Throughout 2019-20, the Bureau continued to recognise the excellent work of individual staff, volunteers and teams who are contributing to the trusted, reliable and responsive weather, water, climate and ocean services provided for all Australians.

Australia Day Achievement Medallions

Australia Day Achievement Medallions are awarded under the auspices of the Australia Day Council to promote good citizenship and achievement and acknowledge employees that have made a significant contribution to the nation.

In presenting the 2020 medallions, CEO and Director of Meteorology Dr Andrew Johnson said that all three recipients had made a profound contribution to the Bureau. The medallions were presented to:

• Andrea Peace for her fundamental role in establishing, building and refining the Bureau's video capability as a critical and integral part of the Bureau's engagement with the Australian community;
• Dr Eun-Pa for her dedication to expanding the field of meteorological science which has seen the delivery of key innovations to the Bureau's seasonal forecasting services; and
• Dr Gary Dietachmayer for his contributions to the Bureau and the Australian public, in particular for leading the development of the ACCESS global, regional and high-resolution modelling systems.

Bureau Excellence Awards

In August, the Bureau recognised and celebrated the extraordinary service and performance of recipients of its 2019 Bureau Excellence Awards. CEO and Director of Meteorology, Dr Andrew Johnson announced this year’s award recipients, and congratulated them on all their achievements.

Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society—Christopher Taylor Award

Dr Robert Taggart, a Senior Meteorologist at the New South Wales Forecasting Centre, won the 2019 Christopher Taylor Award, a biennial award for operational forecasting and related investigations. Dr Taggart developed new climatological guidance for forecasting fog frequency, duration, onset and clearance times, including displays that are used by operational meteorologists to make forecast decisions for fog, a major aviation safety hazard.

Inaugural Pacific Meteorological Council Awards

Current and former Bureau staff received five awards at the Pacific Meteorological Council held in Apia, Samoa in August:

• the Bureau received an Award of Recognition for outstanding services to the development of meteorological services in the Pacific region through project support and technical staff development;
• Dr Lynda Chambers received an Innovation and Research Contribution Award for outstanding research in the area of Traditional Knowledge;
• Dr Scott Power received an Innovation and Research Contribution Award in the area of Climate Change and Climate Variability; and
• Mr Ram Krishna and Mr Neil Plummer received Lifetime Awards.

Victorian Water Research Innovation Award

The Victorian Climate Initiative, a partnership between Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the Bureau and CSIRO, won the Australian Water Association’s Research Innovation Award. Research undertaken through the Victorian Climate Initiative has helped Victoria’s water corporations to plan for a changing climate and provided world-class practical advice for incorporating climate change into long-term planning.

Integrated Water Accounts win award

The Bureau has won the Australian Water Association ACT Program Innovation Award, for its work in creating the Integrated Water Accounts for the Canberra Region alongside the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The Bureau and the ABS created a 'one-stop shop' for water accounts information for the Canberra region, by consolidating and integrating various data sources into one complete product.

Each organisation produces annual national water accounts for differing but complementary purposes, the Bureau reporting on the volume of water available in the environment and how it's traded, extracted and managed, while the ABS focuses on the interactions between users within the economy and the environment.

Volunteer Rainfall Observer Excellence Awards

Manual rainfall observations are collected from across Australian and transmitted to the Bureau by around 5000 volunteers who form an integral part of the Bureau's composite observations systems. The Bureau recognises the dedicated and sustained commitment of its long-serving volunteer rainfall observers by presenting them with excellence awards for 50 and 100 years of service.

In 2019–20, thirteen families across Victoria were presented with 100-year Family Rainfall Excellence Awards:

• the Staples family at Oak Lea for providing rainfall observations at Rainbow since 1898;
• the Kane family for providing rainfall observations at Barraport North since 1912;
• the Hughes family for providing rainfall observations at Little River since 1906;
• the Molesworth family for providing rainfall observations at Ballark since 1889;
• the Heir family for providing rainfall observations at Clear Lake since 1903;
• the Nicholson family of Valley View for providing rainfall observations at Morrl Morrl since 1902;
• the Hanns family of Marston Downs for providing rainfall observations at Sea Lake since 1905;
• the Stephenson family of Yendalock for providing rainfall observations at Sea Lake since 1905;
• the Ferrier family for providing rainfall observations at Marlbed since 1908;
• the O'Keefe family for providing rainfall observations at Boorhaman since 1908;
• the Kranz family of Ailsa for providing rainfall observations at Warracknabeal since 1897;
• the Lloyd family for providing rainfall observations at Irymple since 1908;
• the English family for providing rainfall observations at Kerang since 1880.

Five 50-year Individual Rainfall Excellence Awards were also presented in Victoria to:

• Jana Millear for providing rainfall observations at Moyston since 1957;
• Ian Watson for providing rainfall observations at Nyah since 1957;
• Raymond Jennings for providing rainfall observations at Gellibrand River since 1961;
• Hans Abbetmeyer for providing rainfall observations at Walpa since 1962; and
• Sandy Cameron for providing rainfall observations at Dellicknora since 1963.

In South Australia one award was presented to Max Ricks for 65 years of rainfall observations from his Cherry Gardens property presented by the Governor of South Australia and Patron of Volunteers, His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le at Government House.

World Meteorological Day—Long Service Awards

The Bureau recognised 26 staff members for their 30 years of service to the organisation in March, as part of World Meteorological Day celebrations.

Australasian Reporting Awards

The Bureau received a Gold Award for its 2018–19 Annual Report at the 2020 Australasian Reporting Awards in June.