How to enter

Enter now

You can enter the Pause Awards by clicking the ENTER NOW button above or on any page you see it. Alternatively, you can also click the ENTER/LOGIN button from the main navigation. You’ll need to log in and create your account first if you don’t have one already. The whole process is lightning fast as you only need two pieces of information to sign up. Once you create your account, you can use it ongoing for the following years.

There are three segments that need your attention once you sign in. You can edit your answers for these sections even after making payment right up until the final deadline. This means you can secure earlybird rates but still have time to finesse your entries before the final deadline.

1. Business Information we use for the internal insights only.
2. Pause Index profile creation, which allows you to have your own beautifully designed business page on our website, if you win the award. We’ll also link all associated articles to your page in the future, so this is your landing page in the house of champions!
3. Category Selection will have a few useful filters to help you pick the right one. You can enter as many categories as you like with a speedy option to have the same answers across all categories, or write them all individually. Good luck!

Payment

Payment is at the very end of the process, and you’ll be able to pay for as many categories all at once, and you can add more categories if you change your mind. 

Multiple entries

If you enter into any two categories, we’ll give you a 50% discount on the ‘Company of the Year’ category only. And if you take three wins, we’ll offer a complimentary Winner’s Package for the third pack.

If you need, you can find our terms and conditions here.

All entries must be submitted by midnight on the night of each deadline day.

Entry Dates

2023 Entries Open
Wednesday 17 May ‘23

Launch Entries Deadline
Friday 19 May ‘23

Early Entries Deadline
Friday 16 Jun ‘23

Standard Entries Deadline
Friday 18 Aug ‘23

Late Entries Deadline
Friday 1 Sep ‘23

Public Voting

Public Voting Opens
Monday 4 Sep ‘23

Public Voting Deadline
Friday 13 Oct ‘23

Judging

1st Round Judging
Monday 18 Sep ‘23

2nd Round Judging
Monday 9 Oct ‘23

Announcements

Finalist Notification
Monday 23 Oct ‘23

Winners Announced
Pause Awards Night on 4 Dec ’23

Pause Awards Night tickets on sale
Monday 23 Oct ‘23

1. Entries are open to individuals and businesses in Australia.
2. Achievements and projects must have taken place between 1 July 2022 to 1 June 2023.
3. Projects in development with no results should not enter.
4. Entry must have been executed in the marketplace prior to submission.
5. National companies can apply multiple times with different projects.
6. Partners and sponsors can enter awards. There will be no favours.
7. Judges will need to recuse themselves from voting on their own company or be disqualified.
8. Blockchain, government departments, NFPs and agencies can enter.
9. All fees are in AUD and non-refundable.
10. Awards are not industry-specific.

Pause Awards champions ambitious people and forward-thinking businesses in the Australian ecosystem. The categories are crafted to include many important aspects of the business.

This year, we are excited to offer five tracks comprising 31 categories, which include 14 new categories.

During the judging process, several criteria will be taken into account, with weights assigned as follows: 30% for smart tactics, 30% for business success, and 40% for positive impact. We encourage nominees to provide detailed and focused answers.

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  Culture⁰⁵

  Creating a safe and open space in which everyone thrives and the collaboration flows through all levels and titles with the power of the one team. The entries should demonstrate how the transformation has been achieved across core business functions, that have delivered a positive impact and growth for business, staff, stakeholders and customers. Judges will only refer to written entries during the evaluation process. No additional research will be undertaken, and for this reason, we recommend you give detailed and sharp answers.

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  Diverse Co.

  For nurturing an inclusive environment. This award recognises a workplace that has successfully and intentionally encouraged innovation among diverse employees.

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  Large team culture

  For fostering innovation. This award recognises a workplace with over 1000+ employees that has outpaced their cohort in fostering a culture of innovation.

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  Medium team culture

  For fostering innovation. This award recognises a workplace with 21-999 employees that has outpaced their cohort in fostering a culture of innovation.

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  Small team culture

  For fostering innovation. This award recognises a workplace with less than 20 employees that has outpaced their cohort in fostering a culture of innovation

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  Work sweet work

  For a great workplace culture. This award recognises a company that has managed to improve or attain outstanding levels of employee engagement, retention and satisfaction.

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  Excellence⁰⁹

  Celebrating commercial effectiveness through success in the marketplace by leaving a dent in the universe, no matter what the size of the company. The entries should demonstrate the highest levels of expertise, leadership and vision in the application of their business strategies. Judges will only refer to written entries during the evaluation process. No additional research will be undertaken, and for this reason, we recommend you give detailed and sharp answers.

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  Company of the Year

  For the best company. This award recognises a company leadership, success, ambition to excel against all odds with the solid future development plans.

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  Defiant ones

  For new tech breakthroughs. This award recognises a company that defines the future of the industry they play in.

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  Hall of fame

  For a lifetime achievement. This award recognises a game-changer who paved the way by breaking new grounds and inventing new categories.

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  Hammer

  For nailing it. This award recognises a company’s success – on their own terms – in the market.

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  I wish I’d done that

  For sheer brilliance. This award recognises a company’s simple and clever idea in a niche market.

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  Indi

  For new and First Peoples. This award recognises a successful company with its founders from indigenous or ethnic heritage that gained success in the market.

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  On the rise

  For early stage mavericks. This award recognises an early stage startup that has done well in its first three years.

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  Prodigy

  For being exceptional. This award recognises a young person with exceptional qualities or abilities.

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  Women in business

  For breaking the mould. This award recognises a successful female leader and entrepreneur who is paving the way forward for the future generations.

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  Good⁰⁴

  Standing up for your purpose and going beyond together as a team aligned on the single mission to positively impact the environment, people and community. The entries should demonstrate ideas intended to change the world; work which sets out to positively impact ingrained gender inequality, social imbalance or injustice. Judges will only refer to written entries during the evaluation process. No additional research will be undertaken, and for this reason, we recommend you give detailed and sharp answers.

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  B-Good

  For a good business. This award recognises a company that has done well to change our economic system to positively impact all stakeholders through their commercial practice.

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  Circular Pioneer

  For making a difference. This award category recognises a company that is pioneering their circular efforts.

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  Going green

  For delivering impact at scale. This award recognises a company that is actively leading and delivering impact and scale through sustainable efforts in clean energy, climate change, healthy environment, social and economic justice etc.

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  You’ve got ethics

  For the leadership in environmental social governance. This award category recognises a company that is promoting accountability, good governance, leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility and solving societal problems.

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  Growth⁰⁵

  ​​Focusing on the productivity and elegance of execution to deliver impactful ideas to a market (or many) with the power to cut through the noise. Entries should demonstrate how the innovation and optimisation of the customer journey led to scaled consumer engagement and commercial success. Judges will only refer to written entries during the evaluation process. No additional research will be undertaken, and for this reason, we recommend you give detailed and sharp answers.

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  Design first

  For design lead products. This award recognises a company that is using design to drive product innovation with the entire company onboard.

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  Inception

  For visionary thinkers. This award recognises a person that came up with the transformative idea that can change the world for better.

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  Out of the garage

  For scaling globally. This award recognises a company’s global growth, expansion, and success.

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  Unexpected twist

  For a great pivot. This award recognises a company that has taken an unexpected pivot in their business or career.

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  Wildfire

  For conquering a marketplace. This award recognises a company that has made a significant impact on the marketplace in the shortest amount of time.

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  Operators⁰⁸

  Elevating every voice in the ecosystem is not just important for its collective success, industry development but also for the future growth. The entries should demonstrate ingenuity which leads to the creation of new products and services, through leadership, by elevating the internal culture and communities they serve. Judges will only refer to written entries during the evaluation process. No additional research will be undertaken, and for this reason, we recommend you give detailed and sharp answers.

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  Backbone

  For backing the future idea. This award recognises a VC firm with a portfolio of companies that have made a significant contribution to the growth and success of the AU economy.

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  Brave Angel

  For early stage support. This award recognises an angel investor that has garnered a portfolio of companies and has a good track record of helping founders succeed.

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  C-Suite

  For the best leadership. This award recognises the highest-ranking executive that has impeccable leadership, management and interpersonal skills.

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  Do you know who I am

  For the silent achiever. This award recognises a person that has been responsible for the success of their company from the backstage.

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  Future builder

  For grit to start a new venture. This award recognises a founder at any level and life stage who has decided to start jumping the hoops of their own business.

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  Hottest hub

  For the best community. This award recognises a co-working space that provides boutique experience, world class facilities with community management.

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  Launch pad

  For activating the support systems. This award recognises an accelerator that has a good reputation in providing the best startup program with industry connections.

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  Super connector

  For being the community champ. This award recognises a person for a significant contribution to the success of their clients or the community.

1. There are five Category Tracks and 38 categories, including 8 new categories.
2. Entries must be for achievements between 1 July 2022 and 1 June 2023.
3. Early Entry deadline is 16 Jun ’23 (11:59pm AEST), Standard Entry deadline is 18 Aug ’23 (11:59pm AEST), and Late Entry deadline is 1 Sep ’23 (11:59pm AEST).
4. Entry fees range from $295 for an Early Entry to $495 for a Late Entry.
5. Judges will only refer to written entries and will not conduct additional research.
6. Entrants can submit entries into multiple categories with the same or different projects.
7. Individual entries must have been employed for at least one year prior to entering and must use their personal name, not their company’s name.
8. If you nominate an individual or a company, you must enter as them and provide all necessary information for website profile creation and promotion.
9. There is no set number of winners per category. The Judging Board may award a Grand Prix for best in class. A separate People’s Choice Award will include all entrants.
10. All sections of the entry questions must be completed to be judged. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

After the entries close, we open up for judging and public votes through our custom-built award entry and judging portal.

The judging process consists of two rounds:

1st Round

In the first round, each judge will review 10% of the entries across the categories or a specific group of categories assigned to their area of expertise. Scoring is done on a 1-10 rating scale, and all entries need to have at least three judges’ votes and score above 7.0 points to advance to the 2nd Round as Finalists.

2nd Round

The Judging Board judges the 2nd Round in an open session where each finalist is discussed independently, and further points are assigned or deducted from the entry. The Chair of the board is responsible for overseeing the judging process. This round is final and binding.

To win the Grand Prix, the entire Judging Board must unanimously agree that the entry deserves the accolade of being the best in class.

There is no limit on the number of finalists or winners that judges can assign. However, if an entry fails to meet the judging criteria or provide sufficient information and metrics, there will be no winner for that category.

During the judging process, a variety of criteria will be taken into account and assigned weightings as follows:

Smart tactics / 30%

The level of innovation demonstrated in your operations and the overall solution.

Business success / 30%

The tangible results that your initiative has achieved across different metrics.

Positive impact / 40%

How your initiative has been received by people and the overall impact it has created.

In the first round of judging, each judge will assign separate scores for all three segments per entry, and the average score will be taken as the final score. Judges will also be required to recuse themselves from voting on their own company. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.

Last year’s Public Voting was incredibly popular and competitive, and we’re excited to see the results this year. However, please note that there can only be one winner from the Public Voting category, so make sure you bring your best game and aim to dominate!

We have different rates throughout to help you make the most of the competition.

Launch Entry until Friday 19 May ‘23

$295 +GST per entry

Early entry until 15 July 2022

$395 +GST per entry

Standard Entry until Friday 18 Aug ‘23

$445 +GST per entry

Late Entry until Friday 1 Sep ‘23

$495 +GST per entry

Note: Once you’ve paid the entry fee for Pause Awards, you’ve officially entered the competition. Please note that entry fees are non-refundable, so we advise considering your decision carefully before making a payment.

Don’t forget: you can pay for your entries at our lower rates then edit your information up until the competition deadline.

If you’re fortunate enough to win, you have the option to purchase the Pause Awards Trophy and attend the Pause Awards Night. However, these are entirely optional. We understand that everyone’s circumstances are unique, and we want to provide flexibility in how winners choose to celebrate their achievements.

At Pause Awards, we believe that the last 10% of effort makes all the difference in providing a premium experience that sets us apart. Our attention to detail, dedication to quality and appreciation for authentic experiences and design are what makes us stand out.

We’re excited to introduce our wearable trophy, which was inspired by the Olympic medals awarded to athletes. Our goal was to create a trophy that not only represents your success but also serves as an art sculpture worthy of attention.

In addition to the physical trophy, we’re also minting a TrophyNFT. This NFT is another way to represent your success and commemorate your achievement. We’re confident that both the physical trophy and the TrophyNFT will serve as lasting reminders of your success and inspire you to keep pushing the boundaries of innovation.

In 2022, Pause Awards received the prestigious Good Design Award for the outstanding packaging design category in Australia, marking a remarkable achievement in the industry.

We hope you’ll find a Premium package valuable enough to join our mission. The fees are competitively priced within global award programs for business excellence. The Premium Winner’s Package is optional for purchase.

As a winner, you will have basic access to the Pause Index, Top10 list, Unlimited Trademark, Public Voting, Limited Partner Benefits and Promo Media Kit. And for those who want more, we highly recommend the Premium option!

Trophy fees

The cost of a Pause Awards Trophy varies based on your company size. Please refer to the price list below for details.

If you win three awards within a year, the third trophy is free of charge!

In case you face financial constraints and cannot afford the trophy fees for your company size, you can request a reduced price at the time of notification. Feel free to get in touch with us to discuss your options.

Additional Pause Awards Trophies can be purchased for $350 +GST each.

Trophy Production and Delivery

Pause Award Trophy samples will be available at the Pause Awards Night for you to take photos with if you win. After the event, all winners will be contacted to ask if they would like to order a trophy.

Trophies are pre-made and ready to ship. Please allow 3–10 days for shipping and 2–3 days for handling. Shipping Fee is $30 Australia wide. To ensure timely delivery, we advise ordering trophies before December 15th. If you’ll be away from the office or on holiday when ordering, please let us know so we can make arrangements.

Ordering Pause Awards Trophy is a great way to remember your success and support the Pause Awards community.

Join our vibrant community and stay connected with the Pause Awards ecosystem by becoming a community member. Even if you don’t win an award, you can still be an active part of our community and gain access to various benefits, including the ability to publish your content on our news website and a 15% discount on award entries and tickets for the Pause Awards Night & Afterparty. Get access from here.

The Pause Awards Night is a highly anticipated event that unites the Australian innovation ecosystem in celebration of the year’s outstanding achievements. Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle with prominent figures in the business world, including winners, judges, and our partners.

The ticket encompasses the Welcome Reception, Pause Awards Night, Official Afterparty and will be available for purchase on 23 October ‘23. If you require additional tickets for your team, friends or family – VIP Booths, Tables or Rooms can also be purchased.

We encourage small teams who are uncertain about where to hold their end-of-year Christmas celebrations to join the Pause Awards Night as part of the ecosystem.

On the night, the winners will be announced, and trophy samples will be available for winners to take pictures with. The trophy can be purchased the next day, and orders will be shipped within 2-3 working days.