All about the Australian of the Year Awards — How are the awardees chosen?

Australia Day is a day dedicated to celebrating everything that we love about Australia — its spirit, core values, and most especially its people. As part of the celebrations, the nation recognises the great contributions of exceptional Aussies through the Australian of the Year Awards. The recipients of the awards inspire and challenge everyday Australians through their achievements and contributions towards the betterment of the country.

In today’s article, we’ll be discussing all about the Australian of the Year Awards. Read on below to get a bit more of an insight as to what it takes to be an awardee and the process behind choosing one.

What is the Australian of the Year Awards?

The Australian of the Year Awards began in 1960 and is arguably the country’s most prestigious awards. It’s also probably the most highly anticipated part of the Australia Day celebrations. These Awards are given to honour extraordinary Australians who have started discussions and sparked change on important issues that are of national significance.

Award Categories

There are four award categories. These are:

Australian of the Year – awarded to Australian role models in celebration of their contributions and achievements. All of the nominees are considered for the Australian of the Year Award.
Senior Australian of the Year – This award celebrates our older Australians (65+ years old) who continue to achieve and contribute to the society.
Young Australian of the Year – This is an award that recognises people within the age of 16 to 30 who have already achieved great things.
Australia’s Local Hero – awarded to Aussies who are making a difference in their local community. All of the nominees are considered for the Australia’s Local Hero award.

The Process

Nominations are submitted. Anyone can submit a nomination and they are accepted all year round. If you want someone you admire to be considered for the awards, you can nominate them through the Australian of the Year website.
States and Territories selections. An expert panel in every state and territory will select recipients for each of the respective award categories.
Announcement of recipients (States and Territories). Recipients from each state and territory are announced. They would then go through to the national judging process.
National selections. The National Australia Day council board will select national recipients.
National Recipients are announced. The national recipients for each of the four award categories are announced on the eve of Australia Day.

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What it takes to be an awardee

There are thousands of nominations submitted for the Australian of the Year awards every year. But what kind of person are they actually searching for? They’re looking for someone who has had a positive impact on the lives of others and the Australian society; someone who has overcome challenges and have been excelling in their career.

The Award would be focused on the nominees’s achievements in the year before receiving the award but of course, their past achievements and continuous contributions to the Australian nation will also be given regard. A nominee only needs to be nominated once for him or her to be considered. The number of nominations that a person receives doesn’t give them any advantage in the selection. The selection panels also give considerations to a couple of other things when assessing a nomination. More information about that here.

Eligibility Criteria

Before you nominate anyone, you have to first make sure that they’re eligible. You can nominate them if they are an Australian citizen and are at least 16 years old on the 26th of January of the Awards year. If they have been nominated before but have been unsuccessful, they may still be re-nominated in the following years.

Here are couple of no-nos with regards to nominations:

You can’t nominate yourself.
Politicians and vice-regal officers currently in office can’t be nominated. They can, however, be nominated once they’ve retired and for the work that they’ve done outside of their official duties.
A person can’t receive a 2nd award in the same award category at the national level. Although, they can be considered for a different award category in the subsequent years.
A nominee can’t be nominated in multiple states or territories
Though there are some exceptions, couples or groups of people aren’t usually eligible.
Current NADC and state based Australia Day Board members aren’t eligible.

Get to know some of the previous awardees

Australian of the Year

Dylan Alcott AO (2022)– A paralympian, philanthropist, author, media commentator and advocate for marginalised Australians with a disability.
Grace Tame (2021) – An advocate for survivors of sexual assault having gone through it herself.
Dr James Muecke AM (2020) – An eye surgeon who is passionate about fighting blindness. He has eye health and blindness initiatives in Australia and overseas.

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Senior Australian of the Year

Valmai Dempsey (2022) – She has been volunteering at St John Ambulance for over 50 years
Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann AM (2021) – An Aboriginal activist, artist, writer, public speaker, and the Northern Territory’s first ever fully qualified Aboriginal teacher.
Professor John Newnham AM (2020) – He’s the founder of the Australian Preterm Birth Prevention Alliance – the world’s first ever national program of its kind. He’s know to be an intellectual leader in the field of modern obstetrics.

Young Australian of the Year

Dr Daniel Nour (2022) – He founded a non profit GP-led mobile medical service for homeless people called Street Side Medics.
Isobel Marshall (2021) – She is a social entrepreneur and co-founder of TABOO, a company that aims to help women across the globe through breaking down stigma around menstruation and providing them better access to hygiene products.
Ash Barty (2020) – She’s someone who needs no introduction as she’s ranked as the world’s number one singles tennis player by the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association).

Local Hero

Shanna Whan (2022) – She offers peer support and education about alcohol in rural Australia through the grassroots organisation she founded called Sober in the Country.
Rosemary Kariuki (2021) – She is an advocate for refugees and migrant women specially those who are facing domestic violence, financial difficulties and language barriers.
Bernie Shakeshaft (2020) – He changes the lives of some of Australia’s most vulnerable kids for the better through his BackTrack Youth Works Program.

Thinking of nominating someone? Here’s how

Although I have never actually nominated anyone for the Awards, the instructions they’ve put out makes it seem like it’s easy enough to do so. The main thing to keep in mind when completing your nomination is to tell the person’s story the best you can in a way that highlights their qualities and how they’re making a difference.

Step 1. Firstly, check the nomination criteria to ensure your nominee is eligible.
Step 2. Visit the Australian of the Year nominate page and register your details. Nominations are submitted online through their online form but there’s also a hard copy of the nominations form available if you prefer.
Step 3. Answer a couple of questions about the person you’re nominating. The questions would mostly just be about their contributions, achievements, and your reason for nominating them.

References:

https://australianoftheyear.org.au/
https://www.australiaday.org.au/about/nadc

Disclaimer All content and information in this post is for purposes of sharing my experiences only, does not constitute professional advice and does not establish any kind of professional-client relationship.

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