The award was presented by the Katherine Town Council at the Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre and honoured Mr Reed's contribution to the community.

Mr Reed won the award due to his contributions to a range of groups and clubs in Katherine, including the Motor Vehicle Enthusiast Club, the Variety Club, the Cancer Council and the Katherine Museum.

When presenting the award, Katherine Mayor Lis Clark paid tribute to Mr Reed's volunteering efforts.

"Nothing is too much trouble for David," she said.

In his acceptance speech he congratulated the other nominees and thanked the anonymous resident who nominated him.

"I'd like to see the nomination, I couldn't make up that many lies about myself," Mr Reed said.

Valerie Smith won the Senior Citizen of the Year category for decades of leadership in the community and raising tens of thousands of dollars for charity.

Ms Smith has given more than 15 years volunteering at the Katherine Museum and Cancer Council and has raised more than $40,000 in fundraisers for cancer charities via programs like Daffodil and Relay for Life.

Ms Smith didn't give an acceptance speech but shared an emotional hug with Mayor Clark as she received the award.

Nathaniel MacKinnon was announced as the Young Citizen of the Year for his commitment to junior sport during a difficult 2020.

Mr MacKinnon coordinated multiple programs and competitions in a range of sports including Australian Rules football, Rugby and Muay Thai.

The task was made even harder last year by social distancing rules brought in for parts of the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community Event of the Year was won by Katherine Regional Arts for their Junk Arts Festival however they were not in attendance.

KRA executive officer Jacinta Mooney told the Katherine Times KRA never planned on attending the awards ceremony on January 26 to reflect the centre's stance on celebrating Australia Day.

"KRA thinks it's very important that community events are being recognised... however we will not be attending, we do not really approve of having Australia Day on the 26th of January," she said.

"A lot of our clients and the KRA community is made up of Indigenous people... it's not really a day to be celebrated and we support an alternative date."

In her opening speech Mayor Clark paid tribute to Katherine's community volunteers and leaders and noted how lucky the NT was to avoid the worst of the pandemic in 2020 so volunteers could do their work.

"Each and every volunteer deserves our thanks for their hard work," she said.

The ceremony was also an official welcome for Australia's latest group of citizens.

Ten people took a pledge to confirm their citizenship, before they were presented with certificates and commemorative gifts.

The new citizens are from a diverse range of countries including New Zealand, Philippines, Estonia, Germany, Mauritius, India and South Sudan.

The crowd in attendance also heard from two Australia Day ambassadors, Bob Shewring and Kintore Street School principal Marg Chamberlain.

Mr Shewring spoke to the importance of volunteers in a strong community and said the NT relies on people giving up their time.

He urged people to volunteer for groups near them and improve their local community.

"There's opportunity all the way through, from little things big things grow," he said.

"See who might be able to help, how you can help out, what organisation can you join and assist, and if you don't know, ask."

Marg Chamberlain is a longstanding Katherine resident who has spent more than 40 years working in disability support services.

She also spoke of the importance of volunteering to a community, and took the opportunity to stress the importance of equity and the pursuit of fairness on Australia Day.

"Inclusion will not be achieved while we still have to talk about it," she said.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.