2026 ARA Awards
Recognising Clarity in Reporting in Uncertain Times
2026 ARA Awards
Special Awards
Over the past 26 years ARA has progressively introduced Special Awards to focus attention on important aspects of annual reporting, and to emerging changes in reporting and the reporting process. For example, a Special Award for Integrated Reporting was introduced to support this new international approach to annual reporting, and the Online Reporting Award was introduced to encourage the development and effective use of digital technology to increase the ease of navigation and comprehension of annual reports published online.
The Special Awards are assessed by panels of adjudicators who have expertise and experience relevant to the Award category.
Congratulations to all 2026 Special Award recipients
2026 Chair's Commendation
10 Consecutive Gold Awards
Blacktown City Council
Maribyrnong City Council
Best First Time Entry Award
Johor Plantations Group Berhad
Finalists
Johor Plantations Group Berhad
Hayleys Fentons Limited
Best Cover Design Award
Tongan Health Society Inc
The Judges Comments:
“The cover features a beautifully executed graphic that conveys a strong, embedded meaning clearly articulated on the inside front cover: ‘When all hands work together, the future is transformed.’ Use of a graphic approach, rather than photography, provides a distinctive, memorable quality. The complementary colour palette is both confident and refined. The results are thoughtful and distinctive front and back covers with broad stakeholder appeal, and a publication that feels considered from beginning to end.“
Finalists
Aussie Broadband
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad
Main Roads Western Australia
Tongan Health Society Inc
Major sponsor of ARA and sponsor of this award.
2026 ARA Awards
Governance Reporting Award
Governance Reporting Award - Private Sector
PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad
The Judges Comments:
“The superior reporting and transparency of both the winner and finalist for this Award reflect the strict Malaysian reporting requirements. A key feature of the Petronas Dagangan report was the role of the Board with respect to director oversight of governance and periodic external evaluations of Board effectiveness. Management of risk included an annual risk maturity survey to develop resiliency; creating enhanced risk profiles incorporating internal and external emerging risks; and preparing a risk capability matrix across all divisions and subsidiaries.“
Finalists
PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad
PETRONAS Chemicals Group Berhad
Governance Reporting Award - Public and NFP Sectors
Audit Office of New South Wales
The Judges Comments:
“The governance reporting of the Audit Office is notable for its successful adoption of reporting on relevant private sector governance principles while meeting public sector requirements. Key features of the report are engagement with the NSW Parliament and other stakeholders to report on Office outputs and outcomes; the role of a performance audit conclusions committee to oversight evidence-based judgements; and benchmarking the performance of the Office against other Auditor-Generals Offices, and public sector organisations.“
Finalists
Audit Office of New South Wales
Main Roads Western Australia
2026 ARA Awards
Online Reporting Award
Online Reporting Award - Private Sector
Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad
The Judges Comments:
“Both of the finalists’ reports were comprised of a single scroll-down contents page enhanced by brief summary statements with click-throughs to extracts from the PDF version of the full report. This provides navigational functionality for quick and easy access to key aspects of the full report. The CGC ‘navigation page’ was well structured and reader friendly, with consistent content. Importantly, the navigation page was always on-screen so readers could click-through directly from one topic to another.“
Finalists
Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad
Petroliam Nasional Berhad
Online Reporting Award - Public Sector
Destination NSW
The Judges Comments:
“The major strength of this report is its generously spaced, colourful presentation style. Content is image-led with lots of white space around images and text which encourages readers to enjoy the scenery or activities on display, and appreciate the related text messaging. Unusually, most of the text is presented in black on white, and only on the right side of the page. This, combined with liberal font size and line spacings, and short line lengths, enhances readability.“
Finalists
Destination NSW
Main Roads Western Australia
Online Reporting Award - NFP Sector
Argyle Housing
The Judges Comments:
“This report provides easy access to detailed information from the PDF version of the full report via an extensive interactive contents list which is constantly available. The result is easy navigation of the PDF report. The accessed content is easy to digest in terms of good headings, sensible font size, line length, and white space. It successfully meets Argyle Housing’s aim to communicate effectively with present and future clients, funding providers and volunteers to celebrate achievements, and to identify opportunities to improve its services.“
Finalists
Argyle Housing
Hong Kong Housing Society
2026 ARA Awards
Communication Reporting Award
Communication Award - Private Sector
Auckland Airport
The Judges Comments:
“An appealing report with a strong cover which cleverly illustrates the complementary roles of flying and on ground operations with the image of a crane which suggests progress and growth. Bold graphics hold the reader’s interest, particularly the strategy infographic which is used as a key navigation device. Easy to read text is punctuated with hero images of airport activities. The major airport upgrades under way are very well-covered.“
Finalists
Auckland Airport
ALS Limited
Wesfarmers Limited
Communication Award - Public Sector
City of Whittlesea
The Judges Comments:
“A thoughtful and engaging report with abundant images that reflect the diversity of the community. Full page compositions with eye-catching hero images and illustrations page have the effect of asking the reader to pause and reflect. The treatment of completed and in-progress projects is done expertly and its easy for the audience to navigate. Similarly, the calendar form for events is well-executed.“
Finalists
City of Whittlesea
CentrePort Wellington Limited
Port of Tauranga Limited
Communication Award - NFP Sector
Brisbane Youth Service
The Judges Comments:
“A bold, colourful report appropriate to the subject of improving the well-being of young people who need help. The cover sets a visual tone for the rest of the report. While it is information rich, especially the very meaningful statistics, content is presented with clarity though the use of ample whitespace. The 'Our Reconciliation Journey’ section and well-written and engaging case studies, provide insights into the very tangible activities undertaken by this organisation.“
Finalists
Brisbane Youth Service
Austroads
Warrigal
Major sponsor of ARA and sponsor of this award.
2026 ARA Awards
Integrated Reporting Award
Integrated Reporting Award
Malayan Banking Berhad
The Judges Comments:
“The 2024 Maybank Integrated Report is particularly effective in storytelling. It offers a clear, consistent narrative anchored in the M25+ strategic plan which is introduced early and reinforced throughout. The report demonstrates meaningful advancement from a high quality report last year, notably through adoption of the double materiality principle, which strengthens identification and articulation of risks, opportunities and impacts. Stakeholder considerations and board engagement are embedded consistently, reinforcing alignment with value creation, and demonstrating deep level integrated thinking.“
Finalists
CPA Australia
Malayan Banking Berhad
Petroliam Nasional Berhad
PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad
Yinson Holdings Berhad
Major sponsor of ARA and sponsor of this award.
ARA gratefully acknowledges the support of
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