The Award is an internationally recognised programme giving rangatahi the chance to develop skills, get physically active, give back and experience adventure.

Already have an Award Unit? Register

What is an Award Unit?
Many schools, organisations (Girl Guides, Scouts etc) and several of our Accredited Award Providers, are Award Units.  All Schools and most Organisations will require you to be enrolled in order to register with them. Please check if you are unsure.

Can’t find an Award Unit? Participants who are unable find a local Award Unit can do their Award through an Open Award Centre. A list of Open Award Centres can be found on our website.

Your Award Unit will provide you with an Award Leader, who will be your key point of contact for the Award and will assist you to complete the Award.

Please note, the cost of Award sections will differ depending on the activities you select. If cost is a barrier to you, speak to your Award Leader about our participant assistance fund.

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You can choose to start your Award at any of the three levels, as long as you meet the minimum age requirement.

Guidelines of minimum age, see below for more detailed information.

Bronze:  14 years
Silver:  15 years
Gold:  16 years

Please note: If you have not completed the previous level (for example, you chose to start your Award at Silver Level) you will need to complete a further 6 months of either Skills, Physical Recreation or Voluntary Service.

For your information

• At Bronze level discretion is allowed for you to start in the year you turn 14, so you can start your Bronze with your peers.
• If you have completed a previous level you can start on the next level without delay or waiting until you reach the required age. Eg You have completed your Bronze level and are 14 years old, you may start your Silver level without a delay being imposed
• You can work on two levels at the same time IF you have met the minimum age for the next level and have completed one section in the current level. For example, if you finish your Bronze Voluntary Service Section, the assessor and award leader have signed the section off and you are 15, you can register for the Silver level and start working on the Voluntary Service Section only.
• You can start your Silver or Gold Award without completing any previous levels (this is known as 'direct entry') - provided that you meet the age requirements (i.e., 15 for Silver, and 16 for Gold). Please note, you are also required to complete and extra six months in one section.

Plan what you will do for each section

Choose what you are going to do for each of the three activity sections of the Award – Physical Recreation, Skills, Voluntary Service. Choose activities that suit your passions and ambitions. Check what you have chosen meets Award Criteria, your Award Leader can help you with this.

Adventurous Journey Section – does your Award Unit provide AJ opportunities or will you need to use a Recognised Activity Provider? Please make sure your Adventurous Journey meets Award criteria. Activities should take place in the following order:

Preparation and Training –> Practice Journey –> Qualifying Journey

Choose Assessors for each activity. An Assessor is a suitably skilled, experienced, and/or qualified Adult who is not a family member and ideally not your Award Leader. Your Assessor should help you set your goal and they personally need to oversee what you are doing at least once every 28 days, mentor you and monitor improvement.

Having trouble deciding what to do?

We have a wide range of Recognised Activity Providers with incredible activity options for you to choose from. Check out our Activity Directory for more info.

Once an activity has been approved by your Award Leader you can start logging each time you do your activity.

Participants are required to complete 13, 26, or 52 hours (depending on Award level and section requirements) over the minimum timeframe for their Award, with progress recorded in the Online Record Book (ORB). The ORB counts up to one hour per section per week towards Award hours, so it is important to record the actual date and time spent on each activity. If you do more hours than required, you do not need to log every activity. For activities that take place fortnightly or monthly, simply record the date and time completed. The ORB can count up to four hours across a 28-day period towards your Award hours.

Your logs should reflect your goal/aim and activity. You can add a second (or third) activity, but you will need to set this up as a new activity, instructions can be found here.

As you finish each activity, ask your Award Leader to send it to your assessor. Once signed off, your Award Leader will confirm completion of each section.

Once you have completed all your Award requirements, submit your Award through ORB for approval by your Award Leader. They will then submit your Award to the National Award Office for final verification. Once verified you will be emailed a digital copy of your certificate and badge. A physical certificate and badge will be sent to your Award Leader in the following weeks.

If you complete your Gold Award, you’ll be invited to attend a Gold Award Ceremony to celebrate your achievement. Wherever possible, ceremonies will include the attendance of the Governor General. From time to time Her Excellency may be called upon at short notice to be elsewhere and will not be able to attend a ceremony.

These ceremonies are a special opportunity to celebrate the resilience and growth you've developed on your Award journey.