The Rural Ambassador Awards (RAA) and the State Final is a partnership between The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria Limited (RASV), Victorian Agricultural Shows Limited (VAS) and the Victorian Rotary (Rotary) Districts (9780, 9790, 9800, 9810, and 9820).
There are 126 country shows and field days that make up the Victorian Agricultural Shows community. It is at these shows that the Rural Ambassador Awards originates. An entrant from each participating show moves through to a regional final. After judging at the regional level up to 12 candidates are nominated to participate in the State Final, held each year at the Royal Melbourne Show. The State winner is then invited to participate at the National Final, staged by the Federal Council of Agricultural Societies, in the following year.
During the judging process at State level the entrants participate in public relations and leadership seminars to enable them to polish their communication and delivery skills so they can put their best foot forward for the final judging. The judging criteria is a points based system, and includes sections on community and local show involvement, general rural knowledge, communication skills and the entrants goals and ambitions.
The judging criteria includes sections on community and local show involvement, general rural knowledge, communication skills and the entrant’s goals and ambitions. The criteria are based on Federal Council of Agricultural Societies rules for the National Final to ensure that the Victoria finalist is well prepared for Nationals the following year.