ARCIA update: celebrating excellence in our industry

As has been the case for almost 20 years now, the ARCIA Annual Gala Dinner and Excellence Awards took place during the same week as Comms Connect in Melbourne — and this year, for the first time in many years, the night was hosted in a new venue, The Sofitel Melbourne on Collins. It’s always a big call moving venues, especially when what you had works, but October being the busiest time for events, our usual venue unfortunately wasn’t able to host us. But a change is as good as a rest, as they say, and The Sofitel certainly didn’t let us down, being the great venue that it is.

It was amazing to see over 500 people attend on the night, and while most found their way from across the city, or from interstate, there were many guests who joined us from Europe, the USA and Asia, and we were of course very pleased that they chose to spend the evening with us. As always, this is the night when the industry shines and comes together, joining partners, end users and their peers to celebrate all that is good about this fantastic sector we represent. Our host for the evening was James O’Loghlin and he quickly adjusted to the notion that what our industry does is extremely important and perhaps underappreciated.

The primary reason for this event is to recognise excellence around Australia, with both individuals and organisations represented in the award categories. There were a large number of very strong nominations this year, with the judging panel blown away by many of the award submissions made. With this in mind, thanks must go to BAPCO COO Duncan Swan and Chief Superintendent Matthew Wormald, Fire and Rescue NSW’s Commander of Operational Communications, who contributed significantly to the judging process this year with their knowledge of the critical communications market.

Whilst there is no doubt that there are some incredible people in our industry doing some amazing work — as demonstrated by the strong nominations — on the night there can be only one winner of each award. ARCIA congratulates all the 2025 winners:

• ARCIA Life Membership — Roger Webber
• Small Business Award — SAT Pty Ltd
• Emerging Talent Award — Elnaz Karimpour, Simoco
• Outstanding Professional of the Year — Robert Hockings
• Major Project Award — Vocus
• Industry Innovation Award — Tait Communications
• Local Manufacturing Award — RFI Technology Solutions
• Outstanding Critical Communications Project Award — Life Saving Victoria
• Jonathan Livingstone Seagull Recipient — Scott Manson
   

And finally, on behalf of the ARCIA committee, I would like to thank our CEO Paul Davis and his team for bringing this world-class evening together. The amount of work and the attention to detail involved, so that 500 people can come together so seamlessly to celebrate excellence in our industry, is amazing.

Hamish Duff, President (Hon), ARCIA – Australia’s Radio & Critical Communications Association. 

Top image from ARCIA — 2025 ARCIA Gala Dinner and Awards.