Our annual Citizen of the Year awards offer the perfect opportunity for us to salute and reward those residents who work hard supporting our local community while achieving success in their chosen fields.
To submit nominations for this year, download the Citizen of the Year nomination form
Our 2022 Citizen of the Year awards were awarded on Australia Day 2023, across four categories: Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Sports Citizen of the Year and Arts and Culture Citizen of the Year.
Our 2022 Citizen of the Year award recipients were:
2022 Citizen of the Year — Keith Cox OAM
Keith is a Drummoyne resident and was a highly qualified nurse who dedicated 50 years of his life to patient care, mentoring cancer nurses, writing research papers and addressing medical conferences around the world. In 2007 Keith was awarded an OAM for his services to nursing and community volunteer work.
Keith remains involved with various fundraising committees and charitable organisations, and he volunteers in several capacities. Keith has provided expert care and comfort to countless people facing the unimaginable and is truly deserving of the City of Canada Bay 2022 Citizen of the Year award.
2022 Arts and Culture Citizen of the Year — Melle Smith-Haimona
Melle is an emerging Ngunnawal artist and mother of two. She has completed three art commissions for the City of Canada Bay this year, sharing Aboriginal artworks with our community and reflecting upon what it means to be a local Aboriginal woman and mother.
Growing up on Country in the City of Canada Bay, Melle has an intimate knowledge of our foreshore, parks and people. She is also passing on her knowledge of the Ngunnawal people and culture to her children to ensure they grow up knowing their traditions..
She successfully combines a diverse art practice with a strong and positive presence online. Particularly remarkable over the past year is her online art challenge which engaged many members of the community.
Melle has also worked on the The Drover’s Wife (2021) and supported this movie’s launch with artworks. She also has a thriving online art shop based from her Concord home.
2022 Young Citizen of the Year — Hannah Kiefer
Hannah is 17 year old student at Concord High School and has advanced significantly in the field of Taekwondo.
In the last two years Hannah has competed in national and international competitions. Some of her results include:
Hannah teaches at Musa Taekwondo in Five Dock, inspiring local youth to take up the sport, not just for competition but also for personal development.
Hannah has significant achievements in the local, national and international space and sets a great example for her school community at Concord High and local youth in the area.
2022 Sports Citizen of the Year — Luca Tropiano
Luca began playing soccer at the age of 5 for Five Dock Football Club before playing for APIA Leichhardt for the following 8 years. He advanced to the Skills Acquisition Program then onto the National Premier League 1, always playing a year above his age group.
During these years, Luca was selected to play for NSW at the National Football Tournament in 2022 and for the NSW Football Talent Support Program. He won the Most Valuable Player Award at the Sydney International Cup at age 9, and then went on with his team to win the event in 2019.
Luca is currently playing for the Western Sydney Wanderers Youth Team 2023 in the U16s at the age of 14. Luca was also part of the Nick Rizzo Academy United Kingdom Tour and has won several tournaments such as the Diamond Cup, Sydney International Cup and Futboltec Invitational. Luca has lived in the City of Canada Bay area for over 10 years and currently attends St Patrick's College in Strathfield where he received the 2022 Footballer of the Year Award for his school.
Year |
Citizen |
Young Citizen |
Sports |
Arts & Culture |
---|---|---|---|---|
2002 |
Lance Brooks |
Sarah Hanania |
Mark Byrnes |
Keith Cowen OAM |
2003 |
Dr Bruce Menzies |
|
Ante Milicic |
Frank Marjason |
2004 |
Jack Nolan OAM |
|
Michael McCann |
Lois Michael OAM |
2005 |
Betty Robertson OAM |
|
John Hahn |
Dr Eric Gross AM |
2006 |
Ron Yeo OAM |
Eric Knight |
Declan Stacey |
Ern McQuillan |
2007 |
Justine Perkins |
Kaiya Robertson and Joshua Heard |
Craig Parry |
Mirvac |
2008 |
Alan Wright OAM |
Patrick Massarani |
Bradley Zalloua |
Ashley Wing |
2009 |
Warwick Williams |
Vishaal Sharma |
Carla Blancato |
Terry Robinson |
2010 |
Joe Di Giacomo |
Chantelle Hayek |
Alyssa Healy |
Clare Hooper |
2011 |
Mervyn Spencer |
Bronwyn Poole |
Olivia Price |
Lydia Burjan |
2012 |
Terry 'Tiger' Jones |
Daniel Castagnoli |
Gerard Price OAM |
Rusty Priest AM |
2013 |
Professor Robert Lusby AM |
Rosie O'Halloran |
Drummoyne U14 Girls Water Polo Team |
Kathryn Zerk |
2014 |
Marie Piccin |
Melissa McKeon |
John Coates AC |
Yuehan Zhang |
2015 |
Michael Hahn |
Aly (Carmelein) Fernandez |
Maximilian Brenner |
Chris Castledine |
2016 |
Jeanette O'Hara |
Rose Cox |
Tyler Martin |
Brian Simmons |
2017 |
Alice Kang |
James King |
Abbotsford Juniors Football Club U18s |
Concord Garden Club |
2018 |
Joseph Assaf AM |
Daniel Kordy |
Franco Parisi |
Wendy Schmid |
2019 |
Tom Galea |
Doey Choi |
Anne Burt |
Paul Kapeleris |
2020 |
Mary Jo McVeigh |
William Wheeler |
John Critchley |
Nicky Apostolopoulos |
2021 |
Ken Wright |
Aiza and Abdullah Khurram (joint award) |
Sabrina Barutha |
Julie Peadon |
2022 |
Keith Cox |
Hannah Kiefer |
Luca Tropiano |
Melle Smith-Haimona |