Terms and Conditions

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How to Enter

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1.1 Entry

Entry into the Gladstone Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) Best in Business Awards 2026 (BIB26) is free of charge.

 

1.2 Agreement to Terms

By submitting a nomination, all nominees confirm that they have read, understood, and agree to these Terms & Conditions.

 

1.3 Changes to T&Cs

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• GCCI reserves the right to alter these T&Cs at any time, without notice, at its discretion. 

• Finalists in the BIB26 Awards will be notified of any changes made after their entry is submitted but before judging takes place. 

• Finalists will have the opportunity to amend or alter their entries if they wish. 

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1.4 Submission Process

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• All nominations must be lodged via GCCI’s BIB26 Awards website: www.gcci.com.au.​

•  Nominations must be submitted by 5 PM AEST on the relevant closing date as published in the Key Award Dates section on the GCCI’s BIB26 Awards website. 

• Nominees may withdraw their nomination at any time in writing.

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Entry Eligibility & Requirements

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2.1 Verification & Criteria

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• Nominations are compiled, sorted, and confirmed.

• All nominees must meet category and definition criteria published on the GCCI website to be eligible.

• Nominees must hold a current Australian Business Number (ABN) and have a registered business address within the Greater Gladstone Region.

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2.2 Business Continuity

Nominee businesses must have been continuously operating in the Greater Gladstone Region for a minimum period of 12 months before nominations open. Check the Key Award Dates section on GCCI’s BIB26 Awards website for the relevant date. 

 

2.3 Individual Categories

Nominees for individual awards (Customer Service Excellence, Young Business Leader, and Business Leader) will be disqualified if:

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• They become bankrupt or insolvent.

• They are disqualified if holding office as a director of any organisation or company. 

 

2.4 Disqualification

GCCI reserves the right to disqualify any nominee who:

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• Breaches these T&Cs.

• Engages in unlawful, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive conduct.

• Brings GCCI’s BIB25 Awards into disrepute or damage the goodwill or reputation of GCCI.

• GCCI accepts no responsibility for any entries lost in transit or not received by the closing date due to technical disruptions or any other reason beyond GCCI’s control.

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2.5 Submission Guidelines

All nominations must be submitted online and include all required information.

GCCI reserves the right to declare any nominee’s entry ineligible and removed, if:

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• Their entry form is found to be incomplete, deficient, false, or misleading in any way. 

• Entrants agree to a change of category if it is deemed to better suit an alternative category than the category

nominated.

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Only one nomination per person and per email address per category will be accepted.

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GCCI accepts no responsibility for any entries lost in transit or not received by the closing date due to technical disruptions or any other reason beyond GCCI’s control.

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2.6 Promotional Participation

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BIB26 Awards winners may be required to take part in promotional activities across various media platforms, including print, television, radio, GCCI’s social media channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram), and GCCI’s website. While winners will not receive any fees, remuneration, or direct financial benefits for their participation, they will have the valuable marketing opportunity to promote their businesses or organisations. 

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GCCI reserves the right to dictate the terms upon which nominees and winners may utilise the GCCI and BIB26 Awards logos in connection with GCCI’s BIB26 Awards.

 

Confidentiality

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3.1 Ownership of Entries

Upon submission, the Top 25 entries become the property of GCCI.

All information provided in Top 25 Forms will be used for the purpose of judging and will be treated as commercial-in-confidence by GCCI and sponsor partners.

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3.2 Use of Information

Information provided by Top 25, excluding any financial information, may be used by GCCI for the purposes of promoting their involvement in GCCI’s BIB26 Awards.

Contact information may be shared with sponsors unless nominees opt out in writing via mail@gcci.com.au.

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3.3 Honesty in Submissions

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• Nominees must provide accurate responses; failure to do so will result in disqualification. 

• Nominees must disclose to GCCI any litigation or insolvency proceedings that may foreseeably affect the reputation of the applicant or the Best in Business Awards. 

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 Judging Process

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4.1 Voting System

Each nomination counts as a vote.

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• The more nominations a business or professional receives, the higher their vote count.

• All nominations will be counted by GCCI committee members

• This will be used to determine the Top 25.

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4.2 Judging Stages

Top 25 Semi-Finalists will receive a finalist form, which must be completed and submitted to the GCCI committee via the online form and by the designated submission date. This completed form, referred to as the ‘Top 25 Form,’ will be used in the selection process.

Top 5: Finalists judged based on nominations and written submissions.

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• All Finalist entries are judged by a panel comprised of GCCI Committee Members and any other business leaders as selected by GCCI.

• All Finalists will be judged on their written submissions (Finalists Forms) and a 15minute in-person interview in Gladstone. Check the Key Award Dates section on GCCI’s BIB25 Awards website for the relevant dates. 

 

4.3 Judging Criteria Considered

The BIB26 Awards are for excellence, and when deciding on a winner the Judging Panel will take into consideration the judging criteria listed in the ‘category definitions’ as well as:

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• Community engagement and contribution   

• Employee engagement and leadership  

• Commitment to continuous improvement  

• Environmental sustainability  

• Innovation and business practices  

• Resilience, diversity, and adaptability  

• Inclusion and accessibility

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In situations where there is only one entrant in a category, this entry will be judged. Subject to meeting a gateway score, the entry will become an automatic Finalist and will be awarded a Finalist Certificate.

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A representative of GCCI or the Judging Panel may contact any Finalist via telephone interview or email for further information or to verify their entry prior to selecting a category winner. Conducting such interviews does not create any obligation on GCCI or the Judging Panel to select the interviewed entrant as a winner. 

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Finalists will be interviewed and assessed using a weighted scoring system Scores will be allocated per question and combined to determine final rankings.

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A countback process will be used where scores are tied. If a tie remains, the judging panel will determine the final outcome.

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Only one winner will be selected per category.

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Categories not listed in the online nominations for GCCI’s BIB26 Awards are:

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Business to Watch

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• Open to Top 25 nominees across selected categories. 

• Winner determined by the Judging Panel.

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Best in Business 

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• Open to all category winners.

• Winner determined by the Judging Panel.

5. In-Person Interview

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The Judging Panel will ask each Finalist a series of weighted questions, allocating scores out of 10 to each question asked to reach an overall score for each nomination. In the event of a potential conflict of interest involving a judge and a Finalist, appropriate steps will be taken to ensure impartiality. This includes bringing in independent guest judges where necessary and arranging the judging process to avoid any judge assessing a nominee with whom they have a conflict.

 

6. Conflict of Interest

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Judges sign a Confidentiality Agreement and must disclose any Conflict of Interest in the judging process. 

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Committee members may act as judges in the Best in Business Awards; however, they are not eligible to nominate their own business. If a committee member’s business is nominated and selected in the Top 25, the member must withdraw their nomination and will not progress further in the awards process. This ensures fairness, transparency, and integrity of the awards program. 

 

7. Decision Finality

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The Judging Panel’s decision is final, and no further correspondence will be entered into.  

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Key Dates

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• June 15th –Voting Opens  

• July 15th – Tickets on Sale & Voting Closes & Add PDF Top 25 form. 

• August 10–14 – Top 25 Announced & Open Top 25 form on webpage 

• Top 25 forms submitted by 28th August – 2 weeks   

• September 21-25th  – Top 5 Announced  

• October 8–9 – Judging Commences  

• October 21 – Ticket Sales Close