Each year, we honour local people who make a difference to the community with our Yarra Community Awards. These awards are presented to individuals and groups who have made outstanding contributions to Yarra in the past year or over a number of years.

Nominations for Contribution to the Arts and all other categories are now open.

In 2021, the award categories are:

• Citizen of the Year
• Young Citizen of the Year
• Community Initiative of the Year
• Contributions to Arts
• Contributions to Sport
• Contributions to Heritage
• Contributions to Diversity and Inclusion
• Community Spirit.

This year we’ve added a special category for Community Spirit, to recognise the individuals and groups who have supported community recovery and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2019, Girl Zone were the recipients of the 'Contribution to the Arts' award.

Girl Zone is a squad of five girls aged 12 and 13 (at the time of winning) from Melbourne bursting with energy, confidence and fire. Together Atong, Achol, Akuech, Zoe and Nyawech make up Girl Zone, and record and perform rap music about their lives and future ambitions.

Through their participation at RYMS (Real Youth Music Studios), a local program for young people aged 8-13 from the Collingwood and Fitzroy housing estates, they continued to develop their skills, creativity and identity as young artists as well as mentoring their younger peers in their song writing.

They started their career performing at community events on the Atherton Gardens Housing Estate, and have now performed at local events including the Peel Street Festival and Leaps and Bounds, supported international artists and recently performed at Dark Mofo’s Night Mass in Hobart. They were also commissioned by Music Victoria to develop an educational video resource to be used in schools across the state, inspiring even more young people to pursue music.  

What are the prizes?

A monetary prize of $500 will be awarded to each winner of Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year and Community Initiative of the Year.

A monetary prize of $250 will be awarded to the winners in each “Contributions to” category.

How do I nominate?

Nominations are open from Monday 2 August until Sunday 12 September 2021. 

You can nominate an individual or group by filling in one of the nomination forms. You can do this online, or print out a hard copy and fill it in. 

You'll need some contact details to complete you nomination, so make sure you have these ready. The form asks for contact details for yourself, your nominee and a referee who is familiar with the achievements of your nominee. 

Take a look at our Tips on nominating for our Community Awards page to get an idea of what questions you will be asked and see an example nomination form before you begin the online form. 

Make a nomination

There are two options for nominating: 
Fill in an online form:

• Citizen of the Year
• Young Citizen of the Year
• Community Initiative of the Year
• Contributions to: Arts, Sport, Heritage or Diversity and Inclusion
• Community Spirit

Or download printable versions:

• Citizen of the Year
• Young Citizen of the Year
• Community Initiative of the Year
• Contributions to: Arts, Sport, Heritage or Diversity and Inclusion
• Community Spirit

You can also request a hard copy of the nomination forms at one of our Customer Service Centres or by calling 9205 5555. 

These can be sent to communications@yarracity.vic.gov.au (Subject line: Community Awards nomination) or via post to Yarra City Council, 333 Bridge Road Richmond 3121 (attn: Communications)