Nominations
The 2023 awards nominations are now open
Awards Eligibility and Selection Criteria
The African Australian Recognition Awards program is an annual award ceremony that recognise and honour the achievements of individuals and community groups who do outstanding things within the Canberra Community and Australia as a whole.
Members of the community are encouraged to nominate those who make them proud to be African Australians.
Winners are announced at the African Australia Awards Dinner event at Hellenic Club of Canberra, Woden. 1 Matilda St. Phillip ACT 2606.
Awards Categories
The Celebration of African Australian team provides the opportunity to recognise individuals and community groups for the outstanding work they do in the community. There are 10 award categories available for nomination.
The award categories are as follows:
- Community Leader of the Year Award
- Community organisation of the Year Award
- Young African Australian of the Year Award
- African Business of the Year Award
- African Australian Sports Person Award
- Academic and Professional Excellence Award
- Afrocentric Entertainer of the Year Award
- African Author of the Year Award
- African Australian Diaspora of the Year Award
- Friend of Africa Award
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an award, the following criteria applies. All nominations will be checked against the criteria before the judging process commences.
- Nominees must either live, work or volunteer in the ACT
- Self-nominations will not be accepted
- Awards will not be granted retrospectively
- Previous recipients of any Award are ineligible to receive the same Award within a 5-year period
- Unsuccessful nominees may be re-nominated in subsequent years.
Note: (1). Nominees can be nominated for multiple awards but can only win one award. (2). To be eligible for the Young African Australian of the Year Award, the person must be 16 – 30 years of age as at 8 October 2023.
Selection Criteria
Nominations will provide claims against the five selection criteria listed below, with no more than 300 words in total.
In scoring the nominations, regard is given to the nominee’s achievements in the year immediately prior, alongside their past achievements and ongoing contribution to the African and Australian community. All nominations will be scored on a scale of 1 to 5 against each of the criteria listed below.
The selection criteria includes:
- Level of contribution to the ACT and Australian community
- Inspires the community as a role model
- Level of voluntary contribution beyond paid employment
- Length of activity or service
- Degree of challenges faced in role and ability to go above and beyone
Winners
A selection panel will be created consisting of representatives from Celebration of the African Australian Team and members from the community.
Award winners will be determined by the overall highest total score per award category.
Award nominees will be informed by email and will be encouraged to invite their family and friends to support them to receive their awards at the African Australia Awards Dinner event.