1. How to enter
1.1 Entry is free.
1.2 To enter the Business NSW Awards (BNSW Awards) all applicants must read and understand the terms and conditions set out in this document (Terms and Conditions) and complete the on-line entry form for your chosen category.
1.3 Business NSW reserves the right to alter or change these Terms and Conditions at any time at its discretion.
1.4 All entrants into the BNSW Awards will be notified of any change to these Terms and Conditions that has taken place before their entry is judged and will be provided with a reasonable opportunity to amend or alter their entry (should they wish to do so).
1.5 All submissions are to be lodged through the BNSW Awards website at https://www.businessnsw.com (Website).
1.6 By lodging your entry, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.
1.7 Your entry must be submitted by 5pm Australian Eastern Standard time on the relevant close date for your region, as published in the Key Award Dates section on the Website.
1.8 All entries must be submitted through a Business NSW Regional Awards Program. Direct entries into the BNSW State Awards will not be accepted.
1.9 By lodging your entry, you agree to provide BNSW and any other third party undertaking external validation on its behalf, with any relevant documentation requested in order to assess your application (including to verify your entry against the eligibility criteria requirements set out in these Terms and Conditions).
2. Entry eligibility
2.1 All businesses that submit an entry must trade under an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and be a current member of NSW Business Chamber Ltd which trades under ‘Business NSW’, ‘My Business’ and other trading names. This clause 2.1 does not apply to individual entrants into the individual award categories of Outstanding Employee, Outstanding Young Business Leader and Outstanding Business Leader.
2.2 Subject to clause 2.1, entries can be submitted by any business that has been continuously operating in NSW for a minimum period of 24 months at the time of the published close date as published in the Key Award Dates section on the Website.
2.3 Entry into the BNSW Awards is not open to Board Members of the Business NSW or any of its related or controlled entities.
2.4 Entry into the Outstanding Employee, Outstanding Young Business Leader and Outstanding Business Leader categories are not open to Board Members, Regional Presidents or State Councillors of Business NSW. Business NSW Regional Advisory Councillors and State Councillors can enter their business in other BNSW Award categories.
2.5 Staff members of Business NSW or any of their related or controlled entities are not eligible to enter the BNSW Awards.
2.6 An entry into the individual award categories (Outstanding Employee, Outstanding Young Business Leader and Outstanding Business Leader) shall be automatically disqualified if:
2.6.1 the entrant becomes bankrupt or insolvent; or
2.6.2 the entrant becomes disqualified from holding office as a director of any organisation or company.
2.8 Business NSW reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entry who Business NSW has reason to believe may have breached any of these Terms and Conditions (including any of the eligibility requirements), or engaged in any unlawful, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, or other improper misconduct that may jeopardise the fair and proper conduct of the BNSW Awards or otherwise may bring the BNSW Awards into disrepute or damage the goodwill or reputation of Business NSW.
2.9 Business NSW accepts no responsibility for any entries lost in transit or not received by the closing time due to technical disruptions or any other reason beyond the control of Business NSW.
2.10 Subject to meeting a gateway score (which is set by Business NSW in its absolute discretion), all Regional Award Program category winners will automatically become a state finalist in the BNSW Awards.
2.11 Entrants must ensure they meet, and continue to meet, all eligibility criteria requirements set out in these Terms and Conditions, in addition to any category-specific requirements published on the Categories section of the Website.
2.12 Business NSW reserves the right in its sole discretion to mandate the terms upon which any individual or business entry may utilise Business NSW’s logo in connection with the BNSW Awards, including revocation of same.
3. Previous year Regional and State winner
3.1 Regional and State Winners are eligible to enter the same category in the subsequent year that they have won, up to a maximum of three consecutive years.
3.2 If the same organisation or person wins the same category at either the Regional or State awards three years in a row, they will be placed in the "Hall of Fame" for that category.
3.3 The organisation or person who is placed in the "Hall of Fame" shall then be excluded from entry into that category at both the State and Regional Awards for the next two consecutive years.
3.4 Subject to clause 3.3, State and Regional winners, including members of the Hall of Fame, may enter any other category in the subsequent year of their announced win.
4. Entry requirements
4.1 All entries for consideration must be lodged online and include all the required information.
4.2 Business NSW reserves the right to declare any entry ineligible, if at any time during or after the term of the award process your entry form is found to be incomplete, deficient, false, or misleading in any way.
4.3 At Business NSW’s absolute discretion, your entry will be allocated to a Business NSW Regional Awards Program, based on the street address, location, and postcode of your business' premises at the time of registration.
4.4 Where a Business operates at a number of physical locations, this business can enter multiple Regional Award Programs, however, can only progress to the BNSW Awards once for each eligible category.
5. Opening dates
5.1 Refer to the Key Award Dates page on the Website for entry opening dates.
5.2 Business NSW reserves the right to extend or vary the entry period if required, before or after the BNSW Awards entry period commences.
6. Closing dates
6.1 Refer to the Key Award Dates page on the website for entry closing dates.
6.2 Business NSW reserves the right to extend or vary the entry period if required, before or after the BNSW Awards entry period commences.
7. Confidentiality
7.1 Upon their submission pursuant to these Terms and Conditions, entries become the property of Business NSW. All information provided in the entry form will be used for the purpose of judging only and will be treated as commercial-in-confidence by Business NSW and any of its related or controlled entities, unless otherwise specified.
7.2 If you are selected as a finalist in the BNSW Awards, information provided in your entry (excluding financial information) will be used for the purpose of promoting the BNSW Awards and your business.
7.3 Contact information provided in your entry form may be disclosed to sponsors for the purpose of direct opportunities for promotion through sponsor partners. You can refuse the disclosure of contact information to sponsors by advising 13 26 96 or businessawards@businessnsw.com in writing.
7.4 In accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), Business NSW may collect, use, and disclose personal information in accordance with its Privacy Policy which can be viewed online at:
https://www.mybusiness.com.au/privacy-policy or by contacting the Privacy Manager via the following:
Level 7, 8 Chifley Square, Sydney, NSW 2000
Australia
E: privacy.manager@businessaustralia.com
7.5 The Privacy Policy is deemed to be incorporated into these Terms and Conditions and by entering the BNSW Awards, you are taken to consent to Privacy Policy. The Privacy Policy may be replaced or varied at the discretion of Business NSW from time to time, effective immediately upon posting such changes to the My Business website, and as replaced or varied it is incorporated into these Terms and Conditions.
8. Judging
8.1 All entries are judged by a panel of subject matter experts, selected by Business NSW from business and community leaders, which may also include previous State Category Winners and Category Sponsors. These judges may be drawn from current employees of Business NSW or any of its related or controlled entities.
8.2 At its discretion, Business NSW applies a weighting to each question, based on the complexity of that question in relation to all questions within a category.
8.3 Judges will allocate scores to each question asked, and these scores will be multiplied by an unseen weighting to reach an overall score for each entry.
8.4 There will only be one winner per category.
8.5 Where there are two or more entries with the same highest score, the judging panel will be reconvened for determination of the winner. If after the judging panel has been reconvened, there is still two or more entries with the same highest score, the Business NSW President will have the final determination.
8.6 State Category Winners may be eligible to form part of the immediate subsequent year's Regional Awards Judging Panel for their winning category, if they are not entering that category in the year, they are judging or the year immediately following their role as a judge.
8.7 Judges are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and disclose any conflict of interest.
8.8 The Judging Panel's decision is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.
8.9 In situations where there is only one entrant for a category in a Regional Award, this entry will be judged. Subject to meeting a gateway score, the entry will become an automatic State Finalist and will be awarded a State Finalist certificate and represent their region in that category at the State Gala event. They will be recognised at the Regional Awards dinner but will not be declared a Regional Winner; they will be referred to as a State Finalist.
8.10 A representative of Business NSW or the Judging Panel may contact any entrant via telephone interview or email for further information or to verify their entry prior to selecting the final preferred winner. Conducting such interviews does not create any obligation on Business NSW or the Judging Panel to select the interviewed entrant as a winner.
9. Awards
9.1 The BNSW Awards comprise of the following categories:
9.1.1 Outstanding Employee;
9.1.2 Outstanding Young Business Leader;
9.1.3 Outstanding Business Leader - 20 Employees and under
9.1.4 Outstanding Business Leader - 21 Employees and over
9.1.5 Outstanding Local Chamber;
9.1.6 Excellence in International Business;
9.1.7 Employer of Choice - 20 Employees and under
9.1.8 Employer of Choice - 21 Employees and over
9.1.9 Excellence in Innovation;
9.1.10 Excellence in Sustainability;
9.1.11 Outstanding Community Organisation;
9.1.12 Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion;
9.1.13 Outstanding New Business;
9.1.14 Excellence in Micro Business;
9.1.15 Excellence in Small Business;
9.1.16 Excellence in Business;
9.1.17 Business of the Year.
Business NSW may, in its sole discretion (without prior notice) add or vary these award categories of both State and Regional level from time to time. Winners of the aligned categories listed in clause 9.1 from each Regional Awards program, will progress to the BNSW Awards as a State Category Finalist subject to satisfying these Terms and Conditions.
Business NSW may have additional Regional Award categories relevant to each region. Please note these additional Regional Award categories do not progress to the BNSW Awards.
10. Geographic coverage
10.1 Business NSW provides the online entry and judging portal for the BNSW Awards. Local Business Chamber and Regional Awards which are aligned with the BNSW Awards program may have other award categories which do not align with those outlined in these Terms and Conditions. Those Local and Regional Awards categories may have different terms and conditions that apply.
11. Announcing the finalists and winners
11.1 All Regional and State Finalists will be notified by phone, email, and published on the BNSW Awards Website.
11.2 Winners will be announced at the gala event in each Region, with the State Category Winners announced at the State Gala Event. In a Region where there is no gala event, winners will be notified and awarded their Regional Winner trophy in person.
11.3 It is a condition of entry for all entrants that, if requested by Business NSW, the entrant agrees to participate in media requests, social media, and other publicity requests (such as Business NSW events) conducted by and for use by Business NSW and any of their related or controlled entities. Business NSW, in its absolute discretion, may select any entrant to participate in these activities. There will be no fee payable, remuneration or other direct financial benefit to be received by the entrant (other than the marketing opportunity) as a result of any participation in these activities.
12. Local Chamber and Regional Business Awards
12.1 These Terms and Conditions apply to entrants into all Business NSW Regional Business Awards, including the winning entrants of Local Business Chamber awards which are aligned with the BNSW Awards, unless otherwise agreed.
12.2 Please note that additional terms and conditions may also be applied by the Local Business Chamber or Regional Business Chamber running such awards. Please check the relevant Local Business Chamber or Regional Business Chamber Awards website for their terms and conditions.
13. Local Chamber Award entrants and winners
13.1 Local Business Chamber Award winners are eligible to progress to the Business NSW Regional Awards program as a Regional Finalist subject to:
13.1.1 complying with the BNSW Awards Terms and Conditions,
13.2 The Local Business Chamber category winner's entry being submitted via the BNSW Awards online entry system for the purpose of judging.
13.5 Category winners at a Local Business Chamber and Regional level must satisfy a gateway score that the Business NSW will set at the start of every awards program. This score will be awarded by the BNSW Awards Judging Panel.