Do you know someone whose efforts within our community should be recognised? Have you been to a local community event you enjoyed?
If you know a friend, family member, co-worker or school friend who has gone above and beyond to make our Peninsula a better place – nominate them for a 2023 Australia Day Local Award!
You can now acknowledge someone's outstanding contribution to our community by nominating them in the categories of Citizen of the Year and Young Citizen of the Year.
Nominations for Community Event of the Year are also open where you can recognise a great community event either in-person or virtual you have attended or helped to organise.
Dirk Jansen earned the 2022 Citizen of the Year Award for working tirelessly as a champion to create habitat corridors for the endangered koala population on the Mornington Peninsula.
Dirk is President of the Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation group, which he formed in 2019 to highlight the plight of koalas and the loss of habitat on our Peninsula. What started out as a Facebook group to record sightings of koalas has now gone from strength to strength and with over 280 memberships it forms part of the National Landcare Network.
Dirk is working on a five-year project to create a wildlife corridor and biolinks extending from Somers to Red Hill.
Other 2022 winners were:
- Young Citizen of the Year: Oliver Walker-Peel
- Community Event of the Year: Flinders Motoring Heritage
- Local Champion Award: Geraldine Bilston
- Local Champion Award: Roslyn Ferres
- Lifetime Achievement Award: David Pullin
HOW TO NOMINATE
Nominations for the 2023 Australia Day Local Awards are now open and close Friday 18 November 2022.
Nominate online by visiting: mornpen.vic.gov.au/ausdayawards
