TechDiversity Awards 2027
Planning Underway
Be Part of It Now
View 2026 Winners & Nominees
Thanks for all the incredible submissions!
2027 When and where?
Sydney
Date TBC
2027 Volunteer Or Become a Partner
SPONSOR 2027 – REGISTER INTEREST
The TechDiversity Awards return in 2027.
For over a decade, we’ve celebrated the organisations and people redefining who gets to build technology in this country, and who it is built for. In 2026 we brought more than 400 guests to Sydney to honour that work across five categories. In 2027, we’re doing it again, and we want you in the room.
Whether you’re here to nominate, attend, or partner with us, register your interest now to be first to hear when tickets, nominations and sponsorship open.
Over a decade later, our community has celebrated hundreds of initiatives:
- from neurodiversity programs to First Nations coding academies,
- from women’s pre-accelerators to AI accessibility tools.
In 2027, we go again. If your organisation is doing the work, this is your stage. If you want to witness it, this is your night. And if you want to help make it happen, there’s a place for you as a partner.
2027 Plans Underway | Be Part of Them Now
We’re shaping the theme for the 2027 TechDiversity Awards right now, and this is the moment to get involved early. Being part of the conversation from the start means helping define what we celebrate, and how, before plans are set. Register your interest today and make the 2027 Awards part of your year ahead.
Sponsor and Attend
See Yourself in This Company
2026 winners proved that inclusive, diverse and equitable leadership isn’t a slogan it’s a strategy delivering measurable results.
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Business and Champion: Fire and Wattle. An Indigenous-owned social enterprise building culturally safe workplaces and reinvesting profits into digital skills for young Indigenous Australians, named our overall 2026 Champion.
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Education: Vantari VR. The clinician-founded flight simulator for healthcare, letting doctors and nurses rehearse life-saving procedures in virtual reality before treating real patients.
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Government: My QuitBuddy. A free government app rebuilt around behavioural science that has helped more than a million Australians quit smoking and vaping.
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Campaign of the Year: Buddy by Uniting NSW.ACT. An AI assistant that turns admin into voice-to-text notes, giving carers back time with the people they support.
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Tech for Good: Deadly Coders Online. An Indigenous-led platform reaching more than 6,500 learners with coding, AI and financial literacy, fully subsidised for partner schools.
Award Presented by Forbes
Make It Easy – TechDiversity Awards Champion & Tech For Good Winner 2025
Explore Our Previous Sponsors
Our sponsors don’t just put their logo on an event, they invest in the platform building Australia’s workforce. Organisations like Westpac, Accenture, Datacom and the Australian Computer Society have partnered with us because they understand that TechDiversity is more than a gala dinner. It’s an ecosystem.
Their sponsorship supports the Awards that celebrate what works, the Academy that builds leadership capability, the Tech Reflects research that tracks real progress, and the Student Ambassador Programme that builds the next generation pipeline.
They stay because they’re seen as genuine leaders in workforce transformation, not organisations ticking a box.
When you sponsor TechDiversity, you are not just buying visibility.
- You’re backing the movement proving that inclusive leadership is how Australia closes the talent gap.
- You’re standing alongside the calibre of leadership already shaping the conversation.
- And you’re investing in something that lasts well beyond one night in Sydney
Thank you to our sponsors and partners.
Become a 2026 TechDiversity Awards Sponsor, reach out to discuss your return on investment.
Click the above image to see the Sponsor Page.
Get Involved with Our Work
Start a Conversation
Email Clare
Nominations Closed
Thanks for participating.
Moments from our 10th Anniversary Awards Ceremony
About the TechDiversity Foundation
TechDiversity Foundation is a social enterprise committed to strengthening Australia’s tech workforce through inclusive leadership. We exist because Australia’s workforce challenge won’t be solved by doing more of the same, we need to build pathways for talent the traditional pipeline overlooks.
How do we assist our tech workforce?
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, cultural backgrounds and more of our tech workforces; and the Student Ambassador Programme, connecting emerging talent with industry.
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.
Our Research Insights
The Tech Reflects study from TechDiversity Foundation offers specific 2025 findings on Australia’s tech workforce diversity, revealing demographic and inclusion gaps compared to community benchmarks. These insights, from the May 2025 report with over 50 countries of birth and 10+ languages represented, underscore the need for tailored programs to leverage untapped community skills toward 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030.
- 45.4% of tech workers were born in Australia, indicating a global workforce, yet many culturally diverse voices remain underrepresented in decision-making.
- 32.1% of participants reported living with a long-term condition, far exceeding the Diversity Council Australia’s 9.4% workforce disability benchmark and highlighting disclosure and inclusion challenges.
- 66.2% of tech workers expressed uncertainty about whether business and government will close the tech skills gap.
The Tech Reflects study, launched by TechDiversity Foundation in collaboration with Diversity Atlas, provides a 2025 snapshot (April data) of cultural and demographic diversity in Australia’s tech workforce, comparing it to community benchmarks.
Endorsed by leaders like Westpac’s CIO and supported by Avanade and Clicks IT Recruitment, it measures intersectionality (e.g., neurodiversity, disabilities) beyond traditional metrics to identify gaps and untapped skills
TechDiversity Awards Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
DO NOT DELETE
Who can nominate?
Absolutely anyone.
Can I self-nominate?
Of course, we encourage it. Back yourself and be proud of your achievement.
What are the Award Categories?
- Business
- Government
- Education
- Campaign of the Year
- Previously called as Marketing, Media and Advertising
- Tech For Good
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- The Tech for Good category houses four categories:
- Social Impact – addressing societal challenges – helping society flourish and organisations succeed.
- Environmental Sustainability – interacting with the planet responsibly – conserving natural resources and protecting ecosystems.
- Accessibility & Inclusivity – building a more inclusive and accessible world.
- Health & Wellbeing – helping individuals and organisations create a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing.
- The Tech for Good category houses four categories:
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Is the Awards open for Australian companies only?
Nominating a company or organisation doesn’t necessarily have to be an Australian company/organisation. Ideally, it must have some link to Australia i.e., an office or branch office that is based in Australia, beneficiaries of the program include an Australian community, etc.
What are the questions in the nomination process?
For the Categories Business | Government | Education, they are as follows:
- Nominator/Nominee name and contact details
- Team – who worked on the project / initiative
- Please describe your project / initiative in 90 words – this will be made public
- How would you say diversity is embraced within your organisation or sector?
- Detail the approach that was taken to implement the project or initiative, what actions were taken and why?
- What were the challenges/hurdles faced when implementing or extending the initiative?
- Demonstrate the leadership shown in driving the initiative and fostering behavioural and organisational change?
- Detail the follow up or response to the project or initiative by the organisation/industry / sector. For example, has it been extended for a further year, or has the scope been expanded?
- What metrics do you have to support the impact of the project / initiative?
- What do you consider your significant achievement with this project / initiative and why?
- What business value and efficiencies did the diversity initiative have on the organisation’s bottom line?
- Please provide a short reference from a leader not directly involved in the project / initiative to summarise the impact of your project / initiative
- Any attachment to support your submission (limit of 5MB / upload)
For the Tech for Good Category, they are as follows:
- Nominator/Nominee name and contact details
- Please describe your initiative in 90 words – this will be made public
- Define the problem you are aiming to address?
- Describe the product/service/initiative being nominated and how it addresses that problem?
- Describe the team who developed this product/service/initiative.
- What were their roles and contributions to the project?
- What was the approach to the development of this product/service/initiative?
- What is the positive benefit or impact sustained from this product/service/initiative? Please provide quantitative and qualitative data to back up your answer.
- What is the commercial model of the product/service/initiative, and explain how sustainable that commercial model is?
- What are the future goals for this product/service/initiative?
- How does this product/service/initiative impact DE+1?
- Please provide a short reference from a leader not directly involved in the project / initiative to summarise the impact of your project / initiative
- Any attachment to support your submission (limit of 5MB / upload)
For the Campaign of the Year
- Nominator/Nominee name and contact details
- Team – who worked on the campaign
- Please describe your campaign in 90 words – this will be made public
- How would you say diversity is embraced within your organisation or sector?
- Detail the approach that was taken to implement the campaign, what actions were taken and why?
- Were there any challenges/hurdles faced when implementing the campaign?
- Demonstrate the leadership shown in driving the initiative and fostering behavioural and organisational change?
- What was the intended impact expected from the campaign?
- How did your campaign include DE+I / accessibility / inclusivity?
- Detail the follow-up or response to the campaign. For example, has it been extended, or has the scope been expanded?
- What metrics do you have to support the impact of the campaign?
- What do you consider your significant achievement with this campaign and why?
- What business value and efficiencies did the diversity initiative have on the organisation’s bottom line?
- Please provide a short reference from a leader not directly involved with the campaign to summarise the impact of your project / initiative
- Any attachment to support your submission (limit of 5MB / upload)
What are the criteria that submissions will be judged on?
Nominations will be assessed against the following criteria that align with the values of the #TechDiversity Foundation:
Business/Government/Education
Scoring Criteria (scale of 0 – 5 with 5 being the highest)
- Initiative/s (The unique qualities and innovativeness of the nominated initiative)
- Courage (The courage shown in initiating or running the initiative)
- Commitment (The commitment shown in driving the initiative)
- Actions to overcome resistance (How well did the initiative overcome resistance/challenges/hurdles faced when implementing or extending the initiative. Where there has been no resistance consider if this is as a result of how well the initiative was implemented, the timing of the initiative or leadership demonstrated)
- Leadership (The leadership demonstrated in driving the initiative)
- Follow up / response (What was the response to the initiative by the wider organisation / target group? And the follow up, if any, of those responsible for the initiative to progress it further or expand it?)
- Metrics (how the metrics captured support the impact of the initiative)
- Behavioural Change (Did the initiative lead to a behavioural change)
- Overall Impact (what impact did the initiative make toward fostering DE+I)
Campaign of the Year
Scoring Criteria (scale of 0 – 5 with 5 being the highest)
- Initiative/s (The unique qualities and innovativeness of the nominated campaign)
- Courage (The courage shown in initiating or running the campaign)
- Commitment (The commitment shown in driving the campaign)
- Actions to overcome resistance How well did the campaign overcome resistance/challenges/hurdles faced when implementing the campaign (Where there has been no resistance consider if this is a result of how well the campaign was implemented, the timing of the campaign or leadership demonstrated)
- Leadership (The leadership demonstrated in driving the campaign)
- Focus on DE+I (how well did the campaign highlight / focus on DE+I)
- Follow up / response (What was the response to the campaign by the wider organisation / target group? And the follow up, if any, of those responsible for the campaign to progress further or expand it?)
- Metrics (how the metrics captured support the impact of the campaign)
- Behavioural Change (Did the campaign lead to a behavioural change)
- Overall Impact (what impact did the campaign make toward fostering DE+I)
Tech for Good
Scoring Criteria (scale of 0 – 5 with 5 being the highest)
- Product / Service / Initiative (Does the Product / Service / Initiative address the problem described)
- Diversity(is it a diverse team that developed the product/service/initiative)
- Approach (the approach taken to develop the product/service/initiative)
- Commitment (The commitment shown in driving the initiative)
- Impact (The positive impact this product/service/initiative created for its target audience)
- Sustainability (How sustainable / commercially viable is this Product / Service / Initiative?
- Leadership (The leadership demonstrated in driving the Product / Service / Initiative)
- Overall Impact (what impact did the product/service/initiative make toward fostering DE+I)
Can we make more than one nomination?
Absolutely! We want to hear about ALL the great work being done.
What does it cost to nominate?
Nothing. The cost to make a nomination entry is covered by the sponsorship from our supporters. We purposely want to keep it free, to encourage as many nominations as possible. We want to hear about all the amazing initiatives that are making a contribution for a more diverse and inclusive world.
What do I win?
A TechDiversity Award, lots of free publicity, a summary on our website, but most importantly, the ability to showcase your initiative and inspire other organisations to follow your lead in making diversity, inclusion and belonging a high priority. Your nomination could make a world of difference.
Who will see my submission?
First it will be our judges. However, we also want to shine a light in ALL the initiatives, so we will create a case study that can be used to support other organisations looking for inspiration to start/continue their D&I journey/targets. So hopefully lots of lots of other people will see your submission.
I don’t have an initiative ready to nominate at the moment, how else can I get involved?
- Help spread awareness of the Awards via your social media channel.
- Contact any colleagues, friends, or family members who do have an initiative and encourage them to nominate
- Sign up to our community HERE (if not done so already), to be kept up to date with the latest information and awards updates
- Buy a ticket to attend the Gala dinner. The ticket portal will be available soon.
- Buy a table and involve the whole team. The ticket portal will be available soon.
- Can’t attend in person? This year the awards will also be live-streamed. The ticket portal will be available soon.
- Align your brand to the TechDiversity Awards and consider a sponsorship package. They range from $5k up to $20K. Contact stacey@bestcasescenario.com.au to find out more
- For more general information, please go to the TechDiversity Awards page.
How long does it take to complete the nomination form?
Like all things that are worthwhile doing, it takes a little effort. We estimate approximately 2-3 hours. HOWEVER, you can save and edit, restart, continue and enter information at your own leisure until you feel it is ready to submit.
Can I see previous submissions?
Sure can. Click here: PREVIOUS AWARDS
Can I amend my submission?
You can save your submission as many times as required and come back at your own convenience before hitting the final submit button. Once you have submitted your nomination, no further changes are permitted.
Is my submission confidential?
All submissions are published on the awards site to shine a light on initiatives / projects to inspire others to replicate. The nominee’s organisation name and the summary of the nomination will be shared on the awards website. Nominees can opt out to have personal and contact information published.
Will I receive feedback?
While not guaranteed, some judges may provide feedback on given on submissions.
How do I get started?
Gather the information you need (questions asked are listed above) and head to the awards portal HERE, create a username and away you go.
When are the finalists announced?
The merit and award winners are announced at our gala dinner. We do not announce shortlisted nominations prior the awards night.
I am having issues with entering my submission or need more information. Who can I contact?
Please contact theresa@bestcasescenario.com.au
How big does the initiative / project need to be?
Size doesn’t matter, we accept small to large scale initiatives/projects. What matters is the positive impact of the initiative / project on people and tech workforces.
How old does the initiative / project have to be?
We are seeking new AND established initiatives (greater than 2 years old). So even if your initiative is less than 12 months old, we want to hear about it and the impact it has had. The judges are also looking for innovation around the initiative itself and many new initiatives may meet this criterion!
Even after reading through this extensive FAQ, I’m still unsure about my nomination. Now what?
Please email your question to theresa@bestcasescenario.com.au
Let’s hear from you
We love hearing from our community and what topics YOU think are important.