Recognising Victoria’s Valued Volunteers

Victorians are encouraged to nominate a volunteer they want recognised as part of the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Champions Awards.

Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos today opened nominations for the awards, which will recognise up to 60 volunteers for their service to the community.

One award recipient will be selected as Victoria’s Volunteer of the Year, winning a $10,000 donation to a charity of their choice and receiving the Dame Elisabeth Murdoch Award.

A further four award categories recognise:

• Impact – volunteers who have delivered a significant improvement or achievement for their organisation, sector or community through their service
• Leadership – volunteers with or without formal leadership positions that have succeeded in bringing groups of people together to solve a problem or provide a service to the community
• Service – celebrating volunteers who have dedicated their efforts over a significant period of time
• Teamwork – for groups of volunteers that through collaboration and teamwork have delivered exceptional results for their project, organisation or community

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at Government House later in the year.

Last year, the Labor Government invested $145,000 into Victoria’s volunteering sector to further strengthen organisational capacity and community building by promoting recruitment of more Victorians from diverse backgrounds into volunteering roles.

Victoria’s volunteer sector is worth more than $2.3 billion to the state economy, a figure that is expected to increase to $4.2 billion by 2021.

Nominations close on Monday, 28 May, 2018 at 5pm, at the conclusion of National Volunteer Week, which runs from 20-27 May, 2018.

To nominate an exceptional and valued volunteer for an award, visit volunteer.vic.gov.au/awards.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos

“Every day across Victoria people donate their time and effort to make life more enjoyable for others – these awards are a great opportunity to recognise the volunteering community.”

“I encourage every Victorian to think of the services they access in their community that simply wouldn’t be possible without dedicated volunteers, and nominate those people for an award.”