Winning Australian business awards

With the launch of Boost Awards APAC, we’re bringing the expertise we’ve gained as the world’s first and largest award entry consultancy to companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Having notched up >2,000 wins for our global clients, there’s nothing we don’t know about awards, all the way from strategy and planning to evidence-collecting and award-writing.

In this article, we shine a light on the biggest and most credible business awards that Australia has to offer.

Australian Financial Services Awards

Australia hosts multiple high-profile banking awards, such as the Australian Bank and Finance Awards and the DBM Australian Financial Awards, which pay excellent commercial and reputational rewards to the winners.

Meanwhile, Canstar’s Bank of the Year Awards and Innovation Excellence Awards are hotly-contested awards from Australia’s largest financial comparison site. All categories in both awards utilise a ratings methodology which calculates applicants’ scores, as opposed to requiring a written entry process.

Casting the net wider, many prominent award programmes exist across APAC, with categories for which Australian banks are eligible, such as the ABF Retail Banking Awards and the Euromoney Awards For Excellence.

For example, HSBC Bank Australia has previously walked away with wins at the ABF Retail Banking Awards, including ‘Consumer Finance Product of the Year – Australia’, ‘Credit Card Initiative of the Year – Australia’ and ‘New Consumer Lending Product of the Year – Australia’.

Additional schemes include a series of awards featuring Australian Banking categories run by the influential Global Finance magazine, which attracts readers in 163 countries. These schemes include the Global Finance World’s Best Bank Awards, Global Finance Private Bank Awards, Global Finance Best Investment Bank Awards and Global Finance Best Digital Bank Awards. Each of these awards is entered annually by the largest Australian banks, and all these schemes are considered to be prestigious.

Of similar impact and importance is PWM (Professional Wealth Management) magazine, published by the Financial Times, which celebrates excellence in Australian private banking via the following schemes: The Banker Global Private Banking Awards, Global Private Banking Innovation Awards and Wealth Tech Awards.

Australian Great Employer Awards

Australia has several award schemes that offer employers an opportunity to a) demonstrate how much they value their employees and b) highlight the various actions they have taken to engender a positive and productive working environment. A curated selection of these awards is listed below.

Australia’s Best Workplaces™ for Women

As above, certification is required to be featured on the Best Workplaces™ for Women list. In 2025, winning organisations included EY, Cenetex, Systra ANZ, Experian ANZ, Accenture, and nbn. Winning companies were determined by analysing the survey responses of more than 120,000 women.

Deadline: May

Australian Workplace Equality Index / LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards

Launched in November 2010, the AWEI utilises rigorous and objective annual benchmark data (derived from cross-sector employee surveys) to assess LGBTQ+ inclusion at organisations across Australia.

Hosted by Pride in Diversity, the index is accompanied by the yearly LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards, which celebrates individuals and companies whose support, advocacy and policies have made a noteworthy contribution to greater LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the workplace. Award categories include CEO of the Year, Executive Leader of the Year, LGBTQ+ Role Model Award, Network Leader of the Year, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Innovation Award.

Deadline: January – February each year

Australian Small Business Champion Awards

The 2024 Australian Small Business Champion Awards marked the 25th anniversary of this scheme, which is open to all Australian businesses within the retail, service and manufacturing industries that have:

• 40 or fewer full-time employees (retail or service)
• 100 or fewer full-time employees (manufacturing).

Judges will consider each applicant’s approach, achievements, and attitudes towards dealing with challenges. There are categories for Small Business Champion Entrepreneur (over 30 years) and Young Small Business Champion Entrepreneur (30 years and under); Business Growth Award; Business of the Decade Award; and numerous subdivisions within the Champion Professional Services, Trades & B2B and Champion Consumer & Retail Small Businesses categories.

Deadline: February

Australian Business Excellence Awards

With an evaluation process considered to be the most rigorous in the entire world, let alone Australia, the BEAs have such stringent requirements that there have even been years without any winners.

While this may sound daunting, there is an upside. If you are confident in the quality and impact of your story, then the Australian Business Excellence Awards Mark may well present you with the kind of universally agreed recognition that precious few award schemes can offer.

Of particular importance to the judges are working practices that encourage and engender sustainability, knowledge sharing and long-term success. Past winners include household brands such as Ford, ANZ, Ericsson and Australia Post, along with many governmental bodies and agencies.

Deadline: July

iAwards

Introduced by the AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) 30 years ago, the country’s longest-running innovation recognition programme trains a spotlight on new technological creations or initiatives that could deliver positive change within the workforce, either nationally or globally.

Categories are split between Student & Education (for individual students or groups) and Organisational, with the latter including subcategories for ‘Start-ups’, ‘Government & Public Sector’, and ‘Not-for-Profit & Community’.

Deadline: Multiple dates depending on categories

Winning Australian business awards

With the launch of Boost Awards APAC, we’re bringing the expertise we’ve gained as the world’s first and largest award entry consultancy to companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Having notched up >2,000 wins for our global clients, there’s nothing we don’t know about awards, all the way from strategy and planning to evidence-collecting and award-writing.

In this article, we shine a light on the biggest and most credible business awards that Australia has to offer.

Australian Financial Services Awards

Australia hosts multiple high-profile banking awards, such as the Australian Bank and Finance Awards and the DBM Australian Financial Awards, which pay excellent commercial and reputational rewards to the winners.

Meanwhile, Canstar’s Bank of the Year Awards and Innovation Excellence Awards are hotly-contested awards from Australia’s largest financial comparison site. All categories in both awards utilise a ratings methodology which calculates applicants’ scores, as opposed to requiring a written entry process.

Casting the net wider, many prominent award programmes exist across APAC, with categories for which Australian banks are eligible, such as the ABF Retail Banking Awards and the Euromoney Awards For Excellence.

For example, HSBC Bank Australia has previously walked away with wins at the ABF Retail Banking Awards, including ‘Consumer Finance Product of the Year – Australia’, ‘Credit Card Initiative of the Year – Australia’ and ‘New Consumer Lending Product of the Year – Australia’.

Additional schemes include a series of awards featuring Australian Banking categories run by the influential Global Finance magazine, which attracts readers in 163 countries. These schemes include the Global Finance World’s Best Bank Awards, Global Finance Private Bank Awards, Global Finance Best Investment Bank Awards and Global Finance Best Digital Bank Awards. Each of these awards is entered annually by the largest Australian banks, and all these schemes are considered to be prestigious.

Of similar impact and importance is PWM (Professional Wealth Management) magazine, published by the Financial Times, which celebrates excellence in Australian private banking via the following schemes: The Banker Global Private Banking Awards, Global Private Banking Innovation Awards and Wealth Tech Awards.

Australian Great Employer Awards

Australia has several award schemes that offer employers an opportunity to a) demonstrate how much they value their employees and b) highlight the various actions they have taken to engender a positive and productive working environment. A curated selection of these awards is listed below.

Great Place to Work Australia

Great Place to Work attracts many of the top companies in Australia including Cisco, DHL, Salesforce and Adobe. ‘You can’t be a great workplace unless your people say that you are’, observes Principal Strategic Advisor Matt Bush, and this foundational belief dictates the GPTW recognition survey model, which assesses entrants across the five pillars of credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie. Additional info:

• Eligibility to enter the GPTW awards requires a Great Place to Work certification.
• Organisations seeking certification are expected to take part in the employee Trust Index© survey, which is completed by millions of employees annually.
• Entry fees vary depending on company size – prices start lower for the smallest Australian companies (10+ employees) but can go into the tens of thousands for large companies. (Best to contact the organisers for an exact entry fee).
• Top-performing companies are then recognised in the Best Workplaces™ in Australia list (announced annually).

Deadline: May

Australia’s Best Workplaces™ for Women

As above, certification is required to be featured on the Best Workplaces™ for Women list. In 2025, winning organisations included EY, Cenetex, Systra ANZ, Experian ANZ, Accenture, and nbn. Winning companies were determined by analysing the survey responses of more than 120,000 women.

Deadline: May

ABA Employer of Choice Awards

Another program under the ABA umbrella, the Employer of Choice Awards recognises organisations that develop leading workplaces that maximise the full potential of their workforce through established policies and practices that demonstrate effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention. Past winners include some of the biggest Australian companies such as Bank Australia, DHL Express Australia and ALDI Australia.

Deadline: September

Australian Workplace Equality Index / LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards

Launched in November 2010, the AWEI utilises rigorous and objective annual benchmark data (derived from cross-sector employee surveys) to assess LGBTQ+ inclusion at organisations across Australia.

Hosted by Pride in Diversity, the index is accompanied by the yearly LGBTQ+ Inclusion Awards, which celebrates individuals and companies whose support, advocacy and policies have made a noteworthy contribution to greater LGBTQ+ inclusivity in the workplace. Award categories include CEO of the Year, Executive Leader of the Year, LGBTQ+ Role Model Award, Network Leader of the Year, and LGBTQ+ Inclusive Innovation Award.

Deadline: January – February each year

Australian Business Awards

ABA100 The Australian Business Awards

Saluting organisations that demonstrate a world-class standard of ‘business innovation, product innovation, technological achievement and employee engagement’, this award program is general and open-ended, allowing companies to submit entries relating to an initiative, product or service.

Categories include business awards for Innovation, Excellence, Technology, Transformation and Sustainability, as well as Community Contribution, Brand Management and Process Improvement. Put simply, if you have done valuable work, then there’s almost certainly a category that will recognise it.

Deadline: March

ABA100 Australian CX Awards

This partner programme to the ABA100 Australian Business Awards features categories for CX Management, CX Innovation and Digital CX Management. As with the Business Awards and Employer of Choice Awards, prospective applicants can visit the website and download entry guidelines in addition to receiving program updates.

Deadline: March

Australian Small Business Champion Awards

The 2024 Australian Small Business Champion Awards marked the 25th anniversary of this scheme, which is open to all Australian businesses within the retail, service and manufacturing industries that have:

• 40 or fewer full-time employees (retail or service)
• 100 or fewer full-time employees (manufacturing).

Judges will consider each applicant’s approach, achievements, and attitudes towards dealing with challenges. There are categories for Small Business Champion Entrepreneur (over 30 years) and Young Small Business Champion Entrepreneur (30 years and under); Business Growth Award; Business of the Decade Award; and numerous subdivisions within the Champion Professional Services, Trades & B2B and Champion Consumer & Retail Small Businesses categories.

Deadline: February

Australian Business Excellence Awards

With an evaluation process considered to be the most rigorous in the entire world, let alone Australia, the BEAs have such stringent requirements that there have even been years without any winners.

While this may sound daunting, there is an upside. If you are confident in the quality and impact of your story, then the Australian Business Excellence Awards Mark may well present you with the kind of universally agreed recognition that precious few award schemes can offer.

Of particular importance to the judges are working practices that encourage and engender sustainability, knowledge sharing and long-term success. Past winners include household brands such as Ford, ANZ, Ericsson and Australia Post, along with many governmental bodies and agencies.

Deadline: July

The Australian Small Business Awards

The free-to-enter ASBA programme is open to any wholly Australian-owned-and-managed business with fewer than 20 full-time staff and is not a recipient of government funding. Entrants can nominate as many small businesses as they like, with an ASBA win representing excellent exposure and a ringing endorsement.

Deadline: Open year-round.

iAwards

Introduced by the AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) 30 years ago, the country’s longest-running innovation recognition programme trains a spotlight on new technological creations or initiatives that could deliver positive change within the workforce, either nationally or globally.

Categories are split between Student & Education (for individual students or groups) and Organisational, with the latter including subcategories for ‘Start-ups’, ‘Government & Public Sector’, and ‘Not-for-Profit & Community’.

Deadline: Multiple dates depending on categories

Telstra Best of Business Awards 

Dedicated to celebrating small and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 200 employees, this scheme celebrates business excellence while also rewarding instances of inclusivity, diversity and responsibility. Categories include ‘Outstanding Growth’, ‘Embracing Innovation’, ‘Promoting Sustainability’ and ‘Championing Health’. Furthermore, there are awards for category winners from each Australian state.

Deadline: Register by May

AFR BOSS Most Innovative Companies 

Won in 2025 by SpaceDraft for its universal language system that ‘connects people across space, time and understanding’, this award programme is helmed by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) and offers a unique promotional showcase. Winners can share their messaging and achievements with AFR’s 3.5 million-strong readership and also receive opportunities to network and collaborate with other innovators and business leaders. All entrants receive an individual assessment and innovation benchmarking report, assembled by the consulting firm Inventium.

Industry-based categories include ‘Media & Marketing’, ‘Property’, ‘Construction & Transport’, and ‘Health Industries’.

Deadline: May

Australian of the Year Awards 

It would be remiss not to include the Australian of the Year Awards. Dating back to 1960, these awards celebrate Australians who ‘bring about great change’, ‘give a voice to those who need to be heard’ or ‘humbly serve their local community.’ Along with the title category, there are also award categories for Local Hero, Young Australian of the Year (aged 16-30), and Senior Australian of the Year (aged 65+). If you think you have made an outstanding contribution to Australia, you can nominate yourself or someone you know here.

Deadline: Ongoing entry but in yearly cycles

Next steps?

Why not let us help you plan your Australian and APAC award strategy? Or write up your written submissions? We’ve been helping businesses select and win business awards for over ten years. In fact we are the world’s awards experts and have won over 2,000 credible awards! Details of our award entry writing services can be found here.

We look forward to helping you win awards.

Thomas.

(C) This article was written by Thomas Paton and is the intellectual property of award entry consultants Boost Awards