Nominate a young person, youth worker or youth service making a difference in our communities.

About the awards

The Betty Makin Youth Awards pay tribute to local community leader Betty Makin in a way that reflects her legacy – by recognising the vital role of activism and service in our communities.

The awards encourage young people (aged 12 to 24), youth workers and youth services who live, work or study in the City of Sydney local area to play their part in building stronger and healthier communities.

About this form 

The Betty Makin Youth Awards will be presented on Tuesday 15 April at Redfern Town Hall as part of the City of Sydney Youth Week in the City 2025 event. 

Make your nominations using this form by 5pm Friday 28 March.  

This year, there will be 1 winner from each Youth category. Each winner will receive a $500 voucher. There will also be 1 winner from each Youth Worker category, who will receive a trophy. 

Who can nominate?

Any young person can nominate a peer, youth worker or agency. Youth workers, agencies and schools can also nominate.

Who cannot nominate?

City of Sydney employees.

We will contact the nominee through the nominator if required.

Youth categories:

Category 1: Community

Individuals or groups who have contributed to local youth communities.

As volunteers, their contribution involves:

• leading on issues relating to community life
• participating in or organising programs and projects that benefit communities
• raising and solving a problem they found within the communities.

Category 2: Equity, inclusion and diversity:

This award recognises someone who has overcome hardship and grown personally or helped make our communities more inclusive for underrepresented groups. Areas may include:

• culture
• sexual orientation
• gender
• health and disability.

Category 3: Creative:

Individuals or groups who have contributed significantly through drama, visual arts, digital media, literature, music or other artforms.

This may be demonstrated through:

• involving the communities and audiences through their creative medium
• helping others understand the importance of the arts through mentoring, teaching, fundraising and raising awareness.

Youth and service categories:

Category 1: Youth Worker of the Year

Individuals who work with young people by developing programs and providing support to those in need. Examples include:

• building positive relationships with young people
• improving policy and practice
• commitment to improving conditions for young people
• developing relationships with communities, schools and referral organisations.

Category 2. Youth Service of the Year

Youth-focused groups or organisations who have provided excellent programs and services to young people in Sydney. Nominees must run a service directed to young people aged 12 to 25.

Purpose of collection: This information is being collected for the purpose of assessing nominations, selecting and contacting a winner for each category in the Betty Makin Youth Awards.

Intended recipients: City of Sydney employees and Betty Makin Youth Awards judge(s) are the intended recipients.

Supply: the supply of this information is voluntary. If you are unwilling provide this information, the City of Sydney may be unable to consider your nomination.

Access/correction: contact customer service on 02 9265 9333 or at council@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au to access or correct your personal information.

Storage: the social city unit at the City of Sydney, located at 456 Kent Street, Sydney NSW 2000, is collecting this information and the City of Sydney will store it securely.

Other uses: the City of Sydney will use your personal information for the purpose for which it was collected.

For further details on how the City of Sydney manages personal information, refer to our privacy management plan.