Outer Western S

Overview

The NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards, hosted by The Centre for Volunteering, are an annual celebration of volunteering in NSW. 

Explore our site to discover past winners, images of past regional ceremonies, and find out how to nominate a deserving individual or volunteer team. 

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 133,000 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 2023-June 2024) 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 8 categories for the Awards. These include:

Young Volunteer of the Year 24 years and under
Adult Volunteer of the Year 25 to 64 years
Senior Volunteer of the Year 65 years and over
Volunteer Team of the Year Two individuals or over
Club Volunteer of the Year An individual or team working in a registered ClubsNSW club or on the board whilst carrying out volunteer activities
Employee Volunteer of the Year An individual or team volunteering as part of their organisation’s formal employee or corporate volunteering program
Volunteer Leader of the Year A designated volunteer manager, a team of volunteer managers or a registered not-for-profit organisation 
Not-for-Profit Voluntary Governance Award An unpaid board of directors or individual board member, who exemplifies excellence in governance

*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. 

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 for the 2024 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards are closed.

Nominations open in March each year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bulk Nominations

For those organisations wanting to recognise 20 or more volunteers, we also have a bulk nomination spreadsheet.  We have tailored this for you to make it even easier to celebrate each and every one of your volunteers. 

For bulk nominations, contact award@volunteering.com.au and the Awards team will send you out the details.  

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. 

Those nominees who are unable to attend their local regional ceremony will be provided with their certificate in late December. 

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

2024 NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards

Learn more

FAQs

Learn more

Tips for Nominating

Learn More

Awards Honour Board

See Past Winners

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:

Principal Partners of the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards

Supporters of the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards

Regional Awards Sponsor

Contact

If you have any questions during the nomination process, please contact the Awards Team:

Email award@volunteering.com.au

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