Wattle Range Council has scrapped separate Australia Day awards for its four wards which has been its practice since it was formed in 1997.\u2029<\/p>\n
There will be just one Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Event of the Year and Active Citizen across the whole council area.\u2029<\/p>\n
However, there will be five Youth Recognition awards.\u2029<\/p>\n
In the wake of a mid-year staff report, the council has changed the Citizen of the Year Awards this year to follow the guidelines of the Australia Day Council of SA.\u2029<\/p>\n
This means there will be fewer award recipients overall across the council area, and there will no longer be separate accolades for the Corcoran, Riddoch, Sorby Adams and Kintore wards.\u2029<\/p>\n
The Australia Day events will still be held across the Wattle Range in the Corcoran, Sorby Adams, Riddoch and Kintore wards and there will be more information provided closer to the day.\u2029<\/p>\n
Acknowledging that many of community members carry out their volunteer work across wards in Wattle Range, Development Services director Emma Clay said the change will create a more competitive process, while also enhancing the credibility and prestige of the awards.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt Wattle Range is full of passionate, community-minded people,\u201d Ms Clay said.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cThese awards are our way of saying thank you, and to ensure their efforts do not go unnoticed\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cOn top of the Young Citizen of the Year Award we also have five Youth Recognition Awards which allow us to support and empower our emerging leaders.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cRecipients will be selected by an independent judging panel and winners announced at council\u2019s official Australia Day breakfast events on January 26, 2026, giving the whole community a chance to show their appreciation.\u201d\u2029<\/p>\n
This is another change which pre-dates its formation.\u2029<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wattle Range Council is now calling on the community to help shine a spotlight on local heroes as nominations for the 2026 Citizen of the Year Awards are now open.\u2029<\/p>\n
The awards recognise the outstanding contributions of individuals and groups who go above and beyond to make the Wattle Range Council area a better place to live.\u2029<\/p>\n
Council encourages residents to nominate someone they know who makes a real difference in the community, whether through volunteering, leadership, creativity, or commitment to others.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cThese awards are an important opportunity to recognise the people who quietly contribute so much to our towns and communities,\u201d Mayor Des Noll said.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cThose making the greatest impact often do so quietly and without recognition.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why nominations matter; it\u2019s our chance to say thank you on behalf of the entire community.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cNominees might be a devoted coach, community organiser, young leader, or someone who always puts others first, we want to hear their stories.\u2029<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know someone who goes the extra mile for others, whether it\u2019s in a workplace, a local community group, or a sporting club.\u201d\u2029<\/p>\n
Nominations close on December 12 and forms can be completed online or in hard copy and are available at any of council\u2019s offices or from the website here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wattle Range Council has scrapped separate Australia Day awards for its four wards which has been its practice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,96572,5214,2467,473,135,122145,113178,122146,44,122147,17595,122148,122149],"class_list":["post-193478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-beachport","tag-community","tag-council","tag-limestone-coast","tag-local-government","tag-millicent","tag-mount-burr","tag-nangwarry","tag-news","tag-penola","tag-pic","tag-wattle-range","tag-wattle-range-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}