups can be considered for repeat awards.
• Unsuccessful nominees may be re-nominated in subsequent years.
• The decision of the Australia Day working group is final and no correspondence will be entered into in regards to that decision.

When you fill out the nomination form, there are a few things you should consider to ensure your nomination provides us with enough information about the achievements of the person you are nominating. Here are some hints to help you get started:

• Fill out as much of the form as possible. Even if you do not know the person you are nominating well, try to provide as much detail as you can.
• If possible include the nominee's date of birth. If you are not certain of the person's date of birth, then make an educated guess and insert an approximate age.
• Include any supporting documentation with your nomination. This can include personal references, portfolios, resumes, newspaper articles, etc.
• Please do not nominate the same person more than once for the same award. Recipients are selected based on selection criteria, rather than the number of times they are nominated.

Nominee's details

The nomination form provides space for the nominee's details. In providing this information, consider the following:

• In what area and/or roles has the person excelled?
• How does the person stand out from the pack? How has their achievement/service been greater than what might be normally expected of a person their age and in their field? Focus on both the quality and quantity of their achievement/service.
• How much of their work has been voluntary, focused on helping others or making their local community a better place?
• Has the person overcome particular challenges or adversities to make their achievement? How difficult has their achievement been?
• How has the nominee shown achievement/service outside of their particular specialty? For example, personal interests and involvement in the wider community.
• How has the nominee's achievement/service been acknowledged elsewhere - other awards, commendations etc?
• How does the person nominated make you proud to be Australian? Is your view shared by others in your community? If so, who?
• What personal qualities make the person inspirational?
• Why should other Australians look to the person as a role model?
• Has the person shown great bravery, vision or particular strengths of character?

Provide examples

Provide examples to support your statements for all of the above. Don't just make a statement - demonstrate it with examples. To help you get started here is an example of an answer that provides a great amount of information:

At 22 years Christina is an outstanding young dancer and shares her passion for the arts with the community of Pittsworth, particularly through the Youth Ballet Company. Since 13 Christina has won overall best dancer in the Toowoomba Eisteddfod, and in 2002 obtained first place in the National Ballet Eisteddfod held in Perth. Christina has been accepted into the Australian Ballet Company but has decided to stay in the local area to teach dance to the youth.

Throughout her training, she has faced the isolation of being a ballet dancer a long way from the big companies based in the southern states. She worked two part time jobs to raise the funds to travel south each Christmas to undertake intensive classes.

Christina is the lead dancer for the Youth Ballet Company and has recently choreographed two short ballets. Christina was the driving force behind a tour to Tenant Creek and to Alice Springs in September last year and she is planning a tour to Alice Springs again this year.

Christina is not only an exceptional dancer; she is committed to building the local arts community. All of Christina's work with the Youth Ballet has been voluntary. I estimate that she has spent at least 20 hours per week for the past four years working with the younger dancers in the company.

Christina shows that the arts are alive and well in rural Australia. She continues to combine her talents and passion for the arts to promote dance. Through my son who is a member of the Youth Ballet Company I can see that she has changed the lives of many young people. She has given them the opportunity to express themselves in dance and the company has grown as a result of her involvement. All of the members and parents are inspired by her passion, drive and great skill as a leader and as a dancer.

She is a role model to her younger dancers and I believe to all of those associated with the company. She is an outstanding young Australian.

Supporting documentation

If you are nominating, you can attach supporting documentation to the form. Supporting documentation can include:

• Personal references
• Portfolios
• Resumes
• Newspaper articles