The annual awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of young people aged 12 - 25 years old who live, work, study, play or volunteer in Greater Geelong across the following categories:

• Active Achievement Award
• Arts & Music Award
• Citizenship Award
• Cultural Awareness Award
• Innovation Award 
• Inspiration Award
• Leadership Award
• Unsung Hero Award
• Volunteer Award – Working with young people (open to all ages)

Nominations can be made before Friday 14 August.

The winners will be selected by a panel of young people, including members of the 2026 Youth Council, and announced at a ceremony on Friday 11 September at the Norlane ARC. 

Greater Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM 

The youth awards are community-driven and represent the broad achievements of young people locally. 

Too often, the way young people are portrayed in the media doesn’t reflect the meaningful contributions many of them make in our community every single day.

The Geelong Youth Awards helps to bring this into focus by sharing the stories of inspiring young people who are making a genuine impact and demonstrating leadership, resilience, diverse talents and community spirit.

Community members of all ages play a key role in shaping the awards every year.

Last year, we received 147 nominations and we hope to top that this year.

Junior Mayor Vignesh Ram 

I'm excited to see the Geelong Youth Awards continue to recognise the incredible contributions of young people across the municipality.

It's so inspiring and motivating to see so many passionate young people stepping up every day, supporting others and aspiring to create meaningful change in Geelong.

The Geelong Youth Awards are a great way to celebrate the dedication, leadership and impact which you display in your lives, and I'd like to encourage everyone to nominate someone making a true difference to our community.