The awards celebrate 22 of Australia’s best teachers and school leaders every year.

Twelve outstanding educators will receive a prestigious teaching fellowship valued at $40,000, including $25,000 for a strategic school project and a unique 12-month professional learning program.

For the second year, the awards will also recognise 10 exceptional early career teachers, who will each receive a scholarship valued at $10,000, including $5000 for professional development and an exclusive learning and mentoring program.

Commonwealth Bank head of community investment Nathan Barker urged teachers to put in an application.

“I think it's really about ... teachers that are really leading in their craft, they're looking to excel and connect with other teachers for both the benefit of their school and for the benefit of the education system,” Barker said.

With many teachers feeling undervalued professionally, Barker said the awards are a great opportunity for teachers to get some recognition for their work.

“Even though it's 12 teachers out of many thousands across the country that we recognise, I think [it’s important that there is a] program that's standing up for teachers to support them, that's kind of targeted at them.

“There's obviously lots of recognition programs for different professions, but this one is entirely designed around recognising teachers and supporting their development.

“I think it can be really hard in any profession to find the right level of development, ... you're so busy doing your job sometimes that you don't look after learning the next thing… When you are educating others, how do you educate the person doing the educating? I think that's a really tricky thing for us as a society to work through.”

The opportunity to network with other outstanding teachers is a great aspect of the program, Barker said.

“We've been doing it for seven years and it's getting some really good results, and one of the things that we find with it is that the teachers like connecting with other teachers,” he said.

“It’s an opportunity to connect beyond your own school group, to see teachers in other jurisdictions in very different contexts and who are often facing similar challenges.

“I think that's reassuring for some teachers, that actually, some of the challenges they face are shared, and then also learning, ‘How did you address that in your school?’

“We often see that whilst the prize money is terrific, some of the feedback from our past recipients has been that it's the opportunity to connect with other high performing teachers that is the really valued part of the program.”

Nominations are open until May 7.

“During the nomination period individuals can nominate a teacher who can then be invited to apply, or teachers can apply themselves,” Barker explained.

“We do require the teacher to put the application in, because there's a big professional development component to the program.

"We want to make sure that teachers [know] what they're looking to get out of the program, what sort of project they're looking for funding for, so that requires the teacher to be fully engaged in the process.

“It's not like winning an awards program where you're being recognised, like the Order of Australia or something similar, it's very much about the teacher being part of the application process.

“It then goes through an application process managed through Schools Plus, so the bank doesn't get involved in that part of the process, we let the experts decide which teachers should be recognised based on the awards criteria.

"Schools Plus convene a number of selection panels, bringing in retired teachers, academics, experts, to help go through what will probably be hundreds of applications to try and find the 12 that will be awarded this year in September.”

One of last year's recipients, Marble Bar principal Shane Wilson, said the award was integral in taking his school’s unique Virtual Worlds program to the global stage.

“I never could have imagined what the Commonwealth Teaching Awards have done for Marble Bar’s students and community,” Wilson said.

“I am currently in Finland to present our Virtual Worlds work at the Future of Education conference, thanks to my Schools Plus Fellowship.

“It’s great to see another group of educators get this life-changing opportunity.

"Please, if you know a teacher doing amazing things, send them a nomination. It could transform futures for them and their students!”