Australia's Mother of the Year Awards is an award which aims to recognise mothers and the important role that they play in our society; highlighting key themes such as nurturing and caring. Barnardos Australia developed the Mother of the Year Awards (BAMYA) in 1994, as an opportunity to showcase the women responsible for excellent parenting within the community.
Nominations for the awards take place over a four-month period during which a campaign is undertaken in major print and electronic media. Nominators prepare a statement about "why they believe their mother is Australia's number 1 mum".
A judging panel assesses the top 100 nominations, selecting State/Territory finalists and an overall national winner. Each State/Territory Finalist is flown to Sydney for the announcement of the National Mother of the Year.
A number 1 mum is announced for every respective State/Territory, at a morning tea function, held to showcase that woman's achievements. These events attracts wide coverage from local media, culminating in a national presentation held in Sydney in May just prior to the Sunday designated as Mother's Day in Australia.
In 2021, Australia's Mother of the Year Award’’ given to Victorian mother misses Tracey humm after being nominated by oldest of two Jacob, after being recognised by many fellow workers at Barwon valley school, for her works with children with disabilities as a teachers aid starting off as a volunteer worker after studying at school while her two boys did the same, as well as her past work as a relief worker, for parents living with a disabled child/children, as written this is probably the easier side of her work life having to raise two boys over the years with little help from others over these years, she has been awarded for her kind, nature towards others, while coping with her own meantal health problems in the past, only to then help her oldest son battle drug addiction while being diagnosed with schizophrenia, she is also recognised by her youngest son as being understanding of situations he encountered while growing up with the lack of a father figure during his youth, doing all this while helping to attend to her late mother, aging father, her dedication to her work place and the people around her can only be seen as nothing less than love for what she dose and nothing less, Jacob seeing that made the nomination to show her she is recognised and loved by those around her in kind,” nothing seems to big of a problem or situation for her, she hardly ever complains about any thing unless it’s the house work or chores around the house” every morning she’s up and ready to help those who need it most, she comes home in a positive mindset always wishing nothing but happiness for both myself and my brother, she’ll give you the shirt off her back if you needed it for a genuine reason, no be can come close to telling just how much she has but up with over her time, and probably still dose with out complaint, she deserves her own happiness too not just that she wishes for others, this is just a small way of saying thank you by letting other know of her and the work she dose while keeping a house as close to a home as she can,
In 2021 Barnardo's announced that, because of the pressure on resources created by COVID-19, the award had been brought to an end
![]() |
Awarded | Name | Notes |
---|---|---|
2020 | Margie Bailey | |
2019 | Maria Worner | |
2018 | Noelene Lever AM | |
2017 | Carol Edmunds | |
2016 | Keelen Mailman | |
2015 | Leanne Robson | |
2014 | Gloria Nascimento | |
2013 | Hasiba Cesko | |
2012 | Roslyn Dodson | |
2011 | Rebecca Healy | |
2010 | Kaye Worth | |
2009 | Bernadette Black | |
2008 | Heather Round | |
2007 | Natasha Crofts | |
2006 | Carmel Gordon | |
2005 | Melissa Davies | |
2004 | Maryanne Malbunka | |
2003 | Elva Stevenson | |
2002 | Lorraine Dewsbury | |
2001 | Gayle McCarthy | |
2000 | Vera Hall | |
1999
Leonie Parmenter
Sir Ben Kingsley is an English actor. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Catherine Yvette "Kate" Ceberano is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar. Her song "Pash" received a gold sales certification in 1998. In 2019, she was one of the contestants in season one of The Masked Singer Australia as ‘The Lion’, where she was unmasked in episode seven, placing sixth.
Naomi Ellen Watts is a British actress. She made her film debut in the Australian drama For Love Alone (1986) and then appeared in the Australian television series Hey Dad..! (1990), Brides of Christ (1991), Home and Away (1991), and the film Flirting (1991). After moving to the United States, Watts initially struggled as an actress, with roles in small-scale films, until she appeared in David Lynch's psychological thriller Mulholland Drive in 2001, playing an aspiring actress, by which she rose to international prominence.
The Australian of the Year is a national award conferred on an Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a not-for-profit Australian Government–owned social enterprise. Similar awards are also conferred at the State and Territory level.
Roberta "Bobbi" Sykes was an Australian poet and author. She was a lifelong campaigner for indigenous land rights, as well as human rights and women's rights.
Looking for Alibrandi is a 2000 Australian film directed by Kate Woods from a script by Melina Marchetta based on her 1992 novel of the same name. The film is set in 1990s Sydney, New South Wales and features a cast of Australian actors, including Pia Miranda as Josephine Alibrandi, the film's main character; Anthony LaPaglia as her father, Michael Andretti, who left her and her mother before her birth; and Kick Gurry as Josie's love interest, Jacob Coote. The film won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film in 2000.
Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst, is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stage and in feature films since the early 1970s. Hazlehurst has been honoured with numerous awards including Australian Film Institute Awards, ARIA Awards and Logies, including being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.
Coleen Shirley Perry Smith AM MBE, better known as Mum Shirl, was a prominent Wiradjuri woman, social worker and humanitarian activist committed to justice and welfare of Aboriginal Australians. She was a founding member of the Aboriginal Legal Service, the Aboriginal Medical Service, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the Aboriginal Children’s Service and the Aboriginal Housing Company in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney. During her lifetime she was recognised as an Australian National Living Treasure.
David Metcalfe is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Emmerdale, played by Matthew Wolfenden.
The Illustrated Mum is a children's novel by English author Jacqueline Wilson, first published by Transworld in 1999 with drawings by Nick Sharratt. Set in London, the first person narrative by a young girl, Dolphin, features her manic depressive mother Marigold, nicknamed "the illustrated mum" because of her many tattoos. The title is a reference to The Illustrated Man, a 1951 book of short stories by Ray Bradbury, also named for tattoos.
Love's Unending Legacy is a 2007 made-for-television Christian drama film based on a series of books by Janette Oke. It originally aired on Hallmark Channel on April 7, 2007. It was directed by Mark Griffiths and stars Erin Cottrell. It is the fifth movie in an ongoing series that includes Love Comes Softly (2003), Love's Enduring Promise (2004), Love's Long Journey (2005), Love's Abiding Joy (2006), Love's Unfolding Dream (2007), and Love Takes Wing (2009), and Love Finds a Home (2009), as well as the 2011 prequels, Love Begins, Love's Everlasting Courage, and Love's Christmas Journey which fits part way through the movie series.
Katherine Louise Stewart, known professionally as Kat Stewart, is an AACTA and Logie Award-winning Australian actress who has made numerous appearances in television series, movies and on-stage.
Ursula Yovich is an Aboriginal Australian actress and singer.
On the Jellicoe Road is a young adult novel by Australian novelist Melina Marchetta. It was first published in Australia in 2006 by Penguin Australia under the title On the Jellicoe Road, where it was awarded the 2008 West Australia Young Readers Book (WAYRB) Award for Older Readers. It was later published in the United States in 2008 under the abbreviated title Jellicoe Road by HarperTeen and went on to win the 2009 Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association.
Just Don't Make a Scene, Mum! is a young adult novel by Rosie Rushton. It is the first book in her popular Leehampton series. It was first published in 1995 by Piccadilly Press Ltd.
Linda Yunkata Syddick Napaltjarri is a Pintupi- and Pitjantjatjara- speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her father was killed when she was young; her mother later married Shorty Lungkarta Tjungarrayi, an artist whose work was a significant influence on Linda Syddick's painting.
Scarlet Road is a 2011 documentary that explores the life of Australian Rachel Wotton, a sex worker who is based in New South Wales and sells sex to clients who have disabilities. Directed by Catherine Scott and produced by Pat Fiske for Paradigm Pictures, the film premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on 11 June 2011. Subsequently, there was a public screening and reception at the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in Canberra. Scarlet Road was a 2011 Walkley Documentary Award finalist.
Sold is a 2014 drama film directed by Jeffrey D. Brown based on Patricia McCormick's novel Sold.
Jocelyn Bioh is a Ghanaian-American writer, playwright and actor. She graduated from Ohio State University with a BA in English and Theater and got her master's degree in Playwriting from Columbia University. Jocelyn's Broadway credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. She has performed in regional and off-Broadway productions of An Octoroon, Bootycandy and For Colored Girls. She has written many of her own plays that have been produced in national and collegiate theaters. Some of her more well-known works include Nollywood Dreams and School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play. She is a playwright with Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) and Atlantic Theater Company, is a resident playwright at Lincoln Center and is a 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence with MCC.
Marina Strocchi is an internationally-exhibited Australian painter and printmaker whose work is held in many national collections. Strocchi is based in Alice Springs and has worked extensively with Aboriginal artists in Central Australia.