To ensure the awards process is as transparent and fair as possible, there will be a qualifying round, followed by a two-stage judging process. Entries are fully anonymised before proceeding through to qualifying and judging rounds.
Jump to:
The STAR Awards are open to human resources, talent acquisition, hiring and employer brand teams and professionals within Australian organisations. Recruitment agencies and recruitment process outsourcing suppliers will be acknowledged by the SARA Awards at a later date.
The winner of this award will be focused on the big picture, and on how their talent team are driving the vision for their business. They will encourage continuous improvement throughout their team, while motivating and inspiring their team to achieve outstanding results.
The winner of this award will be a highly valued member of their team with fewer than 8 years of talent acquisition and/or hiring experience within a HR capacity. They demonstrate exceptional hiring skills and are helping to improve the talent acquisition strategy at their organisation through innovative and creative thinking, whilst always putting the candidate at the centre of what they do.
The winner of this award will be able to demonstrate that their team is a powerhouse, collaborating closely to drive toward their talent acquisition goals, and leveraging the strengths of their large organisation.
The winner of this award will be able to demonstrate that their team is striving to be a trailblazer in talent acquisition, taking a nimble and innovative approach to reaching their goals, and leveraging the strengths of their small or medium-sized business.
The winner of this award will be able to demonstrate that their team is championing talent acquisition in the public sector while ultimately ensuring the very best candidates go on to serve the greater community.
The winner of this award will be focused on amplifying and optimising their unique Employer Value Proposition (EVP) to reach best fit candidates. Their nominated initiative will be strategic and innovative in approach, and will be contributing to a stronger employer brand.
The winner of this award will take a candidate-centric approach to ensure all candidates have a great experience. Their nominated initiative will go above and beyond their candidates’ expectations.
The winner of this award will treat diversity, equity and inclusion as integral to their organisation, and will have an attraction strategy that supports this.
The judging panels will assess entries using the following guiding criteria. These have been designed to reflect the essential role internal talent and hiring teams play within organisations, and the way these teams must adapt and strive for success in an ever-evolving landscape. Here's an overview of what the judges will look for:
How are you putting the candidate at the centre of your strategy or initiative/s?
How are you doing things differently, whether it's process, technology or strategy?
How do you know you are succeeding?
How does this achievement better your organisation, your community, or your candidate experience?
The STAR Awards will be determined by two independent panels. To ensure the awards process is as transparent and fair as possible, there will be a two-stage judging process. One independent panel of talent acquisition leaders will determine the awards shortlist, then a second independent panel of HR and business leaders will determine the award winners. While we're still finalising our 2026 judging panel, take a look at our confirmed judges below.