Hazel de Berg Award nominations

Nominations for the 2026 Hazel de Berg Award for Excellence in Oral History opened on 1 June 2026 and close on 31 July 2026.

The next award will be presented in conjunction with the 2026 OHA Biennial Conference in Adelaide, South Australia, 3-6 December 2026.

Making a nomination

The Hazel de Berg Award for Excellence in Oral History recognises a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of oral history over a considerable period of time.

Please note that self-nominations are not permitted.

A nomination:

• must be completed by the nominator
• must be submitted using the online nomination form (on this page)
• should be succinct and persuasive, providing evidence to support claims about the achievements of the nominee
• must be submitted online using the form on this page
• can be made by any member of a State oral history association or resident of Australia
• may be an updated resubmission of a nomination from a previous year
• will be treated as confidential by the judges and OHA officers.

Nominees

Nominees should either:

• satisfactorily meet all of the following criteria or
• be outstanding in one or more of these.

Criteria

Relevant activities are many and varied and include:

• Promotion and raising awareness of oral history, within the oral history profession, with historians, with organisations and within the general community.
• Volunteer oral history work with communities, not-for-profit groups and with oral history associations.
• Initiation and implementation of a range of oral history projects over time.
• Significant contributions to the technical creation, management or oversight of oral history projects documenting Australia’s history.
• Preservation and archiving of oral history collections.
• Contribution to the literature on oral history through publication of papers, journal articles and books.
• The use of oral history in new media, multi-media, performance, film, radio, podcasts and other creative outputs.
• Education and / or teaching of oral history including the conducting of seminars and workshops.
• Mentoring and other contributions to oral history.