| Victorian of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Achievement and contribution to community and public service in Victoria |
| Date | 1 July |
| Location | Melbourne Town Hall |
| Country | Victoria (Australia) |
| Presented by | Victoria Day Council |
| Currently held by | Neale Daniher |
| Website | victoriaday |
The Victorian of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding Victorian in any given year. The Victorian of the Year is awarded in Melbourne by the Victoria Day Council as part of Victoria Day celebrations on 1 July annually.
The Victoria Day Awards are made by public nomination and selected by the Awards Committee and ratified by the Trustees of the Victoria Day Council. The Victoria Day Awards are nominated and voted by Victorians.
The Victorian of the Year should not be confused with the Victorian winner of Australian of the Year, awarded in Canberra by the Australia Day Council as part of Australia Day celebrations on 26 January annually. The same people may be winners of both awards.
Other awards in the same series include the Young Victorian of the Year, Organisation of the Year, Good Corporate Citizen, the Arts Award and Local Achiever.
The following individuals and organisations have been recipients in various classes under the Victoria Day Awards: [1]
| Year | Victorian of the Year | Young Victorian of the Year | Organisation of the Year | Good Corporate Citizen | Arts Award | Local Achiever |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Sang Nguyen | |||||
| 1996 | Michael Quinn [2] | Deanne Jakial | ||||
| 1997 | Hugh Wirth AM | Lynn Costello | Country Fire Authority | |||
| 1998 | Andrew Kay | Richard Allen | Road Trauma Support Team (Vic) Inc | Visy | ||
| 1999 | Sue Natrass | George Dukas | Surf Life Saving (Victoria) | Shannon's Corporation | ||
| 2000 | Susan Barton AM | Jesse Martin OAM | Anti-Cancer Council | Graeme Goldsworthy | ||
| 2001 | Neil Comrie AM , APM | Daniela Di Toro | Victorian Women's Prison Council Disabled Motorists (Victoria) | Bunnings Building Supplies | Jeanne Pratt AO | |
| 2002 | Bruce Ruxton AM , OBE | Karen Chatto | Asthma Foundation | Ron Clarke | Margaret Rich | |
| 2003 | Jim Stynes OAM | Hugh Evans [3] | VicDeaf | Bendigo Bank | Royal South Street Society | |
| 2004 | Tim Costello AO | Cameron Rahles-Rahbula | Lord Somers Camp | Toyota Australia | Adam Elliott | |
| 2005 | Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC , DBE | Lisa Castle | Aids, Hepatitis & Sexual Health Line | Jayco | Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra | Sergeant Gary Chandler (VICPOL) |
| 2006 | Les Twentyman AO | Eliza Stankovic | Lighthouse Foundation | Fantastic Furniture | ||
| 2007 | Carrillo Gantner AO | Tom O'Connor | Try Youth and Community Services | TRUenergy | ||
| 2008 | Bert Newton AM , MBE | Daniel Adams | KIDS under cover | Royal Automobile Club of Victoria | ||
| 2009 | Ron Barassi AM | Thom Woodroofe | The Salvation Army | Ritchies Stores | ||
| 2010 | Stephanie Alexander AO | Wesa Chau | Rescued With Love | Mecu | ||
| 2011 | Father Bob Maguire AM , RFD | Amit Menghani | Country Women's Association | Incolink | ||
| 2012 | Moira Kelly AO | Victor Victor | Travellers Aid | Pitcher Partners | ||
| 2013 | Jeanne Pratt AC [4] | Nicholle Hussey | Amaze (Autism Victoria) | Linfox | Dr Gerard Vaughan | |
| 2014 | David Penington AC | Melissa Tumeo | Willing Older Workers | Qenos | Penny Hutchinson | |
| 2015 | Judith Durham AO | Luba Josevski | Scope | Cabrini Health | Australian Tapestry Workshop | |
| 2016 | Dr Alan Finkel AO | Khurram Jahangir Khan | St Kilda Mums | VicSuper | Bendigo Art Gallery | |
| 2017 | Mike Brady AM | Dr Robert Gillies | The Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria | Bendigo Bank | Regional Arts Victoria | |
| 2018 | Susan Alberti [5] | Daniel Poole | The Cathy Freeman Foundation | John Holland Group | Victorian Opera | |
| 2019 | Neale Daniher [6] | Dr Skye Kinder [7] | The Water Well Project | Channel 31 | ||
| 2020 | None awarded [1] |
Public holidays in Australia refer to the holidays recognised in law in Australia. Although they are declared on a state and territory basis, they comprise a mixture of nationally celebrated days and holidays exclusive to the individual jurisdictions.
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.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) is the largest private sector trade union in Australia, with 216,728 members as at 31 December 2021. It has branches in every state and territory representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers.
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian state of Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the Victoria Police Act 2013.
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the Queen, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council. It has a fused executive drawn from members of both chambers. The parliament meets at Parliament House in the state capital Melbourne. The current Parliament was elected on 24 November 2018, sworn in on 19 December 2018 and is the 59th parliament in Victoria.
Timothy Ewen Costello AO is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a number of books on faith and life. A National Trust poll in 2014 elected him one of Australia's 100 national living treasures.
Scouts Australia is the trading name for The Scout Association of Australia, Australia's largest scouting organization and a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Incorporated in 1967, its stated purpose is to "contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual potentials as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities". Today it operates personal development programs for children and young adults aged 5 to 25, with branch offices in every Australian state and territory.
Archibald William Roach was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. His wife and musical partner was the singer Ruby Hunter (1955–2010).
Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar School, is an independent, Anglican, day school for girls, located in Ivanhoe, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1903, the school has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for over 1000 students from the Early Learning Centre (ELC) to Year 12.
Scouting started in Victoria as early as 1907 and local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently.
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of 227,444 km2 (87,817 sq mi), the second most populated state with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Australia. Victoria is bordered with New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west, and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south, the Great Australian Bight portion of the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid north-west.
For the British artist, Margaret Geddes (1914-1998), see Margaret Geddes (artist).
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Jackson in New South Wales. In present-day Australia, celebrations aim to reflect the diverse society and landscape of the nation and are marked by community and family events, reflections on Australian history, official community awards and citizenship ceremonies welcoming new members of the Australian community.
Jen Cloher is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer, currently based in Melbourne, Victoria. Cloher's 2017 self-titled fourth studio album peaked at number 5 on the ARIA Charts. From 2006 to 2010, Cloher recorded and toured with her band Jen Cloher and the Endless Sea and since 2013 has released with Mia Dyson and Liz Stringer music under the name Dyson Stringer Cloher.
Liberty Victoria, officially the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties (VCCL) and formerly Australian Council for Civil Liberties (ACCL), is a civil liberties group based in Victoria, Australia.
Susan Marie "Sue" Alberti is an Australian businesswoman, philanthropist and former Vice President of the Western Bulldogs Football Club.
Carol Lynn Cooke, is a Canadian-born Australian cyclist, swimmer and rower. A keen swimmer, she was part of the Canadian national swimming team and was hoping to be selected for the 1980 Moscow Olympics before her country boycotted the games. She moved to Australia in 1994, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, and took up rowing in 2006, in which she narrowly missed out on being part of the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She then switched to cycling, where she won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics, two gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Fiona Margaret McLeod is an Australian barrister practising at the Victorian Bar.
Heidelberg Historical Society is a museum and research organisation devoted to the local and community history of Heidelberg and surrounding areas in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Liz Stringer is an Australian singer-songwriter, based in Melbourne, Victoria. As of April 2021, Stringer has released six studio albums, a live album and two extended plays. Since 2013 she has released with Mia Dyson and Jen Cloher music under the name Dyson Stringer Cloher.
