From the Lord Mayor's Office
Recognising the city's unsung heroes
It was a pleasure to host the City of Wollongong Awards yesterday to celebrate the 2026 nominees and finalists.
The awards are an opportunity to acknowledge people who work tirelessly to support our community and recognise those that excel in their chosen fields. And what an incredible list of finalists our community nominated.
Choosing winners across the 11 award categories was a rewarding but difficult task for the City of Wollongong Awards Committee. The quality and breadth of nominations was outstanding and inspirational, showing how privileged we are as a city to have such a depth of dedicated community members.
Wollongong’s Citizen of the Year was bestowed to husband and wife, Teresa Tran OAM and Hong-Phong Le OAM who have spent more than three decades strengthening cultural connections and supporting war veterans and widows. When you hear their story and all the ways they have embraced Wollongong as home, you can’t help but be impressed and thankful.
Senior of Citizen of the Year was awarded to Judith Henderson, a long-standing community leader with more than five decades of service dedicated to strengthening equality and opportunity across our city. Judith was the inspiration and instigator behind the Illawarra International Women’s Day lunch which 21 years on is a must attend event that has supported many scholarships for local women.
The Young Citizen of the Year was awarded to Fatima Al Taleb. Fatima is an active member of Keira High School’s Student Representative Council where she has been supported in developing her concept of a Youth Green Space for students and the Garden Initiative Project.
Congratulations to nominees and award finalists. You do not seek recognition, but we are proud to recognise your achievements and outstanding contributions.
I believe all attendees at the Awards ceremony would have shared my pride in the calibre and diversity of our finalists and recipients, as esteemed and fine representatives of our community.
I encourage you to visit the City of Wollongong Awards page for a full list of recipients including the Highly Commended and Lord Mayors awards.
And throughout the year ahead keep an eye out for next year’s nominees - a high bar has certainly been set!
