Australian LGBTI Awards Shortlist 2019Over 2000 people were nominated with Australian LGBTI Awards, across 18 categories

Comedian Hannah Gadsby, Wallabies star David Pocock, Singer Kira Puru and former SBS CEO Michael Ebeid are just some of the names nominated for Australia’s biggest awards dedicated to celebrating the LGBTI community and their allies, the 2019 Australian LGBTI Awards. Over 2000 people were nominated across 18 categories, including International and Local Icon of the year, Sports Personality, Ally, Brand and Marketing Campaign, Community Initiative/Charity and Inspirational Role Model.

Two new categories have been added for the 3rd annual awards; Artist and Faith. The Artist Award highlights the cultural work done to keep LGBTQI issues visible in the arts. Our Finalists include Theatre Directors, Authors, Drag Performers, Photographers, Film Directors, Comedians and Visual Artists. The Faith category acknowledges the inspiring work done by individuals and religious organisations to improve homophobic attitudes within religious organisations.

Winners will be announced at a special red carpet gala dinner on Friday 1 March 2019 at The Star, Sydney.

The 2018 LGBTI Awards saw a star-studded list of community leaders, celebrities and organisations coming out for the celebrations, including the likes of Lea DeLariaYael StoneDanielle BrooksLucy LawlessMagda Szubanski, Joel Creasey, Ollie Henderson, and Jordan Raskopoulos.

“The most exciting part of the Finalists process is that every year we see new people and new organisations who have made an impact over the last 12 month, in a positive way,” said Australian LGBTI Awards funding Director, Silke Bader

“Celebrating those involved in the marriage equality campaign was a big part of last year’s event. This year with the awards we wanted to shine a light on other areas where positive role models are making a difference.  The faith category is a great example of this. There are many individuals and religious organisations that really stand up to fight for the recognition and acceptance for their LGBTQI community members and we felt it important to recognise that this year,” continued Bader.

There are two main groups to the awards, the Public Award Category and the Corporate Award Category. The Public Award categories are entirely decided by the public vote. Voting for the below-shortlisted nominees is now open at www.australianlgbtiawards.com.au.

PUBLIC AWARDS SHORTLIST

ALLY 

sponsored by Carsales

  • Alison Battisson – Human Rights For All
  • Associate Professor Michelle Telfer
  • David Pocock – Australian Wallabies
  • Joshua Maxwell
  • Mia Garlick – Facebook
  • Rebekah Robertson
  • Sharyn Faulkner
  • Shelley Argent

ARTIST

sponsored by Nova Entertainment

  • Ben Graetz aka Miss Ellaneous
  • Charles O’Grady
  • Feminem
  • J. Rosenbaum
  • Joel Devereux
  • Julie Kalceff
  • Kim Leutwyler
  • PO PO MO CO
  • Roz Bellamy

BRAND & MARKETING CAMPAIGN

sponsored by ive Group

Accor Hotels

  • Amazon
  • American Airlines
  • Bloomberg
  • Flight Centre
  • Levi’s
  • Netflix
  • Optus
  • Qantas
  • SBS Australia

FILM, TV & WEB SERIES

  • ABC – Phyllis and Francesca 48 years on
  • ABC- Here Come the Brides – Christine Forster
  • ABC: RIOT
  • ABC: You Can’t Ask That
  • BLACK DIVAZ
  • Different For Girls: The Whole Story
  • Foxtel: A Place to Call Home
  • Foxtel: Wentworth
  • Netflix: Nanette
  • Netflix: Queer Eye
  • Screen Australia: A Chance Affair
  • Seven: Neighbours (The Gay Wedding)

INTERNATIONAL ICON
sponsored by Coca Cola

  • Boy George
  • Brendon Urie
  • Cher
  • Elton John
  • Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman
  • Keiynan Lonsdale
  • Lady Gaga
  • Maxine Jones (En Vogue)
  • PINK
  • Lucy Lawless

LOCAL ICON
sponsored by Rimmel London

  • Andreja Pejic
  • Hannah Gadsby
  • Harry Cook
  • Ian Thorpe
  • Jade Kevin Foster
  • Jordan Raskololous
  • Judi Connelli
  • Tash Sultana
  • Tim Dormer
  • Troye Sivan

MUSIC ARTIST
sponsored by The Star Event Centre

  • Alfie Arcuri
  • Bec Sandridge
  • Cub Sport
  • Damien Mancell
  • Greg Gould
  • Kira Puru
  • Mama Alto
  • Maria Temelkos-The Frocks
  • Mojo Juju
  • Harley Mavis

ORGANISATION
sponsored by DE&E

  • AIM
  • Archer Magazine
  • Australia Zoo
  • Darlinghurst Bookshop
  • Headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation
  • Life Without Barriers
  • Pink Media Group
  • Rainbow Fertility
  • Shebah Rideshare
  • Southern Cross Austereo
  • Unicorn Auto

SPORTS
sponsored by Holden

  • Brendan Fevola
  • Cricket Victoria
  • Hannah Mouncey
  • Moana Hope
  • Karina Brown and Vanessa Foliaki
  • Simon Dunn
  • St Kilda Football Club
  • Sydney Stingers’s Water Polo Club
  • Sydney Swans
  • Tameka Butt

COMMUNITY INITIATIVE/CHARITY
sponsored by the NRL

  • Black Rainbow
  • Gaytimes Festival
  • Lesbians Incorporated
  • Open Doors Youth Service
  • Out for Australia
  • Pinnacle Foundation
  • Rainbow Families
  • The Coming Back Out Ball
  • The Pollys Club
  • TransFolk of Western Australia
  • Wear it Purple

FAITH

  • Avril Hannah-Jones
  • Equal Voices
  • Melbourne Inclusive Church
  • Metropolitan Community Church
  • Monica Hingston
  • Nathan Despott
  • Rainbow Christian Alliance
  • Spark Church
  • Uniting
  • Uniting Church in Australia

MEDIA PROFESSIONAL
sponsored by BIG W

  • Adem Ali (The Record Doctor)
  • Alan Tsibulya
  • Benjamin Norris
  • Dean Mccarthy
  • Gary Nunn
  • Jayson Shipston
  • Jesse Jones
  • Justin Hill
  • Chloe Sargeant
  • Michelle C. Sheppard
  • Paul ‘Browny’ Brown

HERO 
sponsored by Amazon  

  • Angela Saide
  • Delsi Cat
  • Dr Alayna Cole
  • Georgie Stone
  • Gerry Ebert
  • Jake Gablonski
  • James Brechney
  • Melissa Griffiths
  • Nevo Zisin
  • Sam Bouzanquet

The Corporate Award Category looks at CEOs and Diversity Champions in the business sector. The winners in these categories will be decided by an esteemed judging panel that includes Broadcaster Anton Enus, JP Morgan Chief Economist Sally Auld, Chair of The Pinnacle Foundation Paul Zahra, DoW Leader of Public and Government Affairs Taimor T Hazou and Actors Leah Purcell and Andre Guy.

CORPORATE AWARDS SHORTLIST

DIVERSITY CHAMPION 
sponsored by DoW

  • Alasdair Godfrey
  • Andrew Staite
  • Angus Lonergan
  • Chelsea Mcphail Rosenberg
  • Jane Hill
  • Jason Williamson
  • Matt Janssen
  • Rachel Mead
  • Renae Smee
  • Ton Briffa

INSPIRATIONAL ROLE MODEL
sponsored by BLOOMBERG

  • Graeme Mason
  • Janet Rice
  • Jason Bradshaw
  • Katherine Wolfgramme
  • Lisa Norman (Qantas Captain)
  • Luci Ellis
  • Michael Ebeid
  • Natasha Norton
  • Sophia Zachariou
  • Steve Odell

ESTABLISHED LGBTI EMPLOYEE NETWORK

  • Accenture
  • Ashurst
  • Australia Post
  • Australian Taxation Office
  • CBRE
  • NSW Police
  • QBE Insurance Australia and New Zealand
  • QPS LGBTI Support Network
  • Salesforce

NEW LGBTI EMPLOYEE NETWORK

  • Carlton & United Breweries
  • City Pride (City of Sydney)
  • Flourish Australia
  • Maurice Blackburn Lawyers
  • ME Bank
  • Nous Group
  • Proud at Woolworths Group
  • Vodafone
  • Woodside Energy – Spectrum

The event’s most prestigious award, the Lifetime Achievement will be awarded to Phyllis Papps and Francesca Curtis. Papps and Curtis were important members of Australia’s first known homosexual rights community – The Australasian Lesbian Movement (ALM). Through ALM they’d supported women to ‘come out in the ultra-conservative early ’70s. They’d host club meetings in their home, take in women who’d left their husbands or been rejected by family, and host mixer drinks for women to start dating. Throughout their lives, they advocated for the lesbian community, worked with the Gay and Lesbian Archives, and helped women from the ground up.

The Australian LGBTI Award encourages the community to vote start voting. 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.