These awards honour members of the community who have made positive contributions to our city.
Established in 1986, the Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian (APW) Awards were originally known as the Civic Awards, recognising Wellingtonians who had given significant voluntary service in the areas of community service or welfare, sport, culture, the arts, recreation, and education. In 1999, the Civic Awards became the Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian Awards and in 2017, the awards became an annual event with a formal ceremony to honour the recipients.
In 2025 the APW Awards will combine with Wellington Airport Community Awards held in July each year. The APW’s will become the Pōneke Civic Awards.
The Wellington Airport Community Awards have been around for over 20 years and Wellington City Council hosts the awards for those nominated in our city. The awards align with Wellington City Council values, and we believe combining with these awards recognises the types of Wellingtonians we want to promote.
This year we will add a small number of Pōneke Civic Awards to this event. These will ultimately be decided by the mayor; however, councillors and members of the community can put forward nominations to the mayor to be included in the final decision.
If you would like to nominate someone you can either suggest them to one of your local ward councillors or email Mayoral.Events@wcc.govt.nz.