The Victorian Mother of the Year Award celebrates extraordinary mother figures and community caregivers who help create a just world – where everyone belongs!
The award highlights the importance of role-models who inspire and empower those around them. Mums and mother figures are all around us, not only in our families but in our local community groups, schools and workplaces.
The winner will be honoured by the Lord Mayor of Melbourne at a special ceremony and receive $10,000 in funding from the Y's charitable fund to support initiatives that uplift young people and families in need.
Nominations for Victorian Mother of the Year 2026 are now closed. The winner of this year's award will be announced on Friday 8 May 2026, just in time for Mother’s Day!
For media enquiries, please contact media@ymca.org.au.
What it means to be Victorian Mother of the Year
Victorian Mother of the Year winners, Michelle Galea (2024 winner) and Carla Raynes (2025 winner) discuss what it means to impact the community while having the responsibilities of being a mother.
Georgia Hocking
Winner of the Y Victorian Mother of the Year Award 2026
Georgia has built a lasting difference in the lives of children, families and communities all through grief, professional training, lived experience and a belief that people need tools, not judgement, when life becomes hard.
Georgia is 35, a qualified social worker, and the co-founder of It's Okay Not to Be Okay, a charity that has built a community of more than 700,000 people around the belief that honest conversations about mental health can save lives.
She is also the mother of two young girls, and she talks about her own life with open honesty, that makes it easy to forget you only just met.
