Leadership in Government Awards

Recognise and celebrate excellence in accounting and finance in the Australian public sector.

The Leadership in Government Awards, hosted by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), are prestigious awards that recognise and celebrate outstanding leadership of members working in or with the government public sector across all levels of government in all regions. These awards aim to acknowledge and honour individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and made significant contributions to the public sector.

Award categories

There are two award categories that current CA ANZ members can be nominated for.

Emerging Leadership Award

The Emerging Leadership Award has been developed to recognise an individual who shows potential as a future leader of the public sector by using initiative and driving innovation in their organisation.

The prize for the Emerging Leadership Award is a bursary to the value of A$10,000.

Outstanding Contribution to the Public Sector Award

The Outstanding Contribution to the Public Sector Award has been developed to recognise a senior level professional who has made an outstanding contribution to the public sector; their contribution can be demonstrated by evidence that they are leading by example and have achieved a step change for the benefit of the Australian public through their public service.

The prize for the Outstanding Contribution to the Public Sector Award is a bursary to the value of A$20,000.

Eligibility

Nominees must be full members of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand in good standing, but do not need to be direct employees of the public sector to be eligible for a Leadership in Government Award.

Criteria

When choosing the recipients of the Leadership in Government Awards, regard is given to a nominee’s achievements in their work within the public sector that demonstrates:

  • innovative and transformative leadership, and
  • the ability to attract, build and retain skills, expertise, and talent
  • actions and behaviours as a “Difference Maker”
  • actions and behaviours leading system change.

Key Dates

1 August 2025 Nominations open
22 September 2025 Nominations close 5.00pm AEST
26 September 2025 First round judging
3 October 2025 Shortlist contacted for supplementary evidence (1 week to respond)
29 October 2025 Final judging decision
25 November 2025 2025 Leadership in Government Awards ceremony - Date & venue TBC

Submit your nominations

Submit here

More information

  • Terms and Conditions
    1. The terms and conditions incorporate the matters specified in the Nomination Guide above, including in respect of Judging and the Judging Criteria
    2. Nominees must be full (as at 1 June 2025) members of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand in good standing
    3. To be eligible for the Emerging Leadership Award, a nominee must be a current (as at 1 June 2025) employee of or be contracted directly or indirectly to the Australian Public Service
    4. Nominees must be prepared to meet requests for additional information from the judging panel
    5. The nominations must be made through the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand website: https://caanz.com/LGA and should provide the information as set out in the criteria for the relevant category
    6. Additional information pertinent to the entry (and referred to in the entry) should not be sent to the judging panel unless requested by the judging panel
    7. Entries open on 9:00am, 1st August 2025 (Canberra time)
    8. Entries close at 5:00pm, 12 September 2025 (Canberra time)
    9. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into
    10. By making a nomination, nominators consent to, and confirm they have the consent of the nominee to, the collection and use of their personal information in accordance with CA ANZ Privacy Policy (www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/privacy-policy) and the Privacy Collection Statement (below)
    11. At any time CA ANZ may seek verification of any information or facts about a nominee (whether from the nominee or from a third party) and may request documents or evidence it deems necessary to verify any matters about a nominee. Nominees consent to third parties being contacted for this purpose
    12. Failure by a nominator or a nominee to fully comply with any of CA ANZ’s directions or requests for information may result in CA ANZ no longer considering the nomination of the nominee
    13. If, any time within 12 months from the close of entries, a nominee: is subject to CA ANZ disciplinary proceedings, ceases to be a member, is suspended from membership, or otherwise becomes ineligible for membership for any reason, CA ANZ may, at its absolute discretion, demand the full refund of any bursary paid and the nominee agrees to the prompt and full payment of the relevant bursary
    14. CA ANZ may, in its absolute discretion, ignore any entry which it deems to be offensive, untruthful or inappropriate, or otherwise tampers with the nomination process, or which otherwise does not comply with these Terms and Conditions
    15. Submission of a nomination constitutes acceptance of the preceding Terms and Conditions.
  • Privacy Collection Statement

    This Collection Statement contains details about how CA ANZ (We, Us) including its subsidiaries and controlled entities may collect, hold, use and disclose the personal information you have provided to Us in connection with nominations for the Local Government Awards 20255. In addition, your personal information will be used and disclosed as set out in the CA ANZ Global Privacy Policy, available at https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/privacy-policy.

    We collect personal information from the nominee or their nominator (You) directly via the nomination form, including information relating to Your membership with Us (and, where applicable) Your criminal record (if any) Your health, religious beliefs or affiliation, racial or ethnic origin and any other sensitive information, to the extent that it is reasonably necessary to administer and process Your nomination for the Local Government Awards 2025.  We may also collect personal information about You from third parties to verify Your personal information.

    Where You have consented to Our processing of such information (including any sensitive information) you may withdraw such consent at any time, by contacting Us using the contact details in Our Global Privacy Policy at [email protected]. Please note, however, that in certain circumstances it may be still lawful for Us to continue processing this information even where consent has been withdrawn, if one of the other legal bases is applicable. If You do not provide Your personal information or You withdraw your consent, we may be unable to process Your nomination.

    We may disclose Your personal information to CA ANZ employees, as well as agents, contractors and service providers such as where we outsource functions.

    Our Global Privacy Policy also contains the contact details of Our Privacy Officer and information regarding Your rights (including how to withdraw your consent, if applicable) and how you can seek to access and correct Your personal information or raise a privacy concern with Us and how it will be dealt with.

2024 Leadership in Government Awards

Ketvi Roopnarain CA and Natalia Cowley CA discuss the work that earned them the 2024 CA ANZ Leadership in Government awards.

Read more