After a record-breaking 10th anniversary in Melbourne in 2025, Australia’s leading inclusive leadership platform heads to the nation’s largest tech hub, Sydney.
SYDNEY, January 2026 — TechDiversity Foundation has announced the TechDiversity Awards will move to Sydney for 2026, marking a significant expansion for Australia’s most influential platform celebrating inclusive leadership in the tech workforce.
The move comes as Australia faces an unprecedented tech workforce challenge. According to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Australia has seen a 3.7 per cent decline in tech jobs while the broader labour market grew by 2 per cent.
With the nation’s tech workforce hovering below one million and projections requiring 1.2 million workers by 2030 to remain competitive, the need to build new pathways into tech careers has never been more urgent.
“Sydney isn’t just a change of city, it’s a statement,” said Luli Adeyemo, Executive Director of TechDiversity Foundation. “Australia’s tech workforce is shrinking at the exact moment we need it to grow. Sydney is home to the headquarters, the government agencies, the startups, and the decision-makers who can shift this. If we’re going to change the conversation about who gets to lead, innovate, and shape Australia’s workforce, this is where we need to be.”
The 2026 Awards will carry the theme ‘Influence Redefined, Power in Every Voice’, recognising that leadership isn’t about who has the loudest voice, but who creates space for every voice to be heard, valued, and acted upon.
TechDiversity Awards 2025 marked the platform’s 10th anniversary with record-breaking engagement over 500 senior leaders in attendance, a community representing 43 countries of birth, 57 cultural groups, and 96 languages, and organic social reach that delivered 5,000+ impressions in a single day during the anniversary campaign.
The TechDiversity Awards recognise and celebrate strategic investments in workforce capability, innovation, and competitive advantage across five categories: Government, Business, Education, Campaign of the Year, and Tech for Good.
Past nominees and winners include global organisations such as AWS, Westpac, Microsoft, alongside government innovators like Services Australia and the Australian Human Rights Commission, education pioneers including Deadly Coders and FutureTech Australia, and tech for good advocates such as Make it Easy App and Getmee AI.
TechDiversity Foundation’s ecosystem extends beyond the Awards to include TechDiversity Academy, which builds inclusive leadership capability; the Tech Reflects Study, Australia’s most comprehensive research on diversity in tech workforces; and the Student Ambassador Programme, connecting emerging talent with industry.
Nominations for the TechDiversity Awards 2026 open on February 5, 2026. Sponsorship opportunities are now available.
About TechDiversity Foundation
TechDiversity Foundation is a social enterprise committed to strengthening Australia’s tech workforce through inclusive leadership. Through its Awards, Academy, Research, and Student programmes, TechDiversity celebrates what works, builds leadership capability, and provides the evidence driving workforce transformation. The TechDiversity community includes 1,800+ members, with 72 per cent in decision-making roles, 32.9 per cent senior executives, and 6.1 per cent C-suite leaders.
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