Nominations are currently CLOSED and open 29 January 2024
Submissions should be no longer than 500 words. The emphasis should be placed on the quality of factual content, rather than elaborate layout, or lengthy descriptive words. Try and address the three/four main selection criteria.
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The annual awards celebrate the city’s many generous residents and achievers, who tirelessly give up their time to give back to the community.
About the awards:
The citizen, senior citizen and young citizen categories reward and recognise individuals who have made a noteworthy contribution during the past year while having regard to their previous achievements and ongoing contribution over and above normal employment duties.
Outstanding contribution and community service includes areas such as education, health, fundraising, charitable and voluntary service, business, sport, arts, the environment, or any other area that contributes to the advancement and wellbeing of the community.
To be eligible, the person must be an Australian citizen, over 16 and under 30 years of age on January 26, 2025 for the young citizen category and age 60 and over for the senior citizen award.
Community service awards recognise residents who have given outstanding service to a single organisation or field of endeavour.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nominees must be Australian citizens and, unless there are exceptional circumstances, must be residents of Whyalla.
- Current elected members of Whyalla Council are ineligible. Previous winners are excluded from being re-nominated for 12 months.
- Nominees cannot be self-nominated or nominated by family members.
- Nominees for the category of Senior Citizen must be aged 60 years or over on January 26, 2025.
- Nominees for the category of Young Citizen must be aged over 16 years and under 30 years of age on January 26, 2025.
- Unsuccessful nominees from a previous year may be re-nominated.
- Nominations may be submitted by groups (e.g. committees, associations, etc.) or individuals, with or without the knowledge of the person being nominated.
- The nature of individual awards place emphasis on what the person has done for the community, rather than achievements in their own personal development or ambitions.
- If the professional employment of a nominee is interwoven within the nomination, it is essential that sufficient information is provided to show a clear separation of voluntary work, compared to that undertaken as part of their employment, or employment related work that is “above and beyond” the normal expectation of the job.
- Nominations should endeavour to include as much concise detail of the person’s involvement as possible. For example, instead of stating “chairperson from 1995 to 2007,” it is preferable to outline how their leadership benefited the organisation, or if a committee person, indicate examples of their commitment.
Guidance and Criteria
In choosing the recipients of the Australia Day Awards, consideration is given to the nominee’s achievements in the year immediately prior to receiving the award, as well as their past achievements and ongoing contribution to the community.
An individual need only be nominated once to be considered.
Selection criteria for Citizen of the Year, Senior Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year include:
- Significant contribution to the City of Whyalla
- An inspirational role model for both the Whyalla and Australian communities
- The scope of impact the individual’s contribution has on Whyalla
- Whether the nominee has had to overcome any particular difficulties or hurdles
Selection criteria for Community Service awards include:
- Voluntary commitment to the Whyalla community and/or sporting club/s
- An inspirational role model for the Whyalla community and/or sporting club/s
- The scope of impact the individual’s contribution has on Whyalla and/or sporting club/s
The selection panel will also give consideration to the following in assessing and comparing nominations against the above criteria:
- Personal, academic and professional achievements
- Contribution in the relevant field (how has the nominee or event ‘put back’ into their field to benefit others)
- Demonstrated leadership, innovation and creativity
- Contribution to development of regional community and/or economy
- Future goals and likely impact
- Degree of difficulty of the achievement and sacrifices made
- Previous awards and recognition
- Voluntary work beyond paid employment
- Nature and length of activity or service
- Achievements as an individual or as part of a group or organisation
Nominations are currently CLOSED and open 29 January 2024
Submissions should be no longer than 500 words. The emphasis should be placed on the quality of factual content, rather than elaborate layout, or lengthy descriptive words. Try and address the three/four main selection criteria.