Terms and Conditions

To enter the awards, your business needs to: 

• operate in Australia
• have a registered Australian Business Number (ABN)
• have been operating in Australia for at least 12 months at the time of entry submission
• employ 200 or fewer full-time equivalent employees at the time of entry submission 
• be more than 60% Australian-owned, with the owners or founders responsible for key management decisions
• be a small to medium-sized business that’s:
  • a Sole Trader, a partnership, a company (Pty Ltd or Ltd), Not-For-Profit, Trust or social enterprise 
  • a franchisee of a franchisor is more than 60% Australian owned
  • not an ASX-listed company. 

• earn more than $50,000 in annual revenue and for those businesses entering the Growth category, the business must have a revenue growth of greater than 15% in the current financial year
• operate in an ethical manner with customers and, where applicable, team members, suppliers, distributors and contractors.
• To enter the First Nations category the business must be majority First Nations owned and led and belong to or be certified as being a member of one or more of these organisations/ groups: – Aboriginal Business Industry Chamber of South Australia (SA), Canberra Indigenous Business Network (ACT), First Australians Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kinaway Chamber of Commerce (VIC), Murri Chamber of Commerce (QLD), Noongar, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WA), Northern Territory Indigenous Business Network (NT), NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce (NSW), Supply Nation.

View eligibility requirements

• A business may not enter the awards and also apply to be a judge within the same awards program year​.

• A business may only enter the awards once per year. A business cannot submit multiple entries using different ABNs. 

• Business financials will be asked for and need to be supplied in order for an entry to be considered. All financials will be kept confidential and not shared or used outside of the purposes of judging the businesses performance, success and viability​.

• Entrants must disclose whether they, or their business, have been involved in any civil or criminal disputes, investigations or proceedings (whether finalised, ongoing, or discontinued), including matters that did not proceed to court. Telstra reserves the right to assess such disclosures at its sole discretion and may determine that an entrant is ineligible to participate in the Awards. 

• Entrants must also disclose any involvement by the business or any key individual associated with the business in workplace disputes, investigations or proceedings, including those involving any industrial or regulatory body. Telstra reserves the right to assess such disclosures at its sole discretion and may determine that an entrant is ineligible to participate in the Awards.

 
You will not be able to enter the awards if your business:

• has more than 200 full time employees at the close of entry date

• enter the same category where the business has previously won at State or National level in the past 3 years for the Telstra Best of Business Awards​ (please see further below)

• is a franchisor or a master franchisee, a listed company, club, co-operating, a Telstra licence, government agency, more than 50% owned by another business 

• is an ASX-listed company

• is affiliated with Telstra through investments, donation or reselling​;

• business owner, members of your management team, or any of your employees have served as a State or National Judge in any category of the Awards program within the past three years

• has been purchased and operating as an existing business prior to purchase 

• has filed for bankruptcy in the 5 years prior to when you submit your entry.

There has been a change in categories in 2026, so please refer to the table below to determine if you are eligible to enter a particular category:

Please make sure you read these conditions carefully as we take the integrity of our awards program seriously. We’re proud of the program and our alumni. If we have reason to believe you have done anything to bring the program into disrepute we may have to disqualify you.

To get started, review how the Awards work for step‑by‑step guidance and explore the awards categories to find where your business fits best. These sections form part of the terms. You must self‑nominate or be nominated by a third party, and all information in your entry must be true and correct.

• Please make sure that anyone important to your organisation like business owners, founders or officers are available to attend award events and activities. These include the state and national workshops and events, along with judging days. 

• We want you to help us publicise the awards. If you’re a winner, we’ll need the business owners, officers or founders to be available for promotional appearances. We’ll give you at least 7 calendar days notice of the date and location, each time we request this. 

• You agree that we may use your logo, business identity, details about your business or personal identity in any way, in any material which promotes the awards or the products or services. You agree to allow us to contact you to provide comments about the awards and to take photos or video footage of you, your business and your representative(s), and use any of the material collected as part of your participation. If we do use any of the materials listed above, you grant us a royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable licence to use the materials for promotional purposes.

All intellectual property rights related to the awards, including the information and data we collect, belong to us. You’ll still own any intellectual property rights you already owned prior to entering the awards. You also assign, including by way of a present assignment, and assignment of all rights that may arise in the future, all intellectual property rights related to any and all materials that arise in relation to your participation in the awards.

Check eligibility

This is a game of skill only. There is no element of chance in determining the winners. The judges’ decision is final. You can explore the award categories to understand how businesses are recognised across the Awards.

You are only eligible to win one prize. We reserve the right to withdraw a prize if there are no eligible entrants to receive that prize.

By accepting a prize, you agree to participate in and co-operate as required with all reasonable marketing activities relating to the prize including but not limited to being interviewed and photographed. We reserve the right to use your comments, image and name for advertising and publicity purposes in any media in perpetuity without further consultation or compensation.

A prize, or any unused portion of a prize, cannot be transferred, exchanged or redeemed for cash. All other expenses associated with the prizes are the responsibility of the winners.

We reserve the right, at any time, and in our sole discretion to (a) request entrants to provide proof of identity and/or proof of valid entry (b) disqualify any entrant who we have reason to believe has breached any of these conditions or engaged in any unlawful or other improper conduct or any conduct calculated to jeopardise the fair and proper conduct of the promotion.

Entries are accepted at the time of receipt by us. We will not be held liable for any entries not received for any reason during the promotion period.

We are not liable for any prize that may be lost, stolen, forged, damaged or tampered with in any way after it leaves our possession.

We are not responsible for any variation in the value of a prize. 

If we are unable to provide a winner with a prize (or part of a prize), we will supply an alternative prize (or that part of the prize) of greater or equal monetary value and/or specification. 

If for any reason, we are not able to conduct the promotion as planned, including due to tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, any technical difficulties or any other causes beyond our control, which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this promotion, we reserve the right in our sole discretion to take any action that may be available.

We exclude all warranties in relation to the quality, suitability or merchantability of a prize, except those that cannot be excluded by law. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any liability of the Promoter or its employees or agents for breach of any rights a consumer may have which are unable to be excluded under Australian Law, is limited to the payment of the costs of having the prize supplied again.

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss (including indirect and consequential loss) or damage or personal injury suffered or sustained in connection with the promotion including the supply of goods or services by any person to the prize winners, and where applicable to any persons accompanying the prize winners. We accept no responsibility for any tax liabilities that may arise from winning the prize. 

To the extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any loss, damage or personal injury suffered or sustained in connection with the awards. You will indemnify us and our officers, employees or agents against any loss or liability from any claim or action that arises as a result of a breach of these terms by you, or your use of the materials or information supplied by you under these Terms. You irrevocably and unconditionally consent to all acts being done that would otherwise breach your moral rights.