Nominations for individual and group awards will be presented to the Australia Day Awards Panel in December to review and determine winners.
At its latest monthly meeting, on August 27, council resolved to nominate four councillors at the 2024 October Ordinary Council Meeting to form the Australia Day Awards Panel for the new term of council.
The Sunday, January 26, 2025 event will be held in Howlong as decided by council at its July 2024 meeting, then Urana in 2026, Corowa in 2027 and Mulwala in 2028.
Expressions of interest from interest Howlong community groups to help co-ordinate Australia Day with Federation Council were sought in Federation Snippets, with the closing date of Monday, September 9.
The annual Federation Council Australia Day Awards, honours and acknowledges individuals and groups who have made a noteworthy contribution during the current year and/or given outstanding service to the local community over several years.
The Federation Council Australia Day Award Guidelines have been reviewed and minor updates made to reflect the new year. Award categories and criteria remain consistent with previous years.
Categories include Federation Council Citizen of the Year Award, Young Citizen of the Year Award, Community Group the Year Award, the Local Achiever Awards as well as recognition of the Student Achiever Award recipients.
Council will co-ordinate the formalities of the event, including the welcome address, Welcome to Country, citizenship ceremonies, award presentations, ambassador guest speaker, flag raising ceremony and the singing of the National Anthem.