How our awards work - Accelerating Women
Accelerating Women category
This Award category is for businesses actively challenging exclusion to create lasting equity for women.
Who can apply in this category?
If you’re fulfilling one or more of the following category examples, consider nominating and entering your business for this Award.
Initiative development
For businesses who have developed and put internal initiatives in place focused on supporting women.
Challenging stereotypes
For businesses actively challenging stereotypes by reshaping traditionally male-dominated industries or roles.
Core focus
For businesses with a core offering built on providing products or services that support and help women.
Championing women
For businesses passionately working to keep women employed or helping women to re-enter the workforce at every stage of life.
Career pathways
For businesses advocating for women by providing career pathways to leadership positions for women.
Addressing the gap
For businesses offering training and education for women aspiring to work in male-dominated fields to reduce the skills gap.
Equity fighters
For businesses resolutely fighting for, or offering equal pay and work opportunities for women.
mumamoo
2024 National Accelerating Women Winner
mumamoo is a female owned infant formula company that is 100% Australian made, owned and manufactured.
The business has expanded from an exclusively South Australian customer base to being sold nationally in more than 800 stores.
Empowered Women in Trades
2024 VIC Winner
Empowered Women in Trades is a social enterprise that is helping champion tradeswomen, diversity, and gender equality.
By collaborating with educational institutions and industry leaders it strives to help empower women and non-binary individuals to pursue and excel in careers across the trade sector.
K2Dance
2024 WA Winner
K2Dance is a thriving dance studio delivering professional, innovative, and dynamic dance tuition for toddlers, children, teenagers, and adults.
K2Dance takes pride in catering for students with a disability, gender diversity, culture and race diversity, as well as foster children and students from varying socio-economic backgrounds.
Pups4Fun
2024 ACT Winner
Started as a High School assignment by Founder Rhiannon Beach, Pups4Fun is a dog daycare and adventure centre based in Canberra. With a goal to provide exceptional and unique care for the dogs of ACT, Pups4Fun offers various services including dog daycare, dog grooming, dog training and dog walking.
Eligibility criteria
To enter, the following eligibility criteria must be met. Each category also has specific requirements. If you have any questions about these conditions, please contact us.
- Reside in Australia
- Have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN)
- Have been operating in Australia for at least 12 months at the time you submit your Stage 1 entry
- Be more than 60 percent Australian-owned, with the owner(s)/founder(s) responsible for making the key management decisions
- Be a small-to-medium business that’s a sole trader, partnership, incorporated, NFP, social enterprise or franchise whose franchisor is 60 percent Australian owned and not a listed company
- Earn more than $50,000 in annual revenue
- Have under 200 full-time equivalent staff at the time you submit your Stage 1 entry
- Operate in an ethical manner with suppliers, distributors and contractors
- Supply financials when requested. All financials will remain confidential and will not be shared or used outside the purposes of judging the business’ performance, success and viability.
- Be a listed company, franchisor, a club, co-operative, or a Telstra licensee
- Be affiliated with Telstra through investments, donation or reselling
- Be more than 50 percent owned by another business
- Be a government agency
- Have filed for bankruptcy in the prior 5 years or been subject to court proceedings in the prior 12 months – including in the business owner or founder’s personal capacity – at the time you submit your Stage 1 entry
- Be a recipient of significant ongoing government funding (excluding temporary government relief or support packages, such as Jobkeeper or disaster recovery)
- Have been a contracted commercial supplier of Telstra in the last 3 years
- Enter the same category where the business has previously won at State or National level at the Telstra Best of the Business Awards in the past 3 years
- Have a staff member that has applied and/or Have a staff member that has been a State or National judge in the Telstra Best of Business Awards for any category in the past 3 years
- Enter the awards if a staff member or owner has applied to be a judge in the same awards program year.
Our program dates
Click below for details on category information, selection criteria and eligibility.
Nominations open
All year round
We accept nominations all year round. If you know an exceptional business moving Australia forward, nominate them today.
Stage 1
4 March - 26 April 2024
This initial stage is a multiple choice assessment of your business and how successful it is. Your total score will determine whether you progress to stage 2. You will be advised of the outcome of your entry by email.
Stage 2
2 May - 24 May 2024
For this stage, the goal is to gain a deeper understanding of your business and give you an opportunity to expand on your answers from stage 1.
Have a question?
Find answers to your frequently asked questions.
Contact us
Speak with our Awards Team and call 1800 AWARDS Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm (AEDT).