Greater Dandenong’s annual community awards ceremony is proposed to be open to the public next year after strong “feedback”.
Councillors are set to vote on a recommendation for the 2026 Australia Day Awards as well as a citizenship ceremony to be an open event at Springvale City Hall on 26 January.
Days out from the 2025 ceremony, Greater Dandenong reversed its plans to stage the event for awardees and their families only due to a public outcry.
At the time, the council stated that traditionally the citizenship ceremonies were not public, and when combined with the awards they were kept that way.
“The interest from the community has inspired us to reconsider this and open (the) event on a registration basis.”
According to the council, the traditional awards venue at Dandenong Park was no longer viable to increased infrastructure and operational costs.
Combining the awards and the citizenship ceremony also saved money.
The two-in-one format also provided new citizens with a “powerful example of local leadership and civic engagement”, the report stated.
It proposes no changes to the award categories but for a streamlined judging panel of councillors and community members for the 2027 awards.
Award nominations rose last year, particularly for the young-leader and sustainability awards.
Living Treasure, volunteer of the year, arts, sportsperson and corporate citzen award wer the least popular for nominations.
