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Tag: Social Enterprise / Impact

DEADLINE: The Food Planet Prize Award

Entrepreneurs, start‑ups, researchers, NGOs, social innovators, companies and initiatives from Australia and the globe who are working across the food system and developing or have developed solutions to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the way we eat.

The world’s biggest environmental award is calling for nominations, apply before May 15, 2026!

The Food Planet Prize is calling for nominations of initiatives that can significantly reduce the environmental damage caused by the way we eat today.

The Food Planet Prize identifies and supports initiatives with the potential to realize meaningful, scalable solutions — whether technical, biological, social or policy-based. Nominations are open year-round to anyone, including self-nominations, via a simple three-minute online process. Both for-profit and non-profit initiatives are eligible, at any point along the food value chain.

DEADLINE: WASEC Social Impact Incubator 2026

Applications are open for the WASEC Social Impact Incubator 2026 – WA’s only program of its kind.

Six months of expert mentoring, practical tools, and a community of purpose-driven founders building businesses that make a real difference in WA.

Apply by 18 May 2026 → wasec.org.au/incubator

DEADLINE: Meshpoints Founder Resilience & Wellbeing Challenge

How can the innovation ecosystem build resilience and wellbeing among founders and their teams?

Meshpoints’ new Challenge invites not-for-profit and ecosystem organisations to propose initiatives that strengthen the wellbeing, resilience and long-term sustainability of founders, teams and the broader innovation community across Western Australia. $150K in grant funding (including up to $20K per initiative) is available.

Learn more here

EOIs close 4 June 2026

Applications close 11 June 2026

DEADLINE: WASEC Social Enterprise Awards 2026

The WA Social Enterprise Awards are back. If you’re doing great things – or know someone who is – let us know!

There’s never been a more important time to back local Western Australia business that’s built for good – and the Awards are your chance to celebrate the enterprises and people leading the way. Across the state, social entrepreneurs are creating jobs, strengthening communities, and tackling our biggest challenges – from homelessness and domestic violence to childhood poverty and environmental impact.

On Thursday 13 August at The Westin Hotel, Perth, we’re bringing everyone together to recognise and celebrate them.

DEADLINE: WAIOTY Young Innovators Award

Awarded to a WA high school aged individual or team (1 to 5 people) who have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology, process or service that clearly demonstrates an economic, social or environmental benefit to Western Australia. In addition to the $1,000 cash prize awarded, the winner/s will receive $15,000 value in-kind support facilitated by the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) and includes:

  • Bespoke entrepreneurship masterclasses – 4 x 1.5-hour classes
  • Professional case study development
  • Up to 10 hours of mentoring and development support
  • Participation in West Tech Fest events and activities

DEADLINE: WAIOTY Government Innovation Award

Western Australia’s (WA) Innovators of the Year awards program recognises local businesses, government entities and young people that have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology or service.

In 2024, a new WA Government Innovators of the Year Award was introduced to acknowledge Western Australian government entity employees who are innovating, creating novel IP and adding value to public service delivery. For the purposes of this program, Western Australian government entities include Local and State Government departments, and Government Trading Enterprises. The objectives of the WA Government Innovators of the Year Award are to:

  • Identify and celebrate Western Australian Government Entity Employees (local and state departments) and Government Trading Entities
  • Encourage innovation within the public sector to improve efficiencies for Western Australia.

WA Innovators of the Year Awards Ceremomy 2026

Western Australia’s (WA) Innovators of the Year awards program recognises local businesses, government entities and young people that have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology or service.

Administered by the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, the program has also raised the profile of WA’s innovation ecosystem, helped to spotlight local talent and supported the growth of the State’s innovation-based industries. In 2026, the program will recognise WA innovators across eight award categories:

  • Emerging Innovation Award
  • Growth Innovation Award
  • Advanced Manufacturing Award
  • Community Benefit and Wellbeing Award
  • Energy Innovation Award
  • Government Innovation Award
  • Great for the State Award
  • Young Innovators Award

DEADLINE: WA Innovators of the Year Awards (WAIOTY) 2026

Western Australia’s (WA) Innovators of the Year awards program recognises local businesses, government entities and young people that have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology or service.

Administered by the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, the program has also raised the profile of WA’s innovation ecosystem, helped to spotlight local talent and supported the growth of the State’s innovation-based industries. In 2026, the program will recognise WA innovators across eight award categories:

  • Emerging Innovation Award
  • Growth Innovation Award
  • Advanced Manufacturing Award
  • Community Benefit and Wellbeing Award
  • Energy Innovation Award
  • Government Innovation Award
  • Great for the State Award
  • Young Innovators Award

This includes a new category, Advanced Manufacturing, awarded to a WA applicant who has used advanced technology and knowledge inputs as an integral part of their manufacturing process to create efficient, higher value-add and more complex manufacturing goods across the manufacturing value chain.

All finalists will receive a professional video of their innovation and photography session, as well as an invitation to an Accelerator program, aimed at upskilling early and growth-stage innovators and entrepreneurs. Winners will share in a prize pool of up to $310,000 to support the commercialisation development of their innovation.

To be eligible, the innovative product, technology or service must be at the emerging or growth phase of development and demonstrate an economic, social, and/or environmental benefit to WA.

Apply here

DEADLINE: Australasia GreenGown Awards

Applications are now open for the 2026 Green Gown Awards Australasia, celebrating the institutions and individuals driving sustainability leadership across the tertiary sector.

This year includes a new Digital Futures category, recognising innovative digital projects that enhance sustainability in tertiary education. The biennial Powerful Partnership category also returns, celebrating high-impact collaborations within and beyond the sector. With a broad mix of organisational and individual categories, there are plenty of opportunities to showcase your work.

Organisational categories are open to any tertiary education establishment – including all post-16 educational institutions such as universities, colleges, TAFE, Polytechnics and learning and skills institutions. Individual categories are open to staff and students of ACTS member organisations.

DEADLINE: AusSRC HPC Funding Applications Close

The Australian SKA Regional Centre (AusSRC) is proud to launch the Astronomy Resources for Industry Applications (ARIA) Program, a new initiative designed to accelerate innovation through access to high-performance computing (HPC).
AusSRC is Australia’s contribution to the international SKA Regional Centre Network (SRCNet). The SRCNet will support the global flow of data and processing needed for the SKA telescopes – the two most advanced radio telescopes in the world, located in Australia and South Africa.
One of AusSRC’s goals is to support discovery and delivery of impact beyond radio astronomy. By working with industry to foster data-intensive innovations across sectors, AusSRC aims to leverage astronomy capabilities to generate broad benefits to the Australian economy and community.

The ARIA Program has been established to provide Australian start-ups and small to medium businesses with access to HPC resources to enable innovation in products and services aligned with key technical priorities.

For the 2026 inaugural funding round, AusSRC will support projects focused on:

  • Data Management
  • Data Visualisation
  • Data Compression

We are seeking applications from SMEs and start-ups that would benefit from HPC capability but face barriers accessing research-based or large-scale infrastructure schemes.

Applications are open to organisations from any industry excluding astronomy that can demonstrate how covering HPC-related expenses would directly enable innovation in one or more of the priority areas.

For a full explanation of the ARIA Program, please refer to the ARIA Program Guidelines and ARIA Program Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).