The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards

About the Awards

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are an annual program aimed at recognising the incredible dedication, effort and community service of our state’s volunteers, volunteer leaders and volunteer teams. 

The Awards program has grown to become one of the largest celebrations of volunteering in Australia. Last year, more than 139,000 nominees from over 500 organisations were recognised at Regional and State Ceremonies. We received special messages of support from the Prime Minister, the Premier and the Governor of NSW. 

Nominations

Eligible Nominees

All nominees must: 

• Reside in NSW, and be involved in volunteering as either a volunteer or a Leader of Volunteers. Volunteering is time willingly given for the common good and without financial gain. 
• Individuals must have been involved during the previous 12 months (July 2024-May 2025) with a legitimate not-for-profit organisation, community group, or other entity which engages volunteers in a safe and legal manner, such as schools or government agencies. 

Award Categories

There are 7 categories for the Awards. These include:

*Volunteering Australia 2015, Volunteering Australia Project: The Review of the Definition of Volunteering.

How to Nominate

The nomination form allows for two types of recognition for the volunteers of NSW. 

Nomination for Recognition  

This is the simplest way to acknowledge volunteers.  These nominations will not be judged; however, the nominee will be invited to their local regional ceremony (if their personal email address is provided, not the organisation’s or nominator’s email address).  The nominee will be presented with a certificate to acknowledge their contribution to the community.  This nomination requires you to complete four parts of the nomination form only. 

Nomination for Judging 

These nominees will be judged for the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards in their appropriate category.  This nomination requires nominators to complete six parts (parts 1 to 6), all of which must be completed to be accepted by the judging committee. To be included in Judging, the nominee’s personal email address MUST be provided (ie. not the organisation’s or nominator’s email address). If this is not provided, the nomination will be moved into the Recognition section of the Awards.

Nomination Guidelines

Individuals or teams can be nominated in the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards.   

All volunteers in the Recognition stream will be acknowledged with a certificate at one of 25 regional ceremonies where we celebrate their contribution to their local community.  Four parts of the nomination form must be completed to be eligible for this stream.   

You can also nominate volunteers or volunteer teams for inclusion in the final judging for a Regional and State Volunteer of the Year Award. This nomination requires you to complete six parts of the nomination form (three extra questions).  All parts must be completed to be accepted by the Judging Committee.     

Volunteers and Volunteer Leaders and managers are not permitted to nominate themselves.     

All nominators must have permission to disclose the personal information of the person or team you are nominating. 

Please read the Nomination Guidelines before completing your award entry.

Nominations are open from Monday 10 February 2025.

Nominations close 5pm Friday 23 May 2025.

2025 Nomination Form

Frequently Asked Questions

Bulk Nominations

Bulk Nominations have now closed.  Please use the online nomination form above to complete your nominations before Friday 23 May.

What Happens After You Are Nominated

The Centre for Volunteering holds 25 regional ceremonies at multiple locations across regional and suburban centres.  All nominees, whose personal email addresses were provided, will be contacted by the Awards Team by the end of July with a Save The Date for their regional ceremony.  Between August and September, nominees will then be sent a link to register for tickets to attend their local regional ceremony. 

Please note that an invitation does not give you access to the event. All nominees must register and have received physical tickets to attend the event.

Regional winners are announced at these ceremonies, with the winners invited to attend a State Gala ceremony in Sydney in December as a finalist, during which the overall winners and NSW Volunteer of the Year are announced. 

Please note that the categories for Volunteer Leader of the Year and the Not-For-Profit Voluntary Governance Award will be recognised at a Ceremony in Sydney in November.

Those nominees who are unable to attend their local regional ceremony will be provided with their certificate by the end of the year.

Nominators will only be invited to their nominee’s ceremony closer to the event date if there are additional tickets available.

Our Supporters

The Centre for Volunteering would like to the thank the following organisations for their ongoing support of the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards: