Nominees must: 

• Be an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person. 

• Provide a community referee to confirm the Aboriginality of nominee and connection to and involvement with Aboriginal communities. 

• Have at least 12 months paid employment experience in the public purpose sector. 

Scholarship criteria

• History of involvement in professional and Aboriginal community activities. 

• Demonstrated impact/evidence of positive change as a result of participation in other leadership activities. 

• Personal and professional qualities demonstrating a willingness and potential to further strengthen leadership skills and experience and take full advantage of the professional development opportunities offered by the scholarship. 

• Include any images of project work, project teams, or professional photos if relevant. 

• Provide a community referee to support evidence of connection to and involvement with Aboriginal communities. 

Nominations can be either self-nominated or submitted by someone else, or an organisation and you do not need to be an IPAA Victoria member to nominate or be nominated. We welcome anyone eligible working in the public purpose sector to put forward a nomination. 

Please submit your nomination through our online form and respond to the scholarship criteria questions 

The judging panel consists of Aboriginal panel members only and there are processes in place to manage any possible conflicts of interest with nominees and panel members. 

• By submitting a nomination, the nominator has obtained relevant permissions from the nominating organisation(s)/department(s)/relevant executive representative, agreeing that IPAA Victoria is entitled to use information and images contained in the nomination, in full or amended, in marketing and communication activities and that the information and images provided have the appropriate internal copyright and cultural clearances and approvals. 

• Nominations are open from Monday 28 July 2025. All nominations must be received by the published close of nominations deadline – Monday 1 September 2025. Nominations received after this date will not be considered unless there has been prior approval by IPAA Victoria prior to the close of nominations deadline. 

• Entries will be assessed on the basis of information and documentation provided in the nomination. 

• Nominations should address the relevant criteria. If for any reason an award criterion cannot be addressed, justification must be provided. 

• All costs associated with the preparation of nominations and attendance at the Fellows Awards ceremony is the responsibility of the nominator. Materials provided to support a nomination will not be returned unless requested. 

• All decisions and recommendations of the First People’s Advisory Committee and the IPAA Victoria Board are final and binding, and no correspondence will be entered into. On request, IPAA Victoria will provide brief feedback following the awards ceremony. 

• Being listed as a winner does not constitute an explicit, or implicit endorsement by IPAA Victoria or its partners. 

• The winner is asked to be available for the award ceremony on 23 October 2025 and may be called on to participate in awards marketing and communication activities before and following the awards ceremony.