A dedicated community advocate and young social activist have been named as Hobsons Bay's citizens of the year.
Lara Week has been named the 2025 Citizen of the Year, while student Albee Damnics was recognised as Young Citizen of the Year.
About Lara Week
Lara's nomination for Citizen of the Year has been chosen by the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and decision committee because of her commitment to advocacy, collaboration and inclusivity.
Lara is a creative producer and designer. Recently, she has received several awards for her collaborative work on the immersive performance Zaffé including the Director's Choice Award at the Melbourne Fringe Festival (2023) and several 2024 Green Room Awards including for sound design and composition, independent production and set design. She is dedicated to creating spaces where people with different skills and perspectives can share ideas and produce work together.
Lara is also a key spokesperson for the rights of her Techno Park Drive neighbourhood in Williamstown. Through organising events including barbecues and movie nights, Lara seeks to bring people together and advocate for the rights of her community.
Lara was unable to attend the ceremony on Australia Day.
About Albee Damnics
Albee recently graduated from Bayside College in Williamstown. At school, she was recognised as a valuable role model to her peers and a prosocial activist. She was a key member of the school's Social Action Group and received the Student All Rounder award when she was in year 11.
Albee is passionate about gender equity and respect. In particular, Albee has advocated for educators to make positive change to support healthy, respectful relationships and environments, and to improve the English curriculum to promote learning and storytelling that features strong female protagonists.
She is also passionate about hockey and proudly represented the western region five times at the Junior State Championships, playing for the Wildcats and captaining once.
Albee also volunteers at the Altona Hockey Club. She coaches the under 12s, manages the club's Tik Tok page and helps in the canteen.
Quotes attributable to Mayor of Hobsons Bay, Cr Daria Kellander:
"Both Lara and Albee exemplify what it means to be a great citizen of Hobsons Bay.
"They have both worked hard for the betterment of their communities and Hobsons Bay as a whole.
"I congratulate Lara and Albee as well-deserved recipients of their respective honours and thank them for their amazing work."
