Michael Kirby to judge again at Victorian GLOBE Community Awards
ORGANISERS of Victoria’s only awards for excellence in the LGBTI community have announced former High Court Justice Michael Kirby as one of its judges, adding to a list of prominent Victorians.
The Gay and Lesbian Organisation for Business and Enterprise (GLOBE) has confirmed that Kirby, one of Australia’s most respected gay figures, has come on board to judge the prestigious community awards along with Melbourne Lady Mayoress Emma Page Campbell and Fairfax journalist Farrah Tomazin.
Launched last month, the inaugural GLOBE Community Awards was created to recognise the achievements of members from the Victorian LGBTI community, along with advocacy groups, businesses and allies in the media, arts, sports and support groups.
“We want these awards to be an inspiration to our community, to encourage more excellent work and to help individuals and groups grow,” GLOBE president David Micallef said.
“This is a unique platform in Victoria and we encourage all individuals and groups to nominate and be recognised for the work they do.”
Speaking on Kirby’s appointment to the judging panel, Micallef said: “It is amazing to see such prominent members of the community get involved with the Community Awards. The recognition these awards give is bolstered by their involvement.
“We are further delighted that The Hon. Michael Kirby has agreed to donate his time to ensure the judging process remains fair and impartial.”
Campbell is also the Licensing and Governance Manager at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image and has long been involved in Melbourne’s artistic and cultural scene.
Starting off as a journalist for The Age, reporting on general news as well as crime and local government, Tomazin is now the state political editor of the Sunday Age.
Along with other categories, there will be six individual awards titled Volunteer of the Year, Media Excellence, Straight Ally of the Year, Artist of the Year, Sports Person of the Year, and The GLOBE GLBTI Person of the Year.
Nominations for the awards will close on August 31 and finalists will be announced in September.