Awards to reward community heroes

Image: L-R: 2021 Citizen of the Year Chaplain John Kewa, Senior Citizen of the Year Laurence Jennett OAM, and Young Citizen of the Year Thura Sabbar.

It’s almost that time of year when we announce Wollongong’s Citizen of the Year, Senior Citizen of the Year and Young Person of the Year at the city’s annual Australia Day Awards.

We’ve made some changes to this year’s awards, and in response to the ongoing pandemic will be holding the Awards as an online ceremony. This provides an exciting opportunity for our community, as we’ll be webcasting the event through Council’s website – providing more people the opportunity to watch and celebrate alongside the nominees and winners.

“As much as we would have loved to have our traditional event with a special dinner to recognise the extraordinary contribution all the nominees and winners make to the city of Wollongong, it just isn’t possible this year,’’ Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said.

“We didn’t want to cancel the event and so having an online celebration is a really exciting option. We’re all very well-versed in the online environment thanks to the challenges of the past two years so I’m sure it’s going to be a really happy and engaging event.’’

The Australia Day Awards will be broadcast from 11.30am on Tuesday 25 January through Council's website, with 14 winners to be announced across 11 categories.

“It really was an extraordinary year for these awards,’’ Cr Bradbery said.

“The calibre of those nominated was just incredible. We have such a wealth of very talented individuals who have strong links to Wollongong, and I am really looking forward to acknowledging their diverse and valued contributions through this event.’’

While the Awards are being held on 25 January, Cr Bradbery also encouraged those who were planning family gatherings or other activities on 26 January to be COVID-safe.

“We’re faced with a very challenging phase in the pandemic and we can’t let our guard down,’’ he said.

“Please keep up your COVID safe practices when seeing family and friends and socialising. In fact, I would go as far to say that if you’re planning to watch the 9pm fireworks display around Belmore Basin to bring along your mask. That way, if you find that others’ aren’t as conscious of social distancing as you are, then you can add an extra layer of protection for yourself.’’

To support the 9pm fireworks display, there will be road closures between 8-9.30pm. The closures are in the following locations:

• Cliff Road, between Georges Place and Marine Drive
• Harbour Street, between Cliff Road and Smith Street, with traffic management in place at Market and Harbour Streets
• Old Court House Lane
• Endeavour Drive, from the roundabout at Cliff Road and Marine Drive
• Harbour access road off Endeavour Drive
• Marine Drive, between Crown Street and Cliff Road.

This year the display is being shot higher in the sky so that it can be seen and enjoyed from greater distances, reducing the need to stay by the foreshore area.

The Australia Day Awards and Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony are supported by our sponsors Remondis (Australia Day) and BluescopeWIN (Citizenship). Our Media Partners are i98FM and the Illawarra Mercury.