The Heart of the Community

Category open to: All venues working to support their community through facilitation, active participation and promotion of internal initiatives, community groups, charitable organisations and more.

In the lead up to introducing this award in 2026, we shone a spotlight on three remarkable hospitality venues that are making a meaningful difference in their communities. Watch this video to get a feel for the stories we're trying to champion in this category.

JUDGING: Assessment of written criteria.

*WINNER IS ELIGIBLE TO ENTER THE AHA NATIONAL AWARDS*

Documents required for submission:

• A written response describing the judging criteria below.
• Supporting documents and images, where relevant.

Judges will be assessing the following points in your written submission:

• Provide a short summary of all your charitable initiatives and support. (Can be in dot point format)
• Describe the ways in which you support and promote community groups and activities.
• The extent to which the venue’s employees participate in community service activities.
• Describe any internal initiatives and events that support and promotes local groups and charity initiatives.
• How you communicate your efforts to the wider community and industry? Provide evidence (screenshots, articles, social media posts) to support this.

Supporting documents

• Succinct breakdown of funds raised, with evidence of donation. (Can be via donation receipt, thank you letters, images of recipients receiving novelty cheque etc)
• Evidence of public relations activity because of your work in the community.