For more than 30 years, these important awards have celebrated the contributions and achievements of older Victorians who share their skills, time and energy with our community. These awards are presented annually each October as part of the Victorian Seniors Festival.
2025 nominations opening soon
Nominations open on Monday 5 May for the 2025 Victorian Senior of the Year Awards.
This year, the awards include a new category – the Emerging Impact Award. This category recognises an individual who is new to volunteering and is making a significant impact in their local community.
How to nominate someone
Start preparing your nomination early with our simple how-to guide.
Follow four easy steps:
- Check the eligibility
- Choose an award category
- Collect information
- Find references and a photo.
The guide is available in 16 languages and easy-read English.
Online information session
Interested in learning more about the Victorian Senior of the Year Awards and how to nominate someone?
Join us for an online information session from 1.00pm–2.00pm on Thursday 8 May 2025.
The Awards team will take you through the nominations platform and answer your questions.
Award categories
The Victorian Senior of the Year Awards include six award categories:
- Premier’s Award for Victorian Senior of the Year – recognises an individual for their outstanding and lasting contribution to their local community and Victoria.
- COTA (Council on the Ageing) Victoria Senior Achiever Awards – recognises local community champions that significantly contribute to positive ageing in their community.
- Emerging Impact Award – recognises an individual who is new to volunteering and is making a significant impact in their local community.
- Positive Ageing Award – recognises an individual who improves the wellbeing of older people in their community by promoting positive and active ageing.
- Promotion of Multiculturalism Award – recognises an individual for a significant contribution to promoting the benefits of cultural diversity in their local community and across Victoria.
- Veteran Community Award – recognises an individual for their exceptional contribution to the veteran community. The recipient of the award does not need to be a veteran.
Eligibility
Victorian Senior of the Year Awards nominees must be:
- a citizen or permanent resident of Australia
- a resident of Victoria and
- 60 years or over, or
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person residing in Victoria aged 50 years or over.
Nominees cannot have been a previous award recipient of the Victorian Senior of the Year Awards, at any point.
Nominees will be assessed on their volunteer contributions and achievements since reaching the qualifying age only.
Self-nominations are not accepted.
Criteria
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Previous award recipients have influenced significant change in the state. This has not necessarily been connected to positive ageing.
For instance, the 2024 award recipient co-founded the AustralAsian Centre for Human Rights and Health that later advocated to include dowry abuse in the Family Violence Protection Act 2012. Another awardee volunteered for 15 years at their Neighbourhood House, where they created a local op shop and organised food packages for farmers affected by drought in regional Victoria and New South Wales.
Criteria
- How do they make an outstanding and lasting contribution to their community and Victoria?
- How do their volunteer contributions make a long-lasting impact?
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This category is focused on celebrating the local champions within your community. Think of the person that connects people to opportunities, the one that drives your next-door neighbour to appointments every week, or the person who always volunteers first for an organisation, purely to support the needs of your area.
Criteria
- How do they make a positive contribution to improving the lives of their local community members?
- How does their positive attitude towards ageing inspire others?
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This category celebrates older Victorians who have recently started volunteering and are making a positive impact in their community. This could be in a formal way through organisations and committees; or an informal way, where someone is volunteering their professional skills, knowledge and experience.
Criteria
- How do they make a significant volunteer contribution to their community?
- How have they taken action to create or contribute to programs that are making a growing and potentially lasting impact?
- How do they share their skills, knowledge and experiences as a volunteer to strengthen their community?
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This category exists to celebrate people who encourage an active, engaged approach to life within the framework of positive ageing.
In 2023, the recipient of this award had been volunteering at Blind Sports & Recreation Victoria for 9 years. In that time, he focussed his efforts on advancing blind sports, establishing tournaments, improving accessibility and promoting blind golf through partnerships and fundraising. In 2024, the recipient received this award for her work through Family History Connections (FHC) Blackburn. FHC has supported over 2,000 people to keep their minds active, learn computer research skills and make friends with people with shared interests.
Criteria
- How have they contributed to creating an active community?
- How do their actions create long-lasting benefits for wellbeing in their community?
- How do they promote respect and recognition of older people?
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Most award recipients in this category have been recognised for contributing to positive social connection and ageing.
Past award recipients have supported community connection through activities like dancing, sports, exercise and cooking. They have also built connections between various cultures or encouraged older Victorians from their communities to engage with new programs and services.
Criteria
- How do they create a sense of community and connection across cultures?
- How do their volunteer contributions support the community?
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Award recipients for this category are either a veteran themselves or support the veteran community. Previous award recipients have delivered programs that connect older veterans to community services, engage veterans in local social activities or their local RSL branch, and/or advocated for change to support the veteran community.
Criteria
- How do they contribute to the veteran community?
- How do their actions make a long-lasting impact for veterans and/or their families?
Contact
If you have a question about the Awards you can contact the Seniors Festival Team:
Phone: (03) 8850 6164
Email: seniorsfestival@dffh.vic.gov.au
Translations and resources
Reviewed 07 April 2025