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AITD Excellence Awards
Celebrating excellence in Learning and Development
The AITD Excellence Awards recognise outstanding achievement, innovation and impact across Australia’s Learning and Development profession.
The Awards celebrate the organisations, teams and practitioners who are raising professional standards, strengthening workforce capability and demonstrating the value that effective Learning and Development brings to individuals, organisations and the broader community.
Being recognised as an AITD Excellence Awards winner or finalist provides an important opportunity to showcase your work, acknowledge the people behind it and build your professional and organisational reputation across Australia.
The Awards are presented at the AITD Excellence Awards Dinner, held during the AITD National Conference. This dedicated evening event brings finalists and winners together with conference attendees, Learning and Development professionals, organisational leaders and industry partners from across Australia to celebrate excellence across the profession.
Award Categories
Applications are invited across the following categories.
The description and focus and evidence requirements for each award may be displayed in a dropdown beneath the award title.
Best Blended Learning Solution
This award is presented to an organisation that can demonstrate excellence and impact by combining learning delivery mechanisms, methodologies and modes in a new or existing learning initiative.
Focus and evidence
The entry should focus on how the combination has been applied to improve the quality of outcomes for learners and the overall effectiveness of the initiative.
Judges will look for evidence-informed design decisions, including why each mode was selected and how the different modes interact seamlessly, together with measurable performance impact for both learners and the organisation.
Best Use of AI in Learning and Development – Small/Medium Organisation
This Award recognises the responsible and effective application of artificial intelligence, including generative, predictive, adaptive or analytical AI, to address a clear learning, performance or operational Learning and Development challenge.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate why AI was the appropriate solution, how human oversight, data privacy and ethical considerations were maintained, and the measurable impact on learner outcomes, personalisation or Learning and Development efficiency.
Best Use of AI in Learning and Development – Large Organisation
This Award recognises the responsible and effective application of artificial intelligence, including generative, predictive, adaptive or analytical AI, to address a clear learning, performance or operational Learning and Development challenge.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate why AI was the appropriate solution, how human oversight, data privacy and ethical considerations were maintained, and the measurable impact on learner outcomes, personalisation or Learning and Development efficiency.
Best Use of Technology for Learning
This Award recognises the strategic application of technology, including platforms, immersive environments, simulations, mobile learning and gamification, to solve a performance or capability need.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate effective technical integration, user experience and accessibility, together with tangible evidence of how the technology enhanced learning transfer and organisational results.
Best Leadership Development Program – Small/Medium Organisation
Description
Recognises programs designed to build leadership capability that directly drives organisational performance and culture.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate a clear diagnosis of leadership needs, alignment with strategic goals, innovative design choices and evidence of sustained behaviour change in team or business performance.
Best Leadership Development Program – Large Organisation
This Award recognises programs designed to build leadership capability that directly drives organisational performance and culture.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate a clear diagnosis of leadership needs, alignment with strategic goals, innovative design choices and evidence of sustained behaviour change in team or business performance.
Best Capability Building Program – Small/Medium Organisation
Description
This Award recognises targeted initiatives designed to close critical technical, professional or organisational capability gaps.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate the rigour of the initial capability gap analysis, evidence-informed learning design, integration of practice or coaching, and measurable capability uplift across individual and team levels.
Best Capability Building Program – Large Organisation
This Award recognises targeted initiatives designed to close critical technical, professional or organisational capability gaps.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate the rigour of the initial capability gap analysis, evidence-informed learning design, integration of practice or coaching, and measurable capability uplift across individual and team levels.
Best Onboarding or Induction Program
This Award recognises onboarding initiatives that establish early confidence, cultural belonging and rapid time-to-productivity for new starters.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate integration across people, processes and systems, support for hybrid or remote starters, and metrics showing early retention, engagement and accelerated time-to-performance.
Best Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Program
Description
This Award recognises learning initiatives that measurably advance psychological safety, inclusion and equitable behaviours across an organisation.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate authentic co-design with impacted communities, integration into everyday work practices, and concrete evaluation showing cultural shift and behavioural outcomes.
Best Learning Culture in an Organisation
Recognises an organisation where learning is embedded into daily operations, supported by leadership and continuously connected to strategic outcomes.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate leadership modelling, psychological safety for experimentation, systemic integration of learning into workflows, and evidence of long-term organisational resilience and adaptability.
Best Learning Impact or Measurement Strategy
Description
Recognises an organisation that has designed and executed an evaluation framework or impact strategy to measure, validate and isolate the true business or human impact of a learning initiative.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate rigour in the evaluation methodology, the upfront definition of success measures and baseline data, efforts to isolate the effects of learning from external variables, and clear attribution of performance shifts or business measures to demonstrate organisational value.
L&D Team of the Year
Description
Recognises a high-performing Learning and Development team that acts as a strategic business partner, demonstrates operational excellence and continuously invests in its own professional capability.
This is a single award, with teams assessed relative to their organisational context, team size and available resources.
Focus and evidence
The entry should demonstrate stakeholder alignment, agility in problem-solving, team capability development and the team’s overall strategic contribution to the organisation.
Individual award
AITD L&D Practitioner of the Year (The Dr Alastair Rylatt Award)
AITD’s flagship individual honour recognises an outstanding practitioner with at least 10 years of Learning and Development experience whose work, leadership and contributions have advanced the standing of the Learning and Development profession in Australia.
This award is assessed by a panel of AITD Board Directors.
Focus and evidence
The nomination should demonstrate sustained professional excellence, alignment with the AITD Capability Framework and professional standards, leadership, mentoring and advocacy for the profession.
Organisational size
For the purpose of the Awards:
- A Small/Medium Organisation has fewer than 200 employees or full-time equivalent employees.
- A Large Organisation has 200 or more employees or full-time equivalent employees.
- Vendors, consultants and agencies must enter according to the size of the client organisation for which the work was undertaken.
Application Process
Applications for the next AITD Excellence Awards are expected to open in October. Further details, including eligibility dates, application questions, supporting evidence requirements and closing dates, will be published when applications open.
1. Select your category
Review the award categories and select the one that best reflects the purpose, approach and impact of your work.
For awards offered according to organisational size, select the category corresponding to the organisation in which the initiative was implemented.
2. Prepare your application
Applications should clearly explain the context and objectives of the initiative, how it was designed and implemented, the outcomes achieved and how those outcomes were measured.
Applicants should respond directly to the description and focus and evidence requirements for their selected category.
Detailed eligibility requirements, application questions, supporting evidence requirements and submission instructions will be provided within the application form and applicant guidelines.
3. Submit your application
Applications must be submitted through the AITD Excellence Awards application form by the published closing date.
An initiative may be entered in more than one category where it genuinely meets the requirements of each category. A separate application, specifically tailored to the relevant criteria, must be submitted for each category.
Judging and Presentation
Applications are assessed by experienced Learning and Development professionals against the published criteria for each category.
The AITD L&D Practitioner of the Year (The Dr Alastair Rylatt Award) is assessed by a panel of AITD Board Directors.
Finalists will be notified before the Awards presentation, with winners announced at the AITD Excellence Awards Dinner, held during the AITD National Conference.
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