WA Volunteer Service Awards

Nominations are accepted via the online nomination forms and can be submitted by:

• Volunteer-involving organisations.
• Individuals who are currently volunteering.
• Volunteers who are under 18 years of age who have parental or legal guardian consent (refer to FAQ 12).

If you require assistance completing this form, please telephone the Department of Communities on 1800 176 888 or email: wavolunteerserviceawards@communities.wa.gov.au

The Department of Communities is committed to the protection and safety of Western Australians by ensuring that screening mechanisms are in place for volunteers as required.

It is the responsibility of the nominating organisation or individual nominees to ensure that compliance with any applicable worker screening clearances in relation to their volunteer service have been obtained prior to submitting a nomination form. If a nominee's screening status changes, the nominating organisation or individual nominee must advise the Department of Communities at the earliest convenience.

As part of the nomination process, the organisation, or self-nominee will be asked to confirm that:

• At the time of nomination, to the best of the nominator’s knowledge, the nominee is of good standing and does not have any convictions, pending convictions or charges (within or outside Western Australia) that may impact on the reputation of the nominating organisation or the State Government’s Awards Program.

The volunteer is not eligible if this declaration cannot be met.

If the nominee's situation changes after the nomination is made, and this declaration no longer applies, the Department of Communities must be notified immediately by emailing wavolunteerserviceawards@communities.wa.gov.au

No, to comply with the Department of Communities’ Privacy Policy consent must be obtained for each nominee.

Unfortunately, individuals cannot be nominated as a surprise without their consent.

For organisations wanting to recognise 20 or more volunteers, a spreadsheet for individual details is provided. Please complete this spreadsheet and upload to your online organisation nomination form as prompted.

If the nomination form has been submitted incorrectly, please contact wavolunteerserviceawards@communities.wa.gov.au prior to the nomination closing date for corrections to be made.

Once the online nomination form has been submitted, the nominator will receive an acknowledgment email. If you do not receive an automated confirmation email, please notify wavolunteerserviceawards@communities.wa.gov.au

The 2026 WA Volunteer Service Award service years and associated recognition include:

Please note, the focus of the WA Volunteer Service Awards is to recognise and celebrate the diversity of volunteering in Western Australia. Any individual who has volunteered for five or more years in Western Australia is eligible for nomination. The WA Volunteer Service Awards do not have overall 'winners' as all eligible nominees are recognised for their contribution.

The WA Volunteer Service Awards are different from Volunteering WA’s Volunteer of the Year Awards, which recognise volunteers and organisations for outstanding efforts across seven distinct categories. Organisations are welcome to nominate volunteers for both programs if they meet the eligibility criteria for both.  For more information about the Volunteering WA’s Volunteer of the Year Awards, please visit the Volunteering WA webpage.

• Years of service are calculated by adding the total calendar years of volunteer contribution.
• Years of voluntary service completed simultaneously or overlapping cannot be counted towards the total length of service.
• Years of service do not need to be consecutive.

In 2024, the award categories were expanded to recognise more volunteers in Western Australia.

A volunteer cannot be nominated for the same service year span twice.

If the volunteer received a WA Volunteer Service Award prior to this change (2023 or earlier), the following guidelines apply:

• Yes, years of service can be calculated by adding total calendar years of volunteer contribution, across all organisations, so long as they do not overlap.
• Please note the nomination form asks for a record of voluntary contribution across organisations. This includes organisation name and dates.

Yes, if the nomination is for volunteer service provided to a Western Australian branch and the volunteering contribution benefits Western Australian communities.

Yes. The WA Volunteer Service Awards proudly recognises the invaluable volunteering efforts of younger people and acknowledges that many young people volunteer through school, sports and other clubs, for example, before they reach 18 years of age.

No, unfortunately the WA Volunteer Service Awards are not posthumous, as consent must be obtained for all nominees. This is to ensure compliance with the Department of Communities’ Privacy Policy.

To honour the contributions of a volunteer who has passed away, organisations or family members may wish to consider alternative ways to achieve this (e.g. approaching local councils regarding memorials or plaques).

Nominations are assessed against the eligibility criteria and years of voluntary contribution reviewed.

Nominations are also checked against previous WA Volunteer Service Awards received (refer to FAQ 9).

The nominee is not eligible if the acknowledgement on the nomination form regarding criminal convictions requirements cannot be met (refer to FAQ 2).

If required, nominees will be contacted directly to verify details on the application.

All eligible nominees receive their WA Volunteer Service Award throughout National Volunteer Week, which will take place from 18 to 24 May in 2026. For most volunteers this will be presented to them by their nominating organisation (where applicable) or by post if this is not possible.

Each year a select number of individuals are invited to attend an awards ceremony, organised by the Department of Communities. This is normally reserved for eligible nominees who have been volunteering for 50 years or more.

Please refer to FAQ 7 for information on how recipients are recognised for the award service years.

No. Nominating organisations and self-nominees are reminded when completing the online form to ensure the volunteers' names and details are correct. Please take care to provide the correct information at the time of submission.

Under exceptional circumstances, a replacement certificate may be arranged (for example, if the certificate was damaged in the post). In this case a replacement certificate will be emailed to the organisation or recipient to print.

The Department of Communities will include information on the WA Volunteer Service Awards and nominees in media announcements and promotional materials.

It is important that consent is explained to the nominee when completing their nomination form. Nominees who do not provide consent will not have their image / information promoted by the Department of Communities.

Volunteers under 18 years of age are encouraged to participate in the WA Volunteer Service Awards if they meet eligibility and category requirements.

The nominee’s parent or legal guardian must provide consent to:

• Submit the nomination (by organisation or individual self-nomination) and,
• for media and promotion of their award.

Please email the Volunteering team at WAVolunteerServiceAwards@communities.wa.gov.au if you have any enquires directly relating to the Awards program that are not answered here.