Businesses who enter the awards are provided with the opportunity to:
The Outstanding Employee Award recognises an inspirational employee who has demonstrated a passion for their role and a commitment to their workplace and the community.
Entrants are required to demonstrate their commitment over the past 12 months to their workplace, the community and to be an outstanding employee. To be eligible to enter this category, the individual must have been employed by their current employer for a minimum of 18 months.
In addition to the general terms and conditions, the following apply to this category:
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This award recognises an inspirational young person aged 35 years or under who has demonstrated a commitment to their workplace, industry and the community through leadership.
Entrants are required to demonstrate their commitment over the past 12 months to creating a smarter and more inclusive future and to being an outstanding business leader. To be eligible to enter this category, the individual must have held a management position within their organisation for a minimum of 18 months at the time of entry.
This award recognises an inspirational business leader aged 36 years or over who has demonstrated a commitment to their workplace, industry and the community through leadership, whilst providing mentorship to others.
Entrants are required to demonstrate their commitment over the past 12 months to creating a smarter and more inclusive future and to being an outstanding mentor and business leader. To be eligible to enter this category, the individual must have held senior management or executive level position within their organisation for a minimum of 18 months at the time of entry.
This award recognises a business that has achieved significant growth (market share, sales volume, turnover, profitability) and is able to demonstrate the specific strategies and plans implemented to achieve sustainable growth in the previous financial year.
*this category is unique to Lake Macquarie City and does not feed into the regional or state awards
This award recognises a business that has implemented strategies and initiatives to create stimulating and supportive workplace environments for its employees.
Entrants are required to demonstrate their achievements over the past 12 months across the key areas of employee recruitment, engagement and retention. Category criteria are based on initiatives that have had a positive impact on both employees and the business.
This Award recognises a business that has implemented innovative solutions for new and existing business needs through the introduction or improvement of an idea, product, method, technology, process or application.
This award recognises a business that has demonstrated its commitment to sustainable business practices and is working to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment.
This award recognises an organisation that works to improve the social, cultural or environmental wellbeing of the community.
This category recognises a start-up business that has effectively driven growth and is able to demonstrate the potential to achieve future success.
Entrants are required to demonstrate their commitment over the past 12 months to being an outstanding start-up. This category is open to new businesses trading for a period of less than 24 months.
This business has been trading for a period less than two years and is not bankrupt or trading insolvent at the time of entry.
This award recognises businesses that address the needs of a diverse community, including seniors, people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds, and people with disability. An inclusive business facilitates the needs of all its employees and customers.
This category recognises a business that has effectively driven growth and is able to demonstrate the specific strategies implemented to achieve business success and/or resilience.
Entrants are required to demonstrate their achievements over the past 12 months across the key area of business excellence. This category is open to businesses with less than 5 employees at the time of entry, who have been trading for a period of over 24 months.
This award is chosen by the judging panel and will be selected from all winners of the business categories. It recognises an organisation that demonstrates overall excellence in their field and across all categories.
The judging panel will assess the organisation’s achievements over the past 12 months across all areas of business excellence and will take into consideration areas such as: community support; staff retention and training; sustainability; contribution to the city; community engagement; innovation; etc.
^ This category cannot be applied for
Full eligibility criteria are outlined in the terms and condition(PDF, 140KB)s.