	{"id":186365,"date":"2026-06-24T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/?p=186365"},"modified":"2026-06-24T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T18:00:00","slug":"is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/news\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the next Australian of the Year in Geelong?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>THE search for the 2027 Australian of the Year has begun, with people encouraged to nominate people making a difference in their local area.<\/p>\n<p>The awards, run by the National Australia Day Council, rely entirely on public nominations and recognise Australians whose work, leadership and service are helping strengthen communities across the country.<\/p>\n<p>National Australia Day Council interim chief executive Todd Ashurst said every nomination began with someone taking the time to recognise another person&#8217;s contribution.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A nomination can shine a light on extraordinary Australians whose work is improving lives, strengthening communities and helping shape the nation,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The awards recognise outstanding Australians across four categories: Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia&#8217;s Local Hero.<\/p>\n<p>Nominations close on 31 July and can be submitted online at <a href=\"http:\/\/australianoftheyear.org.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">australianoftheyear.org.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE search for the 2027 Australian of the Year has begun, with people encouraged to nominate people making a difference in their local area. The awards, run by the National Australia Day Council, rely entirely on public nominations and recognise Australians whose work, leadership and service are helping strengthen communities across the country. National Australia [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/news\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":216,"featured_media":186366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-186365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is the next Australian of the Year in Geelong? - Armstrong Creek Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Help shine a light on local heroes. Submit your Australian of the Year nominations for the 2027 awards online before July 31!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/news\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is the next Australian of the Year in Geelong? - Armstrong Creek Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Help shine a light on local heroes. Submit your Australian of the Year nominations for the 2027 awards online before July 31!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/armstrongcreektimes\/news\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Armstrong Creek Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/06\/tng-img1-28.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ellie Claringbold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ellie Claringbold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ellie Claringbold\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32abddd83bad3e2425166905b3e3aaff\"},\"headline\":\"Is the next Australian of the Year in Geelong?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":148,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/36\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/tng-img1-28.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/\",\"name\":\"Is the next Australian of the Year in Geelong? - Armstrong Creek Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/armstrongcreektimes\\\/news\\\/is-the-next-australian-of-the-year-in-geelong\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/36\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/tng-img1-28.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Help shine a light on local heroes. 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