Resilient Australia Awards
The Resilient Australia Awards celebrate and promote initiatives that build whole of community resilience to disasters and emergencies around Australia, as well as images capturing resilience in action. The awards recognise collaboration and innovative thinking across all sectors.
The Resilient Australia Awards is proudly sponsored by the Australian Government in partnership with the states and territories and managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR).
About the Resilient Australia Awards
The awards recognise outstanding contributions in each state and territory across seven categories: business, community, government, local government, mental health and wellbeing, school, and photography.
The awards recognise a wide range of initiatives with past projects centred on risk assessment and mitigation, mental health and wellbeing, education, training and research, and community engagement, as well as response and recovery.
State and territory winners are considered for national awards, along with projects entered directly to the national awards – projects selected as national finalists will benefit from national exposure through a range of communication channels.
Entries in the 2022 awards program must relate to projects or initiatives that commenced after 1 January 2020, or demonstrate significant outcomes or enhancements since 1 January 2020.
The Resilient Australia Awards is proudly sponsored by the Australian Government in partnership with the states and territories and managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR).
Further information on the program structure and submission requirements are contained in the guidelines.
Award categories
The Resilient Australia Awards is a two-tiered program. Submissions are judged in the state or territory they are submitted from, with winners from each state and territory considered for national awards.
State and territory award categories
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Resilient Australia Business AwardOpen to businesses and the private sector, including tertiary colleges and universities. |
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Resilient Australia Government AwardOpen to state and federal government agencies. |
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Resilient Australia Local Government AwardOpen to local governments and local government associations. |
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Resilient Australia Schools AwardOpen to all public and private pre-school, primary and secondary schools only. |
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Resilient Australia Photography AwardOpen to individuals and groups. |
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Resilient Australia Community AwardOpen to communities, community based or focussed organisations, and non-government organisations. |
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Resilient Australia Mental Health and Wellbeing AwardOpen to all projects focussing on the mental health and wellbeing of Australian communities before, during and after a disaster. |
Multi-jurisdictional projects
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Projects that encompass activity in two states or territories must identify a 'lead-jurisdiction' and the project should be submitted to the relevant state or territory award category. Projects that encompass activity in three or more states or territories are considered multi-jurisdictional and may be submitted directly to the Resilient Australia National Award category. Projects submitted directly to the Resilient Australia National Award category will not be eligible for state or territory awards. |
National award categories
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Resilient Australia National AwardState and territory winners in the business and government categories will be considered alongside multi-jurisdictional projects. |
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Resilient Australia National Mental Health and Wellbeing AwardOpen to all projects focussing on the mental health and wellbeing of Australian communities before, during and after a disaster. |
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Resilient Australia National Local Government AwardState and territory winners in the local government category will be considered. |
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Resilient Australia National Schools AwardState and territory winners in the school category will be considered. |
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Resilient Australia Photography AwardThe People's Choice photography winner in each state and territory will be considered. |
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Resilient Australia National Community AwardState and territory winners in the community category will be considered. |
Award category process map
This process map demonstrates how the jurisdictional award categories link through to the national awards.
Guidelines and submission details
Assessment questions
All categories, excluding photography
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In 150 words or less, provide an executive summary of your project or initiative and its benefits.
Consider the following questions in developing your response:
- How would you pitch your project to media outlets?
- How would you summarise your project for social media posts?
- Will your executive summary spark interest from the judging panel?
- Describe your project or initiative purpose, design and aims.
Consider the following questions in developing your response:
- What is the purpose of the project?
- Where is the project based?
- Who is involved in the project? Who benefits?
- What are the achievements and outcomes of the project?
- Does the project make use of technology? Was this beneficial to the outcome?
- Provide specific examples of how the project or initiative has supported the community to build resilience to disasters and emergencies. Highlight aspects that make the project sustainable and/or transferable to other communities.
Consider the following questions in developing your response:
- What have the changes in the community been as a result of your project?
- What evidence can you provide? Has the project been evaluated?
- Could other communities use your project as a model?
- How can it be adapted to other communities?
- What were the findings and achievements of the project or initiative?
Consider the following questions in developing your response:
- How did the project promote or encourage sharing the responsibility for disaster resilience/community safety among multiple sectors/groups?
- How does your project reflect key ideas in the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience?
- How has the community been directly engaged through the project?
- How has the community responded to the project?
- Describe how your project or initiative is contributing to an inclusive Australia.
Consider the following questions in developing your response:
- In what ways does your project engage with and provide benefit to diverse groups within the Australian community?
- In what ways does your project foster inclusive approaches to disaster resilience?
- How does your project highlight the needs, voices and achievements of the estimated 1 in 5 Australians with a disability?
- How does your project take into consideration the mental wellbeing of the community before, during and after a disaster?
- How does your project or initiative go beyond business as usual and community expectations?
Consider the following questions in developing your response:
- How does the project deliver above and beyond the core business activity of the organisations involved?
- What gaps in community expectations and needs does the project address?
Photography category
- What about the submitted photograph demonstrates resilience to you?
Submissions must include:
- One high-resolution (300dpi) photograph that demonstrates what resilience means to you, or resilience in action
- The title of the photograph and the location it was taken
- Names and contact details for all identifiable individuals depicted in the photograph to comply with the Privacy Act 1988.
Submissions open Monday 7 March 2022!
Enter your project or initiative into the 2022 Resilient Australia Awards before Monday 13 June 2022.
Winning projects will reflect key principles of the National Strategy for Disaster Resilience and the National Disaster Risk Framework.
Applicants must respond to the following six (6) assessment questions, for all submissions, excluding the photography category.
Responses for each criterion should be no more than 500 words, unless otherwise stated. The responses to the assessment questions will be assessed against the judging process.
Assistance with applications can be requested from the AIDR Awards Coordinator, however any assistance given does not provide certainty in the outcome.
State Convenor contacts
For more information about Resilient Australia Awards in your state or territory, contact your State Convenor.
ACT Justice and Community Safety Directorate
Emma Charge
Resilience NSW
Phillip Leslie
NT Emergency Services
Gemma Bellenger
Queensland Reconstruction Authority
Kate Retzki
SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission
Gina Butler
TAS Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management
Amy Franklin
Emergency Management Victoria
Steve Cameron
WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services
Zoe Fulwood
People's Choice Photography Award
At the state and territory level, submissions for the Resilient Australia Photography Award are judged through a popular vote (People's Choice), conducted online via the AIDR Facebook page. All approved photography submissions will be published in a Facebook album, with each 'like' or 'reaction' counted as a vote. The state or territory that the photo was submitted for will not be published.
At the conclusion of the voting period, the album will be temporarily disabled and AIDR will tally and record the 'votes'. The photo with the most likes/reactions from each state and territory will win its jurisdictions Resilient Australia Photography Award. Once the votes have been counted, the content will be made available again on Facebook, however subsequent likes and reactions will not be considered votes.
The public vote for the 2022 Resilient Australia Photography Award run 16-30 June 2022.
National Photography Award
The winning photos from each state and territory will be considered for the Resilient Australia National Photography Award.
The National Photography Award winner will be decided by the Editorial Committee of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management (AJEM). The number of votes a photo received during the public vote will not be taken into consideration at the national level.
The winning photograph will also be considered for the cover of the January 2022 issue of AJEM.
Resilient Australia National Photography Award
Previous winners and highly commended
Previous winners and highly commended
Previous winners and finalists
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National Resilient Australia Awards 2021Award categories:
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National Resilient Australia Awards 2020Award categories:
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National Resilient Australia Awards 2019Award categories:
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National Resilient Australia Awards 2018Award categories:
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National Resilient Australia Awards 2017Award categories:
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