Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll
- Status:
- Open, closes 3 October 2025
- Who can apply:
- Individuals
Nominations open on 8 August 2025 for the 14th Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll.
Do you know someone inspirational? Nominate them now to have their leadership, achievements and contribution formally recorded for future generations.
Read the nomination guide for detailed advice and tips on how to nominate.
Key dates
Nominations
8 August to 3 October 2025
Nominations can be made online through our nomination platform. You can also nominate someone over the phone by calling the FPSR events team on 03 9922 7160 or download the nomination form from this website once nominations open.Assessment
October 2025 - December 2025
Once the nomination period closes, nominations are reviewed for eligibility and provided to the independent community panel.Ceremony
Early May 2026
Inductees will be announced at a ceremony held in Melbourne.
Guidelines
The Honour Roll is a prestigious honour intended to recognise significant and lasting contributions of First Nations people to First Nations and/or wider communities in Victoria.
For a nominee to be eligible, they must:
- identify as a First Nations person
- live in Victoria.
For a posthumous nominee to be eligible, they must have:
- identified as a First Nations person
- lived in Victoria.
The Honour Roll is a prestigious honour intended to recognise significant and lasting contributions of First Nations people to First Nations and/or wider communities in Victoria.
1. Inspirational role model: demonstrates qualities that inspire both First Nations and non-First Nations people in Victoria
2. Commitment to First Nations culture in Victoria: shows dedication to preserving and promoting First Nations traditions, culture and values
3. Community impact: shows commitment to achieving practical outcomes for First Nations people in Victoria, or about First Nations issues for the wider community
4. Leadership: demonstrates leadership that achieves positive change and outcomes for: First Nations people in Victoria, on First Nations issues in the wider community, or specifically in government, enterprise or the not-for-profit sector.Where do you start?
First, check the criteria to ensure your nominee is eligible.
Our independent community panel is looking for people who demonstrate excellence in their field, make a significant contribution, and who are role models in community.
Before you start, make sure you have a high resolution photograph of the nominee to upload to the portal and the contact details for the nominee, or if you are making a posthumous nomination, the contact details for their next of kin.
You must also have the consent of the nominee to nominate them.
Read the nomination guide for detailed instructions and advice on how to nominate someone.
You can nominate someone by:
- creating a free account in the nomination platform and submitting your nomination online
- completing the paper nomination form and mailing it to the FPSR event team or
- calling the FPSR events team on 03 9922 7160.
Nomination questions
- Why is this person a role model for First Nations people in Victoria and the wider Victorian community? What makes them inspiring?
- How have their actions helped preserve and uphold First Nations Country, traditions, cultures and values?
- How has this person made a positive difference in the community? What has changed because of their contribution?
- Tell us about a project, activity or cause that this person has been involved in that has made a positive difference for First Nations people and/or the wider Victorian community?
- What do you consider to be this person's legacy? What will be their lasting impact on First Nations communities and wider Victoria?
Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll Nomination Form 2025(opens in a new window)PDF 226.24 KBVictorian Aboriginal Honour Roll nomination guide 2025(opens in a new window)PDF 252.68 KBNominations close on 3 October at 11:59 pm.
Nominations are assessed by an independent panel of First Nations community members. Panel members are required to demonstrate their capacity to represent First Nations communities through an expression of interest, submitted to First Peoples - State Relations.
The panel then provides recommendations to the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples for endorsement.
The artwork associated with the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll was created by Mick Harding. Mick Harding is an Elder of the Taungurung people.
The blues and greens of our country
"The range of green leaves represent the diversity of Traditional Owners throughout Victoria and the shield that floats inside them represents the resilience of our people over thousands of generations that we have been here.
The concentrated line work represents our unique symbolism that we use to explain our connection to country here in Victoria. The wavy blue lines represent the ocean and inland waterways that surround and run through Victoria. The subtle arcs that run through the water bodies represent the importance of water and our relationship and responsibility to it."
Collection notice
The Department of Premier and Cabinet (the Department) is using the services of Award Force to administer this form. The Department is responsible for ensuring that your personal information is collected, held, used, managed, shared, disclosed and stored in accordance with our privacy policy.
The Department undertakes to treat any personal information provided by you as confidential and in accordance with its obligations under state and federal privacy law, including the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). The personal information you provide, such as your name and email address, and all nomination materials provided including but not limited to; nomination statement, name, likeness, image, voice and/or participation in the awards (including photograph, film and/or recording of the same) will only be used to or purposes directly related to carrying out the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll.
If you choose not to or cannot provide this personal information, the nomination will not be able to be progressed to the Panel for review.
By starting a nomination, including personal information (as defined in the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic)) or where applicable, any health information (as defined in the Heath Records Act 2001 (Vic)) provided as part of that nomination, each nominator confirms that he or she consents, and has the consent of any person whose personal information is contained in a nomination, including but not limited to:
a) the nominee(s) (or if it is a posthumous nomination, their next of kin); and
b) referees,
to provide that information to the Department and for the Department to disclose and transfer their personal information to other parties deemed necessary to conduct the awards program. This includes but is not limited to the awards panel, the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, Mailchimp (for email communications) and Award Force (the online awards platform).
If you have any questions about how your personal information will be handled or would like to gain access to or withdraw your personal information, contact Kathryn Smith, Senior Events Coordinator, First Peoples - State Relations, Department of Premier and Cabinet, on 03 9922 8119 or fpsr.events@dpc.vic.gov.au
Privacy statement
Consistent with Victorian Government policy and legislation, the Department endorses fair information handling practices. Personal, health and sensitive information supplied will be used by the Department and the selection panel for the purposes of considering nominations and recommending inductees for endorsement.
Personal information of the recommended recipients will be used by the office of the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples for the purpose of reviewing and endorsing proposed inductees.
First Peoples – State Relations uses Mailchimp to contact nominators and nominees. Email addresses will be added to the FPSR mailing list from the date of registration and will be kept on the mailing list indefinitely unless they unsubscribe.
The Mailchimp Privacy Statement is available to view on the Intuit website(opens in a new window). Please be advised that Mailchimp is located in the United States of America (USA) and is subject to the laws of the USA. Your information (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Mailchimp on servers outside of Australia. Mailchimp is not subject to Australian legislation and you will not be able to seek redress under the Privacy Act 1988 for any privacy breaches by Mailchimp but will need to seek redress under the laws of the USA.
First Peoples – State Relations uses Award Force to collect nomination data for the purpose of selecting inductees to the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll. To read their privacy policy, visit their website(opens in a new window).
Please be advised that Award Force stores data on servers located in Sydney, NSW and is subject to the privacy laws of that state as stated in the Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW).
Information will not be disclosed or used by the Department for any other purpose beyond the Honour Roll without the express consent of the person to whom the information relates, unless otherwise required or permitted by law.
Data security and ownership
The information you provide in this nomination will be saved in the Department’s document and grants management systems. Access to these files will be restricted to Department staff responsible for processing nominations.
An independent selection panel is responsible for reviewing the contents of nominations. If your nomination is unsuccessful, the Department will retain a copy of your nomination data, to be stored in our document management systems unless you request your data be removed from the system. The Department may use previous nomination data to provide information regarding overall demographics and locations of nominations to support the program objectives in future. To retrieve a copy of your nomination or request your data be removed please contact fpsr.events@dpc.vic.gov.au.
Privacy policy
The Department of Premier and Cabinet Privacy Policy sets out information about how the nominator or nominee(s) may access and seek correction of their personal information or complain about a breach of their privacy, and how the Department will deal with that complaint.
Please read the terms and conditions of entry before submitting your nomination. You will need to agree to these when you submit your nomination.
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