Meet the 2026 Tidy Towns and Cities Sustainability Awards Finalists

We'd like to congratulate our 2026 Tidy Towns and Cities Sustainability awards finalists. Out of many fabulous entries from all across the State these finalists will go into our judging process, meeting with judges to determine the winner in each category, across the Tidy Town and Tidy City streams.

To be a part of Victoria's biggest night in sustainability and community, join us at Rydges Melbourne on 30th September to meet the finalists and winners - and find out which Town and City will take out the overall Tidy Town and Tidy City Awards.

Tickets available here: https://events.humanitix.com/tidy-towns-and-cities-sustainability-awards-2026

Stay tuned to our newsletter, blog and social media to learn more about our wonderful finalists and the work they are doing!

Finalist	Category	Project Name	Location
Indigo Regen	Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education	Indigo Regen Cool Seat Project	Indigo Shire Council
St Joseph's Nature Play Group	Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education	St Joseph's Nature Play Group	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Frankston City Council	Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education	Creative Circularity:Embedding Sustainability through Arts, Culture and Community Action in Frankston City	Frankston City Council
OzHarvest FEAST Program (Victoria)	Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education	FEAST: Food Education and Sustainability Training	Port Phillip City Council
Repurpose It	Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education	Living with Purpose Education Program	Hume City Council,Macedon Ranges Shire Council,Melbourne City Council,Port Phillip City Council,Whittlesea City Council
Volunteering Gippsland (auspiced by GippSport)	Behaviour Change Campaigns and Education	Volunteering Gippsland – Youth Volunteering and Leadership Community Development Program	South Gippsland Shire Council
Kyabram Community and Learning Centre Inc.	ACCIONA -Community	Reuse and renewal Kyabram	Campaspe Shire Council
Indigo Shire Council & Tourism North East - Beechworth Railway Precinct	ACCIONA -Community	Beechworth Railway Precinct	Indigo Shire Council
Chinese Stroke Support Group	ACCIONA -Community	The Chinese Stroke Support Group (援豐會): Empowering Migrant Health, Recovery, and Social Inclusion in Victoria	Whitehorse City Council
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre	ACCIONA -Community	Refugee Leadership Program	Maribyrnong City Council
Sunbury Neighbourhood House	ACCIONA -Community	Sunbury Edible Garden Trail 2026	Hume City Council
Spring Ditch, Rikki Raadsveld & Lex Fletcher	ACCIONA -Community	Spring Ditch 2026	Indigo Shire Council
Indigo Power	Energy	Beechworth Community Battery (BEECH01)	Indigo Shire Council
Baw Baw Sustainability Network	Energy	Home Energy Doctor	Baw Baw Shire Council
Porous Lane	Environment	City of Yarra – Clifton Hill tree-growth project	Yarra City Council
St Joseph's Primary School, Sorrento	Environment	Save The Moonah Woodlands Project	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Mornington Peninsula Shire Destination Conservation & Wildlife Team	Environment	The Briars Eastern Dwarf Galaxias Recovery Project	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Seaford Banksia Arboretum and Frankston City Council	Environment	Seaford Banksia Arboretum Project	Frankston City Council
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School	Environment	The Sea is our Best Friend - Mangrove Regeneration	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
InCanopy	Environment	Melbourne Tree Ledger	Bayside City Council, Casey City Council, Frankston City Council, Glen Eira City Council, Greater Dandenong City Council, Kingston City Council, Knox City Council, Monash City Council
Beechworth History and Heritage Society Inc	Heritage and Culture	Dig into Beechworth -  Ching Ming commemoration and National Trust Australia Heritage Festival 2026	Indigo Shire Council
Cyril Young Memorial Chapel Association Inc.	Heritage and Culture	Cyril Young Memorial Chapel Restoration	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Mornington Peninsula Branch National Trust of Australia (Vic)	Heritage and Culture	McCrae Homestead Roof restoration	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre - Community Food Services & Womens Empowerment Pathways Program	Heritage and Culture	ASRC Member Recipes Project	Maribyrnong City Council
Friends of Stanley Athenaeum	Indigenous Culture	Spotlight on untold local Indigenous history	Indigo Shire Council
Ngawak Biik Briars Junior Rangers Program	Indigenous Culture	Ngawak Biik Briars Junior Rangers Program	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagulk Nations (WJJWJ Peoples)	Indigenous Culture	Our Place Our Story: 20 Years of Native Title, Culture and Country	Hindmarsh Shire Council
Indigo Shire Waste Services	Litter	Soft Plastics Collection System	Indigo Shire Council
Zero Plastics Australia	Litter	Zero Plastics Australia	Ballarat City Council
Rochester Lions Club	Litter	Rochester Lions Container Deposit Scheme	Campaspe Shire Council
Jason Cunningham	Litter	See it Bin It - Leopold	Greater Geelong City Council
Community Work & Partnerships Program, North West Metropolitan Region of the Department of Justice and Community Safety	Litter	CCS Litter Work Teams – Brimbank and Banyule City Councils	Banyule City Council,Brimbank City Council
Friends of Mallacoota Inc and Mallacoota Foreshore Holiday park	Litter	Friends of Mallacoota and Mallacoota Foreshore Holiday park VCDS diversion program partnership	East Gippsland Shire Council
Share the Dignity Beechworth	Social Well-Being	"What Women Can Do"	Indigo Shire Council
Mornington Community Support Centre	Social Well-Being	The Ranch 2.0 Crisis Accomodation Service	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Frankston City Council	Social Well-Being	Australia's Most Accessible Beach	Frankston City Council
Out Loud on the Ninch event with the You & I Exhibition	Social Well-Being	Out Loud on the Ninch event with the You & I Exhibition	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Chinese Stroke Support Group	Social Well-Being	Empowering Multicultural Communities: A Decade of Health, Wellness, and Leadership Mentorship	Whitehorse City Council
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre - Community Food Services & Womens Empowerment Pathways Program	Social Well-Being	ASRC Member Recipes Project	Maribyrnong City Council
Josie Jones, Melanie Bird and Cara Hull	EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction	Hand in Hand for the Coast	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Green Collect	EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction	Sustainability and Social Power in Warehouse Processing	Maribyrnong City Council
Quercus Beechworth	EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction	Quercus Beechworth Repair Cafe'	Indigo Shire Council
Cirque du Soil	EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction	LoopLab Yarra	Yarra City Council
A Fitting Connection	EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction	The Fabric ReStore	Banyule City Council
Mornington Peninsula Shire Council	EPA Waste Prevention and Reduction	Wash Against Waste trailer	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Amy Schilling	Young Legend	Volunteer Projects + Civic, & Diplomacy Leadership	Indigo Shire Council
Volunteering Gippsland, auspiced by GippSport	Young Legend	Volunteering Gippsland - Youth Volunteering & Leadership Community Development Program	South Gippsland Shire Council
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School	Young Legend	St Joseph's PriMARY School - Mangrove Warriors	Mornington Peninsula Shire Council

Ngawak Biik Briars Junior Rangers Program - 2026 Indigenous Culture Finalist

A junior rangers program set a target of 20 students. It now has 200.

Ngawak Biik, meaning "Understand Country, Listen to Country" in Bunurong language, is a 90% Indigenous-led program on the Mornington Peninsula, developed by Mornington Peninsula Shire with the Bunurong Land Council after schools and families flagged that First Nations students had few opportunities to connect with culture at school, and that the gap was showing up in attendance. Students learn cultural land management, ecological restoration, bush foods, art and ceremony directly from Traditional Owners, Elders and knowledge holders, on Country.

The growth from 100 to 200 participants in a single year outpaced every projection the Shire had made. Schools report that for some students, Ngawak Biik is the reason they show up regularly at all, and participants have moved into leadership roles of their own, one became their school's Environment Captain, another now runs yarning circles for younger students. Strong interest in conservation careers led to a new pilot VET/VM pathway in Conservation and Land Management with local training provider Eco Skills.

What the Shire has learned: when students help shape the program around their own interests, rather than just attending it, engagement compounds rather than plateaus.

The X-factor is that it doesn't stop at cultural connection. It builds a real pathway from culture to career.

#TidyTowns #KeepAustraliaBeautifulVic #MountMartha #FirstNations

Friends of Stanley Athenaeum - Indigenous Culture Finalist - 2026 Tidy Towns

Local Aboriginal history rarely makes it into an accessible, public format, let alone into a packed hall in a town of a few hundred people. The Friends of Stanley Athenaeum's biennial Geoff Craig Memorial Lecture set out to change that.

The 7th lecture, delivered on 28 September 2025 at Stanley Memorial Hall, brought Waywurru researcher, historian and storyteller Megan Carter to speak on "Spaces of Survival: Aboriginal Reserves and Ration Depots in North East Victoria." Carter has spent more than a decade collecting stories, images, places and biographies of Indigenous people from the region. Her lecture traced how reserves and ration depots, created through policies of control, disrupted lives and families, while Aboriginal people found ways to hold onto culture and identity within them.

Twenty-five people attended, followed by what the Society describes as a large number of questions and lively conversation once the formal presentation ended.

The lesson for the Athenaeum: there's real, sustained demand in a small community for this kind of story-telling, and with more forward planning, it's a demand they could meet more often than every two years.

The X-factor is access. With almost no accessible published record of this history, Carter's lecture is now a resource available to future students and researchers who ask the Stanley Athenaeum for it.

#TidyTowns #KeepAustraliaBeautifulVic #Stanley #LocalHistory