Image
How to Enter
You can enter the 2025 National Awards quickly and simply online: nalg.awardsplatform.com
Please ensure you have reviewed and addressed any entry requirements, eligibility criteria, and relevant award category or categories criteria.
A step by step guide on how to enter is included in the information pack that is available from: Awards@infrastructure.gov.au.
Entry Requirements
Each entry must fulfil and complete the following requirements to be eligible for an award.
- Be an eligible entity (refer to Entry Eligibility)
- Have endorsement from your council management to enter the project (i.e. mayor/CEO/General Manager).
- Be for a project that has not previously won a National Award or received an honourable mention in any category.
- Complete all contact details at the beginning of the entry form, including the contact details of the person who has endorsed the entry.
- Provide an overview (maximum 350 words) that describes your project, what it does, the issue that it addresses, how it fits into the category, who it benefits and what community outcomes it is providing.
- Upload 3 or more media items and council logo (images and/or video) that represent your project.
NOTE: Images must meet the following specifications, suitable for print or digital reproduction:- Digital image file (e.g. jpeg)
- Be a minimum of 2400 pixels wide
- Meet minimum digital resolution of 300PPI
- Meet minimum file size 2MB or higher
- Videos must be under three minutes long.
- Submit your entry before the entry deadline 11:59pm on Monday 17 March 2025 (AEDT).
Entry to the National Awards is free. There are no limits to how many categories or projects you may enter and you may edit your entry up until the entry deadline.
Projects may be entered into one or more categories, provided they meet the criteria of the category and each point is addressed. This can be done by utilising the 'copy' feature of the online platform to create a copy of the entry, and changing the category as required.
Your project may be of any size, large or small and does not have to be a project started this year. It could be a project commenced in 2025 or have been running for some years. If you entered a project last year but were unsuccessful, you may re-enter the project again.
The winner of each category will be the project which receives the most votes during the voting period.
Honorable mentions may also be awarded in some or all of the categories. To ensure a level playing field, entries will be displayed in a random order to voters during the voting period.
Entries for the 2025 National Awards will be accepted from 9:00am Monday 10 February 2025 (AEDT) until 11:59pm on Monday 17 March 2025 (AEDT). No late entries will be accepted.
Entry Eligibility
Eligible entities
All elected local government organisations, councils, shires, local government areas (LGAs) and other recognised organisations that provide direct services to Australian communities, are eligible to enter a project. If developed with other organisations, the local government entity must be the lead applicant.
Note: All entries require endorsement by council management prior to entry (i.e. mayor/general manager/CEO) and the contact details of the person endorsing the entry must be included in the submission.
Eligible entities for Outstanding Rural and Remote Council
To be considered for the Outstanding Rural and Remote Council award a council must:
- enter a project into one or more of the other 12 award categories, and
- have a population of 15,000 or less.
This award has been introduced to recognise the unique challenges and the significant contributions of smaller councils in rural and remote areas. This award is for all elected local government areas (LGAs), local government associations, local councils and other recognised organisations that provide direct services to Australian communities with a population 15,000 or less that have entered at least one or more of the other 12 award categories.
Note: Entry into the Outstanding Rural and Remote Council category is automatic, based on population, it can not be entered into by an entrant.
Ineligible entities
Local governments that are under administration for any reason other than amalgamation, are ineligible.
Primary entry
One local government organisation must be the lead on every entry even when the entry has multiple collaborating partners with other councils or organisations involved. Acknowledgment and reference to those partners can be made in the entry submission.
Funding partners
Councils that receive funding from other bodies (including the Australian Government) may enter, but one local government entity must be the leading entity for the entry.
Assessment
Entries will be assessed in two stages.
- Compliance check
The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts will review entries to ensure they have met the eligibility requirements.
- Category voting
All councils and the broader public will have the opportunity to vote for the entry or entries that they believe best meet the category criteria and display excellence and innovation.
Voting
Voting will be open from 9:00 AM (AEDT) on Tuesday 18th March 2025 to 11:59 PM (AEDT) on Monday 28th April 2025.
Winners Announcement
The 2025 National Award winners will be announced in June 2025
Further Information
If you require any additional information, please email awards@infrastructure.gov.au.
Disclaimer
Note: that the overview and images submitted will be publicly available on the voting platform once the first stage of the assessment process has been cleared. Additionally, by uploading your entry images you are giving permission for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts to use pictures, video recordings, sound recordings, transcriptions of sound recordings or video recordings, or other reproductions of me, or of materials provided by me (Material) in any way, including to edit, copy, exhibit, publish and distribute that Material to third parties. I understand and consent to this permission applying in perpetuity and extending to the use of Material by this parties. I waive any right to compensation from any person arising out of or related to the use of the Material. All personal information collected will be handled in accordance with the Department's Privacy Policy.