SA/NT 2025 Awards of Excellence

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2025 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE EVENT

30 May 2025 | 4:00pm – 5:00pm | U CITY FUNCTION CENTRE, Adelaide

Join us for the social event of the year as we celebrate the best of SA/NT’s parks and leisure industry, this is a night not to miss. Our Awards of Excellence recognise and showcase the outstanding initiatives and innovative efforts of our members across eleven award categories.

Each year, PLA acknowledges excellence in our industry through its prestigious Awards of Excellence. These annual awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding initiatives and innovative efforts of ‘The People Behind the Places,’ which promote the wise use of leisure time for a multitude of social, environmental, and economic benefits to the community. It’s a celebration of those who contribute to creating vibrant, healthy, and inclusive spaces for all.

These prestigious awards honour remarkable projects and initiatives that have contributed significantly to the advancement of our industry. Starting within our regions, PLA recognises outstanding achievements across a diverse spectrum of fields, from park development to community engagement programs. The winners of these Regional awards represent what we recognise as excellence, showcasing projects and initiatives that not only deliver outstanding value but also enrich the lives of our communities. As a regional award winner, you become a National finalist and are invited to attend the National Awards of Excellence gala

Please visit the dedicated Awards of Excellence webpage for further details and information on how to apply.

MEET YOUR HOST

Stephen Yarwood, Urban Futurist + Former Lord Mayor of Adelaide

Stephen Yarwood is a renowned Futurist, highly respected Urbanist and the Former Lord Mayor of Adelaide. Serving as a catalyst for change for both corporate and community organisations, his passion extends beyond envisioning the future; he educates, motivates and empowers people to shape it. With a strong skill set in cross-disciplinary strategic foresight, Stephen is deeply fascinated by the dynamic interplay between people, places, technology, and change. 

Stephen has a Bachelor of Arts in Planning, Graduate Diplomas in Regional & Urban Planning and Environmental Studies, an MBA from Adelaide University and is an award-winning Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia. He has a wealth of international experience working around Australia and in NZ, Asia the Middle East and North America. He has been on a global advisory board for Airbnb, worked on mega projects in Saudi Arabia and provided keynote presentations to over 150,000 people in the last 10 years in several countries.

During his time as Lord Mayor (2010-2104), his emphasis on collaboration with the private sector and State Government delivered many outcomes and saw Adelaide recognised internationally as an innovative destination by Lonely Planet, National Geographic and The New York Times. Prior to being Lord Mayor, Stephen worked in the South Australian Government and Parliament, in Local Government and internationally as a planner, researcher, educator and speaker.

AWARD CATEGORIES

This award seeks to recognise and celebrate outstanding contributions made by a student or emerging professional (under 30 years of age) in a course of study leading to a nationally recognised qualification in the sector throughout Australia or who has made a significant contribution to the parks and leisure industry.

This award celebrates and acknowledges those who protect nature and parks, improve climate resilience, ensure sustainability, and care for our land, as well as champions in all of these areas as part of this award. Awarded to an individual, a team, or an organisation for the development of innovative processes, practices, or technologies that contribute to the development of a sustainable future.

This award is designed to recognise the combined effort that is required to successfully plan, organise and manage effective initiatives, projects, programs, events and/or festivals which promote and enhance leisure time for a number of social, environmental and economic benefits to the community. Evidence of success should form a component of the submission.

Regional/Rural Australia includes all of the towns, small cities and areas that lie beyond the major capital cities, who make a significant contribution through community initiatives which contribute to the parks and leisure industry. These projects can be playspaces, events, tourism, trails, programs, repurposing of facilities and environmental initiatives.

This award acknowledges outstanding research achievement by a group or individual, professionals, student or academics who have made a significant contribution to the parks and leisure industry through expanded knowledge enhancement promoting the benefits or importance of the parks and leisure sector in Australian society.

This award recognises the development of strategies for parks, open space, sport, recreation and leisure opportunities by rewarding outstanding examples of strategic planning that have enriched and revitalised a community.

This community facility award recognises facilities that demonstrate innovative features of design, development and operation.

This award celebrates and promotes vibrant, successful well designed and managed new or significantly revitalised parks/ open spaces by recognising and rewarding exceptional examples of best practice in terms of design and management. This includes parks and open spaces that are large, small, linear, along transport corridors, road closures, foreshore and reclaimed urban spaces.

This award is given to a playspace under the value of $500,000 that involves a range of stakeholders, contributes to the creation of a sense of ‘place’ for its local community and exhibits landscape and/or structural design innovation that delights and aids childhood development.

This award is given to a playspace over the value of $500,000 that involves a range of stakeholders, contributes to the creation of a sense of ‘place’ for its local community and exhibits landscape and/or structural design innovation that delights and aids childhood development.

This award acknowledges outstanding and innovative achievement in the area of technology application and how that application has benefited the industry.

Thanks to our partners and sponsors for their support