NSW Citizen of the Year Awards Toolkit

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This page includes information and resources for local governments to use in promoting their local NSW Citizen of the Year Awards program.

About the NSW Citizen of the Year Awards

Community is at the heart of Australia Day and our national day is the perfect time to honour and recognise the achievements of all Australians. The NSW Citizen of the Year Awards have been a part of the Australia Day in NSW program since 2005 with Local Government Areas (LGAs) embracing the program each year to celebrate the outstanding achievements of citizens in their communities.

Each year LGAs register for the program and invite their communities to nominate fellow citizens to receive a NSW Local Citizen of the Year Award in the following award categories:

• Citizen of the Year
• Young Citizen of the Year
• Sportsperson of the Year
• Australia Day Award
• Environmental Citizen of the Year*

*Please note the Environmental Citizen of the Year Award is no longer a sponsored program. There will not be a state award recipient and associated prize for Australia Day 2024.

LGAs may also present awards for additional categories to reflect specific achievements in their community.

Promoting your Local Citizen of the Year Awards and encouraging nominations

There are many ways you can encourage nominations by your community. You could:

• promote and distribute nomination forms – to your local schools, libraries, youth centres, community centres and local businesses
• set up online nomination forms on your website
• promote the awards through social media channels – example social media posts are provided below
• contact local clubs and volunteer organisations – encourage them to nominate one of their members to promote the work of their organisation
• distribute a media release – announce the opening of nominations (see example media release template below)
• assemble a ‘think tank’ – community stakeholders to identify local people who should be recognised
• invite previous recipients to promote the awards and nominate others.

Promoting the recipients

To increase awareness of your award recipients’ inspirational stories you might consider:

• inviting previous award recipients to attend the Australia Day 2024 ceremony to present the awards to their successors, to be part of the VIP party, or to give an address on what Australia Day means to them
• organising for award recipients to speak at school functions and community events throughout the year
• featuring award recipients on your website or social media channels
• distributing a media release announcing the recipients.

Judging the awards

You may invite community representatives to sit on a judging panel to involve and to build community ‘ownership’ of the awards.

In assessing a nomination, your panel might consider:

• Did the nominee’s work mainly benefit the community or the individual?
• Did the nominee go beyond normal employment duties?
• Was the nominee a volunteer?
• Did they overcome obstacles or make sacrifices?
• Did they demonstrate leadership, innovation and creativity?
• Were the achievements the work of an individual or a team?
• Supporting statistics, pictures and references of the nominee’s contribution or work?
• What are the nominee’s future goals and the likely impact of their work?
• Has the nominee received financial or other assistance from council, government or grants programs?

Media Resources

Media release template

Simply copy the template media release below into a new Word document and fill it out with information about your local awards and presentation event.

[insert LGA logo]

2024 NSW Local Citizen of the Year Awards call for nominations

[LOCAL COUNCIL] is searching for the Local Citizens of the Year for Australia Day 2024.

Do you know someone who has done countless volunteer hours for a service organisation, a local sporting or community group, or an educational facility?

Do you know someone who has an outstanding achievement in their work or studies? Or organises initiatives to protect the environment?

[LOCAL COUNCIL] and the Australia Day Council of NSW invite your nominations for the 2024 Local Citizen of the Year Awards. Awards are open in the following categories:

[Insert LGA’s local award categories].

The awards for [LOCAL COUNCIL] will be presented at an official ceremony on Australia Day, 26 January 2024 [or amend date as applicable] at [LOCATION].

The awards allow us to recognise the contributions that many individuals make to their local community each year.

For more information on how you can nominate a member of your local community for the NSW Local Citizen of the Year Awards, please contact [LOCAL COUNCIL].

For information, images and interview requests for nominees and award recipients, please contact:

[LOCAL COUNCIL
MEDIA CONTACT
PH
EMAIL]

Social media engagement