What you need to know: Australian Netball Awards

The last game is about to be played, and the final whistle blown. 

The sport’s elite will trade their runners for heels for this week’s Australian Netball Awards. 

The annual event will take place on Friday 31 October in Melbourne. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the illustrious awards including how to follow the action from home. 

WHAT’S THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARD? 
The Liz Ellis Diamond is Australian netball’s highest individual honour.  

The award recognises an Origin Diamonds’ outstanding performances across both the 2025 SSN and International seasons.    
 
In 2024, it was Sophie Garbin who was named as the Liz Ellis Diamond.
 

WHAT ARE THE OTHER BIG AWARDS? 
The other two awards to keep an eye on are the Australian International Player of the Year and the SSN Player of the Year.  
 
The Australian International Player of the Year is presented to the Origin Diamond who was the most outstanding throughout 2025. 

While the SSN Player of the Year is awarded to the league’s best player throughout the season. 

Last year, it was Georgie Horjus who was named as the league’s best. 

ARE THERE ANY OTHER SSN ATHLETE AWARDS? 
Yes, 10 players will be recognised in the SSN Team of the Year with one player named for each netball position plus three reserves, one from each area of the court. 

Then there’s the Suncorp Super Netball Rookie of the Year presented to the league’s best rookie throughout 2025.  

And last but not least, the Australian Netball Players' Association Heart of the Game Award. 

Introduced in 2024, the award celebrates an SSN player who embodies the spirit of the ANPA Manifesto, demonstrating exceptional commitment to netball, personal growth, community impact, and positive influence. 

The winner last year was Amy Parmenter.
 
WHAT OTHER AWARDS ARE UP FOR GRABS? 
The Super Netball Reserves Player of the Year will be given to the most prolific player throughout the Super Netball Reserves season. 

The Dr Eve Fesl First Nations Black Swan Award will be presented for the second year. It will go to an athlete in the First Nations National Team who has demonstrated high standards of integrity and high-performance behaviours, as well as significant cultural leadership. 

The winner in 2024 was Scarlet Jauncey. 

The Joyce Brown Coach of the Year will be awarded to the most outstanding high-performance coach of the year.   

Umpires will also be recognised with the Lorna McConchie Umpire of the Year award presented to the most outstanding high-performance umpire of the year. The evening will also acknowledge the umpires who have achieved their All-Australian Badge as well as retirees.   

The gold-medal winning Netball World Youth Cup team will be recognised with the Australian World Youth Cup Player of the Tournament to be awarded. 

WHAT ABOUT THE HALL OF FAME? 
The Netball Australia Hall of Fame Inductees have already been announced but they will get their moment in the spotlight during the evening.  
 
Earlier this month Netball Australia announced that Norma Plummer would be elevated to a Legend in the Hall of Fame, Sharon Burton and Nicole Cusack would be inducted as Athlete Members and Noleen Dix as a General Member. 
 
More information can be found here. 

HOW DO I FOLLOW THE ACTION ON AWARDS NIGHT? 
You can follow the evening’s action as it unfolds via Netball Australia’s social media accounts with winners to be posted across Instagram, Facebook and X as they’re presented.   

WHERE IS LAST YEAR'S FULL LIST OF WINNERS?

Last year's full list of winners can be found here.