Rules of Entry

Please carefully read the below Terms and Conditions of entry prior to submitting a nomination.

General

1. These terms and conditions set out all the information regarding the Charters Towers Regional Council Business Excellence Awards (the Terms and Conditions).

2. The 2023 Charters Towers Regional Council Business Excellence Awards (the Awards) are being presented and promoted by Charters Towers Regional Council (CTRC).

3. Entry into the Awards is considered acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

Award Categories

4. You are encouraged to enter the category/s that best reflects your business success (separate nomination entries are required for each award category).

5. There are 5 categories available to be entered as part of the Awards as listed below (each an Award Category):

  • Customer Excellence
  • Technology & Innovation Impact
  • Employer of Choice
  • Environmental Contribution
  • New & Emerging Business

Eligibility

6. To be eligible to enter the Awards, it is a requirement that each applicant:

a. where the applicant is a business, has a registered office and/or place of business located in the Charters Towers Region LGA at the time of nomination, judging of the Award Category winners and the Gala Awards;

b. where the applicant is a business, had been registered as a business for a minimum of 12 months;

c. is not a department, statutory body (with the exception of educational institutions), agency or instrumentality of government, including a Government Owned Corporation pursuant to the Government Owned Corporations Act 1993 or a company wholly owned by the State under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth);

d. where the applicant is a company, is not be a subsidiary company of Charters Towers Regional Council;

e. where the applicant is a not-for-profit organisation, is registered as:

      i. a company; or

      ii. an incorporated association; or

      iii. being constituted by a trust endorsed by the Australian Taxation Office as a charity and has an Australian Business Number, and is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

f. must submit a letter from their accountant stating that the applicant's business is in a financially viable position.

7. If at any time following submission of an entry to the Awards the applicant goes into administration, voluntary receivership, liquidation or bankruptcy, the applicant is required to advise CTRC and accepts that the entry will no longer be eligible for the Award Category.

How to Enter

8. To enter the Awards, entrants must fully and correctly complete the online entry form (in accordance with the instructions on the entry form), selecting the category they are entering, and submit the entry form online.

9. Entries for the Awards, except for the People's Choice Award and Business of the Year Award, will open on Monday, 30 January 2023 and close at 11:59pm AEST Monday, 6 March 2023 (extended from 27 February 2023).

10. Applicants may enter in more than one Award Category, but need only complete and submit one entry form. 

11. An entry into the Awards does not guarantee the applicant as a winning entry.

Judging

12. Award Category finalists will be selected through a judging panel from the information provided in the nomination forms.

13. Finalists in the Customer Excellence, Technology & Innovation Impact, Employer of Choice, Environmental Contribution, New & Emerging Business, and Business of the Year categories will be subject to a two-tier judging approach.  Once selected, each Award Category finalist may be invited to a 20-minute interview with the judging panel to determine a winner.  Interviews will be held in April 2023.

14. The winner of each Award Category for the Awards will be chosen on a determination of merit.  Judging of entries will be in accordance with the responses to the criteria on the entry form, and the finalists’ interview with the judging panel.

15. The judging panel will consist of a panel of three representatives selected by CTRC from outside of the region and one local community representative.

16. The judging panel may, in its sole discretion, request further information from entrants at any time as part of the judging process.

17. The judging panel’s decision is final, and no discussion or correspondence will be entered into.

18. By entering the Awards, the applicant acknowledges that under no circumstance will judges and CTRC be held responsible for any comment, viewpoint, or expressions, whether expressed or implied, concerning the standard or quality of an entrant’s submission.  By entering, the applicant agrees not to bring a claim against any judge, CTRC, or sponsor in relation to feedback on their submission.

19. To the extent permitted by the law, CTRC will not be liable for any loss or damage or personal injury suffered or sustained in connection with the Awards.  The applicant will indemnify CTRC and its 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 the applicant, or the applicant’s use of the materials or information supplied by the applicant under these Terms and Conditions of entry.  The applicant irrevocably and unconditionally consents to all acts being done that would otherwise breach your moral rights.

Supporting documents

20. Supporting documents uploaded with entry forms remain the property and responsibility of the applicant.  (See also point 32 below).

Finalist and winner notification

21. Finalists from the Customer Excellence, Technology & Innovation Impact, Employer of Choice, Environmental Contribution, New & Emerging Business, and Business of the Year will be personally notified, as well as being publicly announced on Friday, 14 April 2023.

22. There will be one winner selected from each Award Category announced at the Gala Awards ceremony to be held on Saturday, 20 May 2023 (the Awards Ceremony).

People’s Choice Award

23. Nominations for People’s Choice Award open on Tuesday, 7 March 2023 and close at 4pm AEST on Monday, 13 March 2023.  A list of People’s Choice Award nominations will be published on the CTRC website (Business Excellence Awards) on Tuesday, 14 March 2023.  People’s Choice votes must be drawn from this list.

24. The People’s Choice Award will be won by the business with the greatest number of votes submitted via the online voting option. 

25. Voting for the People’s Choice Award will be conducted from Tuesday, 14 March 2023 to 11:59pm AEST on Tuesday, 28 March 2023. 

26. All votes for People’s Choice must detail the name and contact details of the voter.  Only one vote per person will be accepted.

27. Businesses with entries in other award categories are also eligible for the People’s Choice Award.

Marketing and Promotion

28. By entering the Awards, the applicant authorises the use and/or reproduction of images in relation to any editorial/advertising initiated in conjunction with the Awards.

29. By entering the Awards, CTRC may use the applicant’s logo, business identity, details about the business in any way in any material which promotes the Awards or your products or services.

30. By entering the Awards, the applicant authorises CTRC and any sponsors to contact the applicant to provide any comments about the Awards and to take photos or video footage of the applicant’s business and representative(s) and use any of the material collected as part of the applicant’s entry (excluding any financial information).

31. CTRC reserves the right to use and publish photographs and digital video recordings taken at the Gala Awards ceremony for the purposes of advertising and promoting CTRC's economic development and its programs.  Entrants who do not wish to comply with this must notify CTRC prior to the Gala Awards ceremony.

32. By submitting an application, the applicant confirms that they own the copyright of any supporting material provided as part of the application (be it written or images), or have the ability to authorise its use, and they authorise CTRC to use that material, including for advertising and promotion, without payment of any fee to them or the owner.    

Force Majeure

33. If for any reason the Awards are not capable of running as planned (including due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of CTRC), which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Awards, CTRC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to take any action that may be available, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Awards.  CTRC reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify all entries from any individual who tampers with, or benefits from tampering with, the entry process which as a result corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of the Awards.

34. In the case of the intervention of any outside agent or event which naturally changes the result or prevents or hinders its determination, including but not limited to vandalism, power failures, tempests, natural disasters, acts of God, civil unrest, strikes; CTRC may in its absolute discretion cancel the Awards and recommence it from the start on the same terms and conditions.

Award updates or cancellation

35. CTRC reserves the right to modify these terms and conditions at any time and to cancel or amend the Awards at any time without notice or further recourse to the applicants.