More than 6,000 people were nominated across 16 categories, including Celebrity of the Year, Sports Personality of the Year, Ally, Brand and Marketing Campaign, Community Initiative/Charity and Inspirational Role Model.

She joins the ranks of Courtney Act, Kyle Sandilands, Conchita Wurst and The Veronicas as some of the other finalists.

The winners will be announced at a special red carpet gala dinner on Friday March, 2 at The Star, Sydney.

“2017 has been a rough year for the LGBTI community, we’ve had the legitimacy of our relationships debated in the public domain for months, advertisements and posters spreading hate and lies and the entire nation voting on our rights to marry, so the Australian LGBTI Awards are an opportunity for us to celebrate one another, our achievements and supporters” Australian LGBTI Awards Director, Silke Bader said.

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There are two main groups to the awards, the Public Award Category and the Corporate Award Category.

Alderman Hickey has been nominated as an Ally in one of the Public Award categories, which are entirely decided by public vote.

She led the push for the Hobart City Council to fly a rainbow flag to support LGBTI rights and the same-sex marriage vote.

A number of Northern councils considered the move, but none have raised a flag.

Voting for the below shortlisted nominees is now open at www.australianlgbtiawards.com.au