Accenture Australia Product Innovation Award
Winner: Premier Scaffolds Manufacturing
Premier Scaffolds Manufacturing is taking Brisbane-designed scaffolding technology from the factory floor to complex construction environments and international markets. Its world-wide patented Taurus Scaffolding System was developed following three and a half years of research to address electrical conductivity, a persistent challenge in traditional scaffolding. Manufactured in Brisbane, the reduced-conductivity system combines local engineering, polymer, aluminium and manufacturing expertise.
Special Mention: Megaport
Reshaping how businesses connect and manage digital infrastructure through its software-defined platform. Megaport has expanded beyond networking to bring together networking, compute and storage, enabling customers to provision, connect and scale infrastructure through a unified, automated ecosystem. By replacing traditionally complex infrastructure processes with self-service technology and automated APIs, Megaport is making digital infrastructure faster and simpler to manage, while continuing to evolve its technology and products from its Brisbane foundations.
Dentsu High-Growth Business Award
Winner: Rohrig Group
Rohrig Group is an Australian construction company delivering complex projects across Queensland and New South Wales through early contractor involvement, design and construct, and construct-only models. More than a builder, Rohrig works with clients from the earliest stages of a project, providing feasibility advice, cost planning, design management and specialist expertise to help reduce risk and improve functionality and value. The business has particular experience delivering projects in live environments, including schools, hotels, clubs and medical facilities, where careful staging, safety and stakeholder management are critical. Its continued growth is supported by secured work and an expanding pipeline across its Queensland, Gold Coast and New South Wales operations.
Special Mention: Grayza
GRAYZA is providing hospitality venues with software that connects customer ordering channels with existing point-of-sale systems. Its platform supports ordering through QR codes, self-service kiosks and online channels, with payment and order information flowing directly into a venue’s point-of-sale system in real time. Customers span cafés, restaurants, pubs, clubs, hotels, breweries, stadiums and convention centres. Its growth is building a Brisbane-developed hospitality technology platform with an expanding customer footprint.
Moreton Hire Business Transformation Award
Winner: Megaport
Brisbane-born technology company Megaport has transformed from a network-as-a-service provider into a broader automated infrastructure platform spanning networking, compute and storage. Through its self-service portal and automated APIs, customers can provision and scale critical infrastructure in minutes rather than relying on traditional processes that can take weeks or months. The transformation has reshaped Megaport’s technology architecture, product development and service delivery model, enabling customers to discover, provision, connect and manage infrastructure through a unified software-defined ecosystem. It has also supported significant workforce growth.
Special mention: Premier Scaffolds Group
Premier Scaffolds Group has transformed from relying on externally sourced scaffolding equipment to developing and manufacturing its own patent-protected technology in Brisbane. The transformation also extends to workforce capability through Premier Standards, the group’s training operation, and to purpose-built software developed to manage the particular logistics, hire cycles and compliance needs of scaffolding.
Facilitate International Business Award
Winner: Genics
Genics is a Brisbane-based biotechnology company specialising in advanced genetic testing and pathogen detection for the global aquaculture and livestock industries. The company combines diagnostic technology with practical expertise, helping customers not simply receive test results but understand what those results mean for the health and performance of their operations. Through its proprietary myGenics online portal, clients can access submissions, reports and farm health data remotely. Genics serves clients across 62 countries, with major markets including Indonesia, Vietnam, Ecuador, Brazil and the United States. Its multilingual support and regional representatives help connect Brisbane-developed biotechnology capability with agricultural producers around the world.
Special mention: iOrthotics
Founded by podiatrists and with a team of leading clinicians at the helm, iOrthotics is a Brisbane-headquartered leader in custom orthotic manufacturing, pairing CAD/CAM and 3D printing technologies with a multidisciplinary team. From Industry 4.0 facilities in Brisbane, ISO-accredited across its Australian operations, the company exports Brisbane-built technology, materials and digital workflows to more than 1,000 clinics internationally, while annually reducing over 200 tonnes of plastic waste. With more than one million 3D printed devices, a purpose-built technology stack enabling rapid turnaround, and research partnerships with UQ and QUT, iOrthotics carries Brisbane onto the world stage of advanced, patient-focused healthcare.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia Small Business Award
Winner: The Equine Practice Company
The Equine Practice Company is a Brisbane-based business providing online continuing education and mentorship to equine veterinarians around the world. Founded by equine veterinarian Dr Olivia James, the business was created in response to challenges she experienced firsthand, including professional isolation, overwhelm and limited access to ongoing support. Its mobile-first model makes clinically rigorous veterinary education accessible to practitioners regardless of location, helping build capability and connection within the profession. The business has also invested in strengthening its own operations through additional finance, marketing, customer success and management capability, reducing founder dependency while building a platform for continued international growth from Brisbane.
Special mention: Snowscene
For more than 40 years, family-owned Snowscene Travel and Ski has helped Australians turn their love of the snow into memorable holidays. What began as a specialist snow travel business has grown and evolved, combining decades of travel expertise with an expanding retail offering for skiers and snowboarders. Its expansion into retail represents the next chapter for a long-established local business, building on four decades of experience while continuing to adapt to the changing needs of its customers.
Containers for Change Sustainable Impact in Brisbane Award
Winner: Aus Ships Group
An Australian maritime design, shipbuilding and marine services company encompassing Aus Ships, Aus Yachts and Scimitar Boats. The group has invested in local capability across naval architecture, engineering, project management and marine trades, supporting the delivery of vessels for commercial, defence and luxury markets. Its sustainability work includes the development of Australia’s first fully electric ferry, addressing the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport. Partnerships with organisations including CSIRO, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and the Australian-Singapore Low-Emissions Technologies initiative are also connecting international expertise with Brisbane’s maritime industry and showcasing the city’s clean-technology capability.
Special mention: Oz Fish
OzFish Unlimited is working to restore lost shellfish reef habitats and waterways through a community-led approach that combines environmental restoration with circular-economy practices. The program converts discarded shell into habitat, while supporting improvements in biodiversity, water quality and community participation. Its monitoring includes shell tonnage, reef-unit counts, deployment records, field observations, photographic monitoring and volunteer participation.
Hutchinson Builders Social Enterprise Award
Winner: Happy Paws Happy Hearts
Happy Paws Happy Hearts is a social enterprise creating opportunities for people and animals to thrive. Its model combines animal welfare with programs designed to build individual capability, connection and pathways for participants. The organisation brings together expertise spanning animal management and welfare, vocational education, program development, humane education, capacity-building, philanthropy and fundraising. As a social enterprise, 100 per cent of its surplus is reinvested into its mission, helping the organisation reach underserved communities, subsidise access for participants without funding and strengthen its workforce, systems and infrastructure. Its future priorities include employment pathways, new participant programs and embedding evidence-informed practice across its locations.
Special mention: Olive Express
Olive Express, operated by Good Things in the World, creates immersive travel experiences designed to help aged-care residents remain connected with the wider world when independent travel is no longer possible. Its mission centres on tackling social isolation and restoring identity and agency through shared sensory experiences. The concept brings elements of travel back into residents’ lives, creating opportunities for engagement and connection, including for people living with dementia.
JLL Investment in Brisbane Award
Winner: Southern RNA
Southern RNA is building advanced manufacturing capability in Brisbane to support the development and delivery of cutting-edge mRNA vaccines, including personalised treatments. The company selected Brisbane ahead of other major biotechnology centres because of the city’s research ecosystem and access to organisations including the University of Queensland, QIMR and Griffith’s biomedical research capability. Brisbane infrastructure including the Translational Research Institute, Boggo Road Innovation Precinct and Queensland Health clinical trial facilities also supports Southern RNA’s ambition to bring innovation into clinical trial environments faster. The company is working with local research organisations across a range of disease targets, strengthening Brisbane’s emerging biotechnology and advanced therapeutics ecosystem.
oOh!media Micro Business Award
Winner: Love Me Again Market
Love Me Again Market is a Brisbane circular-fashion business with a mission to make pre-loved fashion the first choice, rather than the second option. More than a marketplace, it has created a social space where shoppers and sellers connect through a shared interest in fashion, affordability and sustainability. Its approach has helped transform pre-loved shopping from a practical alternative into an engaging consumer experience. By extending the life of thousands of garments and encouraging circular consumption, Love Me Again Market contributes to reducing fashion waste while building a loyal community of shoppers and sellers. Its events also attract visitors from interstate and overseas, providing another platform for Brisbane’s style and creative culture.
Special Mention: Mumbleberry
Founded in Wilston in September 2020, Mumbleberry Providore has grown into a two-location Brisbane retail business with a national online store. Its stores bring together gourmet food, native botanicals and bush foods, handmade pottery, locally designed gifts and premium homewares, with a focus on quality and provenance. The business operates its original Wilston store as well as Mumbleberry Lane in Brisbane’s Heritage Lanes precinct.
Port of Brisbane Young Business Person of the Year Award
Winner: Remy Tucker, On the House
Remy Tucker is the Brisbane entrepreneur behind On the House, which describes itself as the world’s first free period-product service funded by advertising rather than by women. Her business model grew from recognising two challenges: the ongoing cost and accessibility of period products and, through her experience in brand marketing, the significant amount brands spend on digital advertising. Remy Tucker has brought those ideas together in a business that uses advertising partnerships to fund access to period products. Recognition through Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia has given the Brisbane founder a broader platform to advocate for period equity and female entrepreneurship.
The Courier-Mail Business Person of the Year Award
Winner: Mark Baker, BESIX Watpac
As Chief Executive Officer of BESIX Watpac, Mark Baker leads a construction business with deep ties to Brisbane and a portfolio spanning some of the city’s best-known infrastructure and buildings. BESIX Watpac’s Brisbane legacy includes Suncorp Stadium, The Gabba, Brisbane Airport, QUT, Griffith University and the Kangaroo Point Bridge, alongside major education, health and commercial projects. Under Mark Baker’s leadership, the company has transformed its business while strengthening project delivery and contributing to Brisbane’s economic growth. Across its portfolio, BESIX Watpac works with more than 1,000 subcontractor businesses, supporting supply chains and capability throughout the region.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Karl Morris AO, Ord Minnett
For more than 30 years, Karl Morris AO has been a respected leader in Australia’s financial services and wealth management sector, building a career defined by experience, integrity and leadership. His contribution extends well beyond business, generously giving his time and expertise to organisations across sport, education and philanthropy, including the Brisbane Broncos, Australian Catholic University and Bravehearts Foundation Fund. In 2019, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, recognising his distinguished service to the financial and stockbroking sectors and the community. The 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates his enduring contribution to business and the broader Brisbane community.
Optus Platinum Award
Winner: Premier Scaffolds Manufacturing
Premier Scaffolds Manufacturing combines product innovation, local manufacturing and workforce development in an ambitious Brisbane growth story. At the centre of the business is the Taurus Scaffolding System, a patent-protected, reduced-conductivity scaffolding system developed through three and a half years of research and manufactured in Brisbane. The technology has been designed to address limitations of conventional scaffolding while supporting demanding commercial applications. Around the product, the broader Premier Scaffolds Group has invested in local manufacturing, testing, industry-specific digital systems and training capability. Its registered training organisation, Premier Standards, also delivers qualifications for scaffolding and plant operators, extending the group’s investment into skills development for the wider construction industry.