Judging Process
The AWA judging process is simple and thorough, performed by some of the industry’s leading experts.
Express your interest
Process
Australian Web Awards entries are assessed using a combination of ‘judging disciplines’, such as content or development, and ‘judging criteria’ which is a scale from 1 to 5. Each site is reviewed and judged by multiple judges.
Judging disciplines
Each entry will be judged in up to 6 disciplines, and they are:
- Design
- Development
- User experience
- Content
- Accessibility
- SEO
Judging criteria
Each judging discipline contains criteria based on a simple 1 to 5 scale. Here’s how that works:
- 1 is the minimum level accepted – if an entry doesn’t get at least a 1 for each discipline it won’t qualify for the awards.
- 3 is the midpoint – this is where an entry would need to be to be considered as a finalist for an awards.
- 5 is considered excellence – an entry that goes above and beyond and is outstanding (ideally what look to award in each category).
Each entry will be judged on its performance against the criteria and awarded points in each discipline to accrue a combined score. As an example, if there are 6 disciplines, an entry could have a total score between 6 and 30.
Judges
Daniel Zuccon
Daniel has over 20 years of experience within the web industry and is a co-founder of SEO agency, Optimising.com.au. Having been an AWA judge for the past few years, Daniel is proud to support and celebrate the most innovative Australian websites.
Steven Jaenke
Steve Jaenke has been involved in the digital world for over 2 decades. Seeing the power of SEO early in the market he pivoted his business to focus on assisting SME to understand and leverage the power of Google. He was a finalist in the 2021 Global Search Awards, and a judge for the Australian Web Awards awards.
Eddy Eau
Eddy found Square18.com.au in 2004. He is currently the Managing Director of Square18.com.au and is also the Brand Ambassador for a WA building materials supplier. Under his leadership, Eddy and his team holds a proven track of records on consulting, designing, building many successful online stores in WA, digital value chain automated websites and Application, and strengthening many clients search market share nationwide.
Tracy Sheen
Tracy Sheen is the author of “The End of Technophobia” winner of The Australian Business Book of the Year Awards in 2021 and Best Technology Book. Recognised as a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM) through the Australian Marketing Institute (AMI), she is a speaker, commentator, and small business digital coach. Tracy has over 30 years experience in marketing, sales & small business technology.
Michael Bollig
Meet our judges! Michael is a creator of digital experiences, awarded sites & apps. He is Senior Digital and Experience Design Consultant at Empired Ltd, mainly for enterprise, retail and government customers. He’s obsessed with UX, inclusive design, product, strategy and learning.
Chris Burke
Chris Burke is a senior digital consultant with a wealth of experience finding innovative outcomes for clients across various sectors, including banking, retail, NFP, government, education, health and startups. Chris takes a holistic approach to digital product development, encompassing the areas of discovery, strategy, marketing, UX and accessibility.
Sarah Jee Watson
Meet our Judges! Sarah is a business minded user advocate, and works as a UX Consultant & UI Designer.
Bob Croft
Bob is the owner of the digital marketing agency EZMarketing Australia. He had over 10 years of experience in digital marketing. He and his team have designed and developed the websites for a variety of clients as well as assisted on accessibility testing, SEO and UX improvement projects.
He is passionate about what he’s doing and he delivers above and beyond his clients’ expectations.
Jarrad Langdon
Jarrad has always had an interest in computers and design. When he was offered an apprenticeship at a local design firm he keenly embraced the opportunity presented to him. After completing several TAFE courses Jarrad’s talents have resulted in success both locally and internationally. The pinnacle of this success was his gold medal in Website Design at the WorldSkills International Competition, Helsinki 2005.
Pamela Alison Meagher
Pamela, a Certified Practising Marketer, is an award-winning digital marketing strategist. She has delivered results for over 600 local and global products/services; gaining award recognition for content development, website strategy, and innovative digital solutions.
Pamela’s industry leadership includes mentoring for the Australian Marketing Institute and guest lecturing at Swinburne University. In addition, she has contributed as an SEO Meetup Organiser, Australian Marketing Institute Award Judge, and Australian Web Awards Judge.
Jason Arnold
Jason has spent over 16 years in the digital industry, championing user experience across a number of different roles while working on digital solutions for well-known brands like Toyota, Subaru, Caltex, the University of Sydney, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Virgin Money, Sanofi, and government clients across NSW and Queensland.
He has a unique skillset based on his experience as a developer, producer, technical manager, project manager, account manager, and user experience consultant. Jason’s passion for delivering the simplest and most elegant experience and focusing on the human experience coupled with his diverse digital experience, ensures that all stakeholders are engaged with and considered in any project outcome, using proven user research and usability techniques to find and refine the best solution.
Matthew James Oxlade
Matt has a lengthy history with digital solutions and strategies, most notably with Brisbane City Council during their infancy with social media during times of natural disaster, with the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games rolling out the first ever Commonwealth Games mobile messaging solution and overseeing the digital team’s social media management of 608,000 subscribers and 69.2 million impressions, and delivered a platform for Urban Utilities which saved 1,000 hours annually for service crews and achieved a 98% satisfaction rating for residential users.
Doyle Buehler
Doyle Buehler is a world authority on digital transformation, a best-selling author, podcaster, teacher and entrepreneur. He has consulted, coached, taught and inspired many in the areas of digital leadership, online marketing, social selling, social media marketing & digital strategy.
He designs, develops & deploys high-performing digital foundations for businesses to transform how they deliver their value in this disruptive, digital economy.
Doyle plays at the intersections of entrepreneurship and digital innovation, and has spent the past 20 years in the business world with multiple businesses and startups from around the world. He positions digital leaders to think in a clearer, logical, more strategic manner for evolving & growing their business.
Fiona MacPherson
Fiona has over 10 years of experience in User Experience and Human Centred Design. She has worked in Federal Government and in Technology Consultancy Companies and loves working with businesses of all sizes to design and deliver user friendly digital products and experiences. She is a founding member of the Brisbane Global Service Design Jam & can often be found at local meetups and events.
James Fitzjohn
GM with specialist expertise across design, technology, brand, communications, media and customer experience. He has consulted for some of the most renowned brands in Perth, Melbourne and London; providing brand leadership, marketing strategy, digital initiatives and communication campaigns to deliver business and customer growth.
James has over 15-years of multi-category experience spanning financial services, FMCG, retail, automotive, government, sport, entertainment and utilities.
John Rosato
John is Soul+Wolf’s digital marketing manager and Co-Founder of Break Binge Eating. With over 10 years of digital marketing experience he’s passionate about driving measurable and radical growth for Soul+Wolf’s clients.
Danny Liang
I’m a designer, developer, photographer, and educator who loves bringing academia and industry together! I work with clients of all sizes to create impactful web solutions that make a difference.
Caylee Pharoah
Caylee is an experienced marketing professional with a diverse background in both digital and print. She began her career at a fast-paced weekly magazine and later completed a postgraduate degree while working for a PR and Social Media agency. In 2018, Caylee moved to Australia and joined Localsearch, where she played a hands-on technical role in the rapidly changing digital environment. Today, she leads the development of digital teams and products across the suite of digital marketing solutions which Localsearch provides.
Ash Nallawalla
Ash Nallawalla has been a search marketer for over 20 years, both as an independent consultant and as an in-house SEO manager for large companies and agency-side for small businesses. He also founded and sold an SEO training business. He wrote a monthly column about SEO in APC Magazine for many years. He is writing three SEO books aimed at managers and the C-Suite. “Accidental SEO Manager” was released last July and there are two more to come.
David Leckstrom
David is an executive with extensive digital experience across Retail, Telecommunications, Banking & Insurance industries and within business ranging from start-ups through to large corporate enterprise.
Having worked the last 15 years in large multi-channel businesses such as Myer, Optus, Bankwest and Suncorp he has been at the forefront of driving digitally led organizational change, building specialist teams and establishing new capabilities.
In his current role as the Executive Manager of Digital Experience at Suncorp he leads a multidisciplinary digital team to design & deliver customer experiences across all Insurance brands, including AAMI, GIO, Suncorp and Apia.
Jena Hackett
Jena Hackett, Creative Director & Operations Manager of We Are Coast Creative Agency, based on the Coffs Coast.
With an exciting career spanning between Sydney and the Coffs Coast, Jena sports an intricate eye for detail, with the unique ability to ‘think big’, always looking to go that extra mile to help Coast clients take their business to the next level. Following her degree at Sydney’s CATC Design School, Jena’s career saw her working with countless iconic Australian brands and start-ups. Professional highlights include her time as Production Manager for Delicious Magazine, Lead Creative for the Max Brenner marketing team, plus working with the likes of Athletes Foot and even Masterchef!
Andrew Pitchford
Andrew has over 25 years of experience in marketing, broadcasting, sales and communications. He built his first website in 1995 winning an international Broadcaster’s website competition. Now as Director of Client Engagement at Excite Media Andrew enjoys working with small to medium size businesses on optimising their marketing dollar, especially in the area of lead generation and conversion at a website level. He also has a background in coaching non-profits in creating marketing that helps their organisation reach their altruistic goals and potential.
Kristy Haines
Kristy has 20 years of experience in design, across a variety of delivery and research roles. She’s currently a UX design lead with HBF Health, and has deep experience in both enterprise and agency organisations.
Kristy’s passionate about leveraging design to help enable high performing, cross-functional teams. She loves nothing better than working with people in different roles to unravel sticky problems, and creating innovative digital products and experiences.
Marco Rosano
Marco Rosano is the co-founder and Managing Director of the multi-award winning digital agency, Soul+Wolf. He is also one of the directors of the highly acclaimed, NO/BS Conference.
As an extremely capable and well-respected member of the Australian digital industry, Marco has over 15 years of experience and success working and leading in digital.
Googe Farrugia
I am a founding partner and User Experience Director of Studio Bravo in Melbourne. For the past 25 years, my focus on design and the way we interact with technology has lead to me helping a variety of people and organisations create meaningful, delightful and effective digital products and services.
Paula Glynn
For over 15 years, Paula has helped businesses across Australia boost their bottom line with effective marketing campaigns and website strategies. While the web has changed dramatically over that time, the fundamentals of Paula’s approach has remained the same: matching her client’s objectives with the needs of an online audience. She specialises in digital strategies, customer experience and conversion rate optimisation.
Paula is a regular speaker at industry events, offering actionable advice to businesses looking to grow with digital strategies.
Paras Aggarwal
With over two and half decades of experience in design, both as a practitioner and a leader, Paras has worked across the globe helping large corporations in their design transformation journeys. In his recent roles with large enterprises in Australia, Paras has led design teams at Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, Woolworths, and Tabcorp. Currently, Paras is leading the design team at Sonder as Head of Design. Sonder is a purpose-led medical, mental health, safety and wellbeing company helping employers, universities, government and social agencies making their people a better version of themselves.
Kath Purkis
Kath Purkis is an entrepreneur & investor with 19+ years of experience building eCommerce luxury fashion, fast-fashion, lifestyle & software category businesses.
Kath founded her first business at 21 years old, has built multiple B2C & B2B e-Commerce businesses on Magento & Shopify and developed highly customised retail solutions.
Kath invests in software, commercial property, retail technologies, fintech, communication solutions, education, health solutions & other categories innovating to make the world a better place.
Steph Clarke
Steph is a learning experience designer who is out to bridge the gap between learning that happens inside and outside organisations. She has a particular interest in EdTech, the future of work and education, and the role of these in the employee experience.
Andrew Lawton
Studied design for four years and somehow came out a programmer. Full-stack developer working with a talented team of designers, marketers and developers at Soul+Wolf, doing great work for great clients. Excited by data structures. Enjoys margaritas and refactoring code.
Sam Penny
Sam Penny is the SEO Manager at Rest – a super fund with more than 1.9 million members across Australia. He’s passionate about making the web a better place to be and applies that ethos to his work in search.
Tony Cormack
Tony has 25+ years international creative experience working on market leading projects across digital, identity, brand and publishing. For the past 17 years he has dived head long into all things digital and brand with a wealth of experience in producing usable, exciting and engaging user centred brand experiences.
Sharon Latour
Professionally – An experienced marketing professional, board consultant – I founded Sydney and Melbourne based award-winning agency Marketing Bee. We specialise in powerful emerging digital strategies for retail products that connect with customers and grow business whilst working closely with brand and marketing managers.
Marketing Bee is global and serves clients in France, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritius, and New Zealand in addition to Australia. Additionally, we have collaborated with businesses from the UK and Denmark. We have a team that is diverse and directors who speak French and Italian natively, we are designed to work internationally.
Thibaut Allender
With 25 years of expertise in web development in Europe and Australia, Thibaut has helped designing and developing websites and web applications for a variety of businesses, through many different organisations.
His focus is now on Design Systems, accessibility and performance.
Thomas Lutrov
Thomas built this first website at the age of 10 years old, using a now retro version of Dreamweaver. His skills in the world of websites have been somewhat refined since then, and he now leads the SEO team at Straight Out Digital. He is passionate about helping website owners genuinely satisfy the intent of people using search engines, and takes a user-first approach to all things organic search.
James Carter
With 20 years of expertise in design, brand, marketing, communications, media strategies, social media management and strategic relationship management, James has consistently helped businesses grow through customer-centric thinking and devilish design.
From start-ups to some of the biggest organisations in the world, James has enabled businesses to increase their brand footprint, retain their customers and re-imagine their opportunities.
He’s worked with; Government, and numerous companies across private and public sectors.