Excellence in Mentoring Award

Recognises and celebrates a staff member—academic or professional—who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to mentoring others and has made a sustained, positive impact on the personal and professional development of their mentees.

Excellence in Mentoring Award

Awarded to an academic or professional staff member who has provided dedicated and valuable support as a mentor, to help foster and develop the careers of other academic or professional staff members.

The nominee must have displayed outstanding passion and commitment in mentoring professionals at a level above and beyond normal job requirements and expectations, and for mentoring staff outside their direct reporting line.

Excellence in Mentoring Award - Criteria

The successful recipient will demonstrate dedication and excellence in two or more of the following:

  • A sustained record of effective mentoring that goes above and beyond normal job expectations.
  • Exceptional skills in providing support, sharing knowledge, and fostering growth in others.
  • Generously sharing expertise, time, and guidance to help mentees navigate their career paths.
  • Positively and respectfully supporting colleagues in building confidence, skills, and knowledge.
  • Assisting mentees in setting and achieving meaningful goals related to research, teaching, engagement, leadership, or professional development.
  • Acting as a trusted advisor and role model, helping mentees overcome challenges, build networks, and develop strategies for success.
  • Promoting inclusive mentoring practices that support diversity, equity, and belonging in the workplace.

Nomination guidelines:

  • Nominations should clearly identify which of the above criteria are being addressed and describe the mentor’s performance in relation to those criteria (up to 500 words).
  • Include examples that demonstrate the mentor’s sustained impact on a mentee’s career—locally, nationally, or globally.
  • Nominations must be submitted by a current University staff member who has been mentored by the nominee.
  • Only one mentee reference is required, but nominations supported by multiple mentee testimonials are strongly encouraged.
  • Nominations will be strengthened if the mentor is currently involved in one of the University’s formal mentoring programs, such as Research Advantage, the Academic Mentoring Program, or the Professional Staff Mentoring Program.

Note: Excellence in mentoring and supervising PhD or HDR students is recognised separately under the Research Excellence Award.

Additional eligibility criteria:

The Excellence in Mentoring Award is open to all academic or professional staff members, including full-time or fractional, fixed-term, contract, sessional and casual staff. Contractors are not eligible.

Conjoint and honorary academic staff with an active appointment and demonstrable contribution to the University’s teaching, research, engagement or leadership functions will also be considered.

The award is open to individuals only.   An individual may be nominated by a staff member (nominator) for an Excellence Award. Self-nominations for individual awards will not be accepted.