Awards for Planning Excellence

About the Awards for Planning Excellence Program

Participating in the Awards isn’t just a chance to gain recognition; it’s an opportunity to inspire others, share achievements, and showcase the meaningful work planners do every day. For organisations involved in planning, the Awards are a chance to be publicly recognised for their achievements, and to showcase leading practice across a range of planning disciplines and sectors.

The journey begins with the State and Territory Awards for Planning Excellence, where nominees are selected for their meaningful contributions and inspiring work.

State winners then advance to the National Awards, where the best projects, teams, and individuals come together, demonstrating the power of planning to overcome challenges and drive lasting change. The National Awards are presented at Planning Congress, the most significant annual gathering of planning professionals in Australia.

For questions, please contact your local Division about State Awards program and [email protected] for the National Awards program. 

Stage 1: State Awards for Planning Excellence

Check out the relevant Division page to learn more about your State or Territory awards program. 

Learn more

Stage 2: National Awards 

State winners become National nominees, held in May the following year. 

State Awards for Planning Excellence 

Explore your State or Territory specific Award information, categories and Awards Ceremony information.

ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA 

Please ensure you've read the Terms and Conditions. 

Nominations

Get to know the nomination process in your Division.

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Award categories 

Learn more about what categories you can enter at your State Awards level.

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Key Dates

Mark these program dates in your calendar!

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Past Award Winners

Get inspired and meet the past winners across National and State Awards.

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2026 National Awards for Planning Excellence

The 2026 National Awards for Planning Excellence took place in May 2026 at Planning Congress. You cannot nominate for the National awards, instead the nominees and winners had all won their respective categories at their State Awards the year prior in 2025.

View the 2026 National winners

 

Award Categories

The following awards are typically awarded at every National Awards for Planning Excellence program. Please check your State or Territory here for any State specific awards. 

Climate Change & Resilience

Highlighting the important and varied role planning can play in responding to climate change.

Community Wellbeing & Diversity

Recognises initiatives that achieve outstanding social sustainability outcomes.

Great Place

Recognises a great place, street or neighbourhood.

Improving Planning Processes

Recognises a significant improvement in planning process or major planning reform which leads to good planning outcomes.

Strategic Planning Project

Recognises an outstanding strategic planning project, which includes regional plans, structure plans, master plans, infrastructure plans, planning schemes and similar.

Planning Research

Awarded for a substantial piece of planning research which makes an outstanding contribution to the understanding of contemporary issues relating to planning in Australia.

Planning with Country

Recognises projects and/or initiatives which promote collaboration, understanding, appreciation, awareness and celebrates Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander knowledge, culture and tradition and their application to planning and land management. 

Stakeholder Engagement

Recognises initiatives and outcomes in implementing best practice public engagement that achieves genuine collaborative outcomes that leads to improved built form, planning processes or social outcomes.

Technology & Digital Innovation

Recognises the importance of technology and digital innovation in 21st century planning.

Tertiary Student Project

Awarded for a substantial project, report, book, thesis, article or piece of research which makes a significant contribution to planning and development outcomes.

Emerging Planner of the Year

This award recognises an Emerging Planner who has made an outstanding contribution or achievement.

Nomination Process

National Award nominees come from the winners of the State Awards for Planning Excellence Program. To enter the State Awards, download your Division's Nomination Guidelines to work out what category you'd like to enter and what required forms and documents are needed. We also have handy walk-through videos of how to complete your nomination forms. 

You'll find both the Nomination Guidelines and the videos on your Division's awards webpage. 

 Find my Division 

Key dates: 2025 Awards for Planning Excellence

Division Awards open Awards close Awards Presentation
National N/A N/A   May 2026
ACT  23 June 2025  17 August 2025   6 November 2025
NSW  23 June 2025  17 August 2025  19 November 2025
NT  Next program 2026  Next program 2026   Next program 2026
QLD  23 June 2025  24 August 2025   7 November 2025
SA  23 June 2025  24 August 2025   14 November 2025
TAS  23 June 2025  24 August 2025   5 December 2025
VIC  23 June 2025  24 August 2025   28 November2025
WA  23 June 2025  5 September 2025   21 November 2025

Principal National Awards Sponsor