2019 NCWSBA Broker Award winner Samantha Wan, left, with Elders National Wool Selling Centre manager Simon Hogan.

AUSTRALIA’S prestigious wool broker award has been postponed until next year due to COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions.

Before the recent relaxation of travel restrictions between states, National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia executive director Chris Wilcox said the board decided to postpone the award until 2021.

Mr Wilcox said after the cancellation of the 2020 Wool Week events in August, the NCWSBA board had postponed the 2020 NCWSBA Wool Broker Award until later in 2020 in the hope that a face-to-face event could be held with finalists, the selection panel, NCWSBA board and members.

“However, the continued COVID-19 restrictions, notably the continued travel restrictions between states, have made it impossible to hold such an event this year.”

Mr Wilcox said the NCWSBA board conidered postponing the event further until sometime in the first quarter of the New Year or holding the finalist presentations virtually by Zoom.

“In both cases, we would need to call for nominations again and have the selection panel make the selection of the finalists.

“After weighing up the options and taking into account that the 2019 award winner, Samantha Wan, is slated to attend the 2021 IWTO Congress in Kyoto in May 2021, the board made the difficult decision to suspend the Wool Broker Award for 2020,” he said.

Mr Wilcox said nominations for the 2021 award will be called for around March with a closing date in June 2021. He expected selection of finalists by the independent selection panel to take place in July 2021 and the finalists’ presentations to be part of the 2021 NCWSBA annual general meeting during Wool Week in August 2021. The award winner will be announced at the 2021 Wool Week dinner on the day of the AGM. The prize for the 2021 Award winner will be a trip to attend the 2022 IWTO Congress, which is planned for Tongxiang, China in April/May 2022.