Awards/Achievements

2017/18

• RH Dougherty Award Innovation in Special Events
  Council's inaugural Food for Thought Forum won Category C (for councils with populations over 70,000)

2016/17

• NSW Local Government Professionals Awards
  Community Engagement Network - Excellence in Innovative Leadership and Management
• Planning Institute of Australia’s (PIA) NSW Awards for Planning Excellence
  Council’s Rural Villages Strategy won the ‘Best Planning Ideas – Small Project’ category
• Trip Advisor Travelers’ Choice Award
  Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre ranked fourth best museum in ‘Top Museums – Australia’. It was ranked ninth in the ‘Top 25 Museum – South Pacific’ list.
• RH Dougherty Award Excellence in Communication
  Council’s Community Engagement Network was awarded Highly Commended (Division B, for councils with populations between 30,000 to 100,000).

2015/16

• Parks & Leisure Awards for Excellence
  The Knox Park playground in Murwillumbah took out a Regional Award for Excellence in the ‘Playspace: Minor (less than $500,000)’ category at the Parks & Leisure Australia Awards for Excellence, competing against other projects from across NSW and the ACT.
• 2016 Australian Coastal Awards
  The Kingscliff Matters Shopfront took out the Australian Coastal Award for Community Engagement for engagement on the Kingscliff Foreshore Revitalisation, the draft Kingscliff Locality Plan and the Kingscliff-Dreamtine Beach Coastal Zone Management Plan.
• 2016 Gold Coast/Northern Rivers Regional Architecture Awards
  Bud Brannigan Architects received a regional commendation for the Margaret Olley Art Centre at the Tweed Regional Gallery in Murwillumbah.
• NSW Local Government Excellence Awards
  The Murwillumbah CBD Drainage Project was Highly Commended in the Special Projects category to recognise contributions, achievements and implementations being carried out to improve NSW local government.
• Northern Rivers 2015 Regional Business Awards
  Tweed Shire Council won the Excellence in Sustainability Award in September 2015 for its successful efforts to make business operations more sustainable.
• Local Government NSW Excellence in the Environment Awards
  Council was announced the 2014/2015 divisional and overall winner of the Natural Environment Policies, Planning and Decision Making Award at the Local Government NSW (LGNSW) Excellence in the Environment Awards.
• NSW Business Chamber Awards 2015
  Council won the NSW Business Chamber’s 2015 Excellence in Sustainability Award in November 2015 for its successful efforts in saving energy.
• 2015 Banksia Sustainability Awards
  Tweed Shire Council was named a finalist for its Tweed Byron Koala Connections project, recognised for leadership, innovation and environmental outcomes in the awards’ ‘Natural Capital’ category.
• Murwillumbah and District Garden Club 38^th Annual Garden Competition
  Tweed Valley Cemetery came first in and Murwillumbah Lawn Cemetery won second prize, both in the Large Commercial category.

2014/15

• Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards
  A High Commendation was awarded by Local Government NSW in December 2014 for Council's efforts in sustainable procurement.
• Green Globe Awards - Natural Environment Sustainability
  Presented jointly to Tweed Shire Council and Byron Shire Council for Koala Connections program in November 2014.
• RH Dougherty Awards for Communication - Reporting to Your Community
  Presented by Local Government NSW in August 2014 for online communications, community engagement tools and development of an innovative internal Corporate Knowledge Base.
• IMAGinE Award for excellence and innovation
  Presented by Museums & Galleries of NSW in November 2014 for Margaret Olley Art Centre.
• Young Achiever of the Year - Local Government Aboriginal Network Conference
  Presented to Tweed Shire Council Trainee Case Manager Paris Robinson in September 2014.
• Murwillumbah and District Garden Competition
  Large commercial gardens category' - First prize presented to Murwillumbah Lawn Cemetery and second prize presented to Tweed Heads Lawn Cemetery in October 2014.
• Museum & Galleries National Award (MAGNA)
  In May 2015 Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre was presented with an award in the Permanent Exhibition or Gallery Fitout category for the development of the Margaret Olley Art Centre (MOAC).
• NSW Local Government Excellence Awards
  In April 2015 Council received a ‘Highly Commended’ in the category of Excellence in Environmental Leadership and Sustainability for delivering the River Health Grant, Biodiversity Grant and Land for Wildlife Programs.
• United Nations Association of Australia 2015 World Environment Day Awards
  Council was announced a finalist in the ‘Best Specific Environmental Initiative’ category for Tweed Byron Koala Connections.

2013/14

• Local Government Arts and Culture Awards - Places for Arts and Culture: Improved cultural facilities
  Presented by Local Government NSW in May 2014 for Tweed Regional Museum's success in bringing together three historical societies to form Tweed Regional Museum, the creation and upgrading of facilities to house the collection and new processes to improve the care and display of collection items.
• IMAGinE Award - Collection Management Award
  Presented by Museums & Galleries of NSW in November 2013 for a Tweed Regional Museum - Murwillumbah project to catalogue its entire collection, before putting the items in storage in preparation for an extension to the historic Murwillumbah museum.
• Public Domain Awards - Precincts Award and Best Overall Project
  Presented jointly to Tweed Shire Council and ASPECT Studios for Jack Evans Boat Harbour at Tweed Heads by Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia in September 2013.
• NSW Business Chamber Awards - Excellence in Workplace Health & Safety regional award
  Presented by NSW Business Chamber in June 2014 for a restructure of Council's workplace safety strategy and procedures which has achieved a 40 per cent reduction in compensable injuries since 2009, and a 45 per cent reduction in the amount of worker time lost to injuries.
• NSW Local Government Arts and Culture Awards - Leading Arts and Culture: Enduring Staff Contribution to Arts and Culture
  Presented to Tweed Regional Gallery Director Susi Muddiman in May for establishing the Gallery as a regional destination.

2012/13

• Local Government Excellence in the Environment Award - Sustainable Procurement in Practice - Best Project 2012
  Presented by the Local Government and Shires Association in December 2012.
• Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) National Landscape Architecture Award for Design
  Presented to Jack Evans Boat Harbour at Tweed Heads in September 2012. AILA is the peak national organisation for Australia's landscape architects.
• Local Government Landcare Partnership Award
  presented by Landcare in September 2012. The Tweed Byron Bush Futures Project undertook bushland restoration works on more than 225 hectares of urban bushland at more than 50 sites, to address threats to bushland integrity in the Tweed and Byron shires.

2011/12

• A.R. Bluett Award (Shires Association)
  Presented to Tweed Shire Council in October 2011 by the Trustees of the A.R. Bluett Memorial Trust, through the Local Government and Shires Association. This is the most prestigious local government award in NSW. Tweed Shire Council also received this award in 1975 and 1971.
• Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) NSW Medal for Landscape Architecture
  Presented for Jack Evans Boat Harbour at Tweed Heads in December 2011.
• Ruth Readford Award for Lifetime Achievement
  Presented to Council's long-serving Entomologist, Clive Easton, at the NSW Coastal Management Awards in November 2011.
• Local Government Community Partnership Award
  This NSW award was presented by Landcare in September 2011 for the Tweed-Byron Bush Futures project.
• R.H. Dougherty Award for Excellence in Communication
  This award was received for the community engagement campaign for the Tweed Community Strategic Plan 2011/2016 from the Local Government and Shires Association NSW in August 2011.
• R.H. Dougherty Award - Outstanding Individual Contribution
  Awarded to Council's Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Tiffany Stodart by the Local Government and Shires Association NSW in August 2011.

2010/11

• Good Communicators Awards - Best Publication
  Council's weekly newspaper, the Tweed Link, received this national award from Government Communications Australia in April 2011.
• Northern Rivers Landcare Award - Local Government Landcare Partnership
  This regional award was presented for the Tweed-Byron Bush Futures project by Northern Rivers Landcare and the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority in April 2011.
• Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards (Highly Commended)
  Division C Natural Environment Protection and Enhancement: On-Ground Works for O'Brien's Bridge Replacement - Threatened Species Habitat Restoration. This was awarded by the Local Government and Shires Association NSW in December 2010.
• Food Surveillance Champion Award
  Presented to Environmental Health Officer, Mark Longbottom, by the NSW Food Authority in December 2010.
• Urban Planning Achievement Commendation
  Presented for the Pottsville Locality Based Development Control Plan by the Planning Institute of Australia in November 2011.
• Engineering Excellence Awards
  The Bray Park Water Treatment Plant won an Excellence Award and the GHD Award for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering Excellence in September 2010, presented by the Newcastle Division of Engineers Australia.
• R.H. Dougherty Award - Reporting to the Community
  Council's weekly newspaper, the Tweed Link, was presented this award by the Local Government and Shires Association NSW in August 2010.

2009/10

• National Trust Heritage Award - Cultural Heritage Corporate/Government (Highly Commended)
  Presented in April 2010 for the project Families of Fortune: Chinese People in the Tweed.
• Master Builders Gold Coast Region Housing and Construction Awards - Sporting and Community Service Facilities
  Awarded for the Tweed Regional Aquatic Centre (TRAC) in Murwillumbah in August 2009.

2008/09

• Museums and Galleries NSW Imagine Award
  Presented in November 2008 for the project The Other Side of the World: Migration to the Tweed.
• Engineering Excellence Awards
  The Kingscliff Wastewater Treatment Plant was honoured with an Engineering Excellence Award and the RTA Award - Infrastructure Excellence in Regional Communities award by the Engineers Australia Newcastle Division in May 2009 .
• Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Award
  Presented for the project The Other Side of the world - Migration to the Tweed 1940s to 1960s by the National Trust in April 2009.

2007/08

• 2007 Siemens Corporate Responsibility Award
  The Tweed Kenya Mentoring Program was part of a team which won an international award for a project which delivered clean, safe drinking water to a remote Kenyan community. The award was announced in December 2007.