After a one-year hiatus, the Diversity Awards NZ™ are back for 2026, with a new format and new categories.

Through this programme, you can recognise the work being done by your entire organisation, individual inclusion champions at your workplace and, for the first time, teams within your organisation advancing this mahi.

"These awards mark our first celebration under the banner of Te Uru Tāngata Centre for Workplace Inclusion, and we've taken the opportunity to refresh the programme to reflect how workplace inclusion continues to deepen and diversify across Aotearoa New Zealand," says Chief Executive Maretha Smit.

The refreshed structure honours the fact that inclusion happens at every level – not just in boardrooms or policy documents, but in conversations, relationships, and courageous actions across the workplace.

"We've simplified the entry process, clarified the categories, and created space to recognise both strategic organisation-wide shifts and targeted team-led efforts. All in all, it's a more accessible, practical, and powerful platform for celebrating progress which will spotlight the many ways individuals, teams, and organisations are building a fairer future, one step at a time."

There are three awards available to be won by individuals: Inclusive Leader of the Year, Workplace Inclusion Professional of the Year and Emerging Inclusion Champion of the Year.

Organisations can enter the Inclusive Workplace Award and the Breaking Barriers Award. The judges may recognise a medium-large organisation (more than 100 staff) and a small-medium organisation (fewer than 100 staff) in either of these categories.

The three team awards available are the Respectful Culture Award, the Cultural Competence Award and the Employee Networks Award. These are open to teams of any size, with a team defined as a group of people working together towards a shared purpose, whether within a department, across functions, or on a specific initiative.

Entrants in the team or organisation awards can also opt to be considered for a Feature Award, a series of eight categories highlighting excellence in specific dimensions of inclusion — such as disability, rainbow, migrant and ethnic communities, generational equity, pathways for Māori, neurodiversity, socioeconomic opportunity, and respectful culture.

All winners in the organisation, team and feature award categories are eligible for the two top honours: the Supreme Award, selected by the judging panel, and the People's Choice Award, decided by the audience on the night.

Entries close at 3pm on Tuesday, 25 November 2025. Find out more about the categories and judging criteria in the awards section of our website and sign up for our free Awards Entry Assistance workshop.

The awards will be announced on Tuesday, 5 May at a special event as part of our annual Whiria Ngā Kaha conference.