Hosted by the Community Industry Group, the awards recognise individuals, teams and organisations across five categories.

The first ever Community Sector Awards recognised the magic performed by not-for-profit community service providers in the Illawarra and southern NSW who continued to offer critical supports to vulnerable people in the face of drought, fire, flood and a pandemic." said Community Industry Group CEO Nicky Sloan.

"But the reality is, things really haven't eased for our sector. The cost-of-living crisis, critical housing scarcity, and desperate workforce shortage has again seen our not-for-profit heroes roll up their sleeves and go above and beyond."

Nominees can put themselves forward across five categories, including:

The for-profit sector can also be part of the awards program, with the call-out for sponsors for the event.

"One of the highlights of the previous awards was having the business community there to support the not-for-profit sector, and see the outstanding work being done in community," Ms Sloan said.

Coordinare and Southern Youth and Family Services have signed up as Gold sponsors.

The second iteration of the awards night aligns with the 30^th anniversary of Community Industry Group, the peak body for community organisations across southern NSW.

To celebrate this, the theme for the night is pearls.

"One of the highlights of the previous awards was having the business community there to support the not-for-profit sector, and see the outstanding work being done in community," Ms Sloan said.

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