Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner is calling on the community to nominate local heroes for the 2022 Australia Day Awards, with entries now open until 1 November.

Cr Schrinner said the annual awards honoured outstanding community members who went above and beyond to improve the lives of others.

“Service to our community comes in many shapes and forms, and each year we receive a range of nominations profiling volunteers at sporting groups, people who organise festivals and even people who work to improve the health of our waterways,” he said.

“There are nine categories in these awards including Citizen of the Year, Senior Citizen of the Year, and Young Citizen of the Year and with COVID-19 continuing to threaten our community, seeing fantastic stories of dedication, mateship and selflessness are the good news stories everyone wants to hear right now.”

Cr Schrinner described the awards as an annual tradition and a great opportunity to show our civic pride while gaining inspiration from the nominees who each year, show us the great lengths members of our community will go to, to make a difference.

“The 2021 award winners, once again, represented a wide range of the community, but also reflected the challenges we faced during the pandemic,” he said.

“This year’s ‘Community Event of the Year Award’ went to Le Festival, which normally unites the community with French culture, however when the event faced closure due to the pandemic, the association demonstrated incredible resilience by adapting components of the event to be webinars, thereby still uniting the community safely.

“The Hut Environmental and Community Association was also recognised with a ‘2020 Spirit of Brisbane Award’ for bringing the community together through its annual environmental art show which showcased work from 82 artists for more than 300 visitors to the space in a COVID-safe manner.”

Nominations are now open until 1 November. To nominate, visit www.brisbane.qld.gov.au.

The nine categories include:
1. Citizen of the Year
2. Senior Citizen of the Year
3. Young Citizen of the Year
4. Community Event of the Year
5. Australia Day Cultural/Arts Award
6. Australia Day Sports Award
7. Corporate Citizen of the Year
8. Australia Day Achievement Awards
9. Green Heart Award