After a hugely successful event in 2017, Australia’s biggest awards dedicated to celebrating the LGBTI community and their allies, The Australian LGBTI Awards, will return in 2018, adding three new categories: Music Artist award, International Celebrity award and Best Media Moment.
The inaugural Australian LGBTI Awards took place during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Gras in 2017, and saw a who’s who of community leaders, celebrities and organisations come out in force to celebrate the LGBTQI community. Attendees to the awards included: Molly Meldrum, Lucy Lawless, Joel Creasey, The Veronicas, Michelle Heyman, Magda Szubanski and Jordan Raskopoulos.
“As a whole the LGBTI community spend a lot of time fighting for equality, it’s nice to be able to take some time out to come together to celebrate one another, and this is what the Australian LGBTI Awards is all about,” said Australian LGBTI Awards Director, Silke Bader.
“Everyone is welcome to nominate any individual who they think is inspirational to the community and upholds our values. When nominating think of the people that have had a personal effect on you, those individuals who have been an inspiration to you and who continue to fight for the LGBT community.”
There are two main groups to the awards, the Public Award Category and the Corporate Award Category. The Public Award Categories include: Hero of the Year; Celebrity of the Year; Sports Personality of the Year; and even Politician of the Year. These categories are entirely decided by the public vote – who then go through to the shortlist which the public is again allowed to vote on.
The Corporate Award Category looks at CEOs and Diversity Champions in the business sector. The public nominates in these, with the winners to be decided by an esteemed judging panel that includes: Les Girls legend – Carlotta, Broadcaster – Julie McCrossin, SBS Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director – Michael Ebeid, LGBTI Activist and Model – Ollie Henderson, Disability Discrimination Commissioner – Alastair McEwin and PwC Australia Partner – Suzi Russell-Gilford.
Winner of last year’s lifetime achievement award, Molly Meldrum, said “I’ve got so many awards around, but this one is in my main room, shining, because I was so honoured by it. It’s incredibly important and makes me want to fight harder for equality”
The more members of the LGBTI community that vote, the better the awards will reflect the community. The Australian LGBTI Awards is a chance to say thank you to esteemed individuals and to celebrate the diverse community that we have in Australia.
The Australian LGBTI Awards is brought to Australia by OutNews Global and L Media. OutNews Global run the successful British LGBT Awards, which is consistently the largest publicised LGBT event in the UK – they are thrilled to bring this event to Australia with the assistance of L Media.
To nominate someone for the 2018 awards, or for more information, visit: www.australianlgbtiawards.com.au for details. Winners will be announced at a gala awards dinner at The Star in Sydney in March 2018.
Image: Winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award – Molly Meldrum (supplied)