The Diversity Awards NZ™ are back after a one-year hiatus, with a refreshed format and new categories. The 2026 programme will celebrate workplace inclusion excellence across organisations, and, for the first time, at a team level.
It will also recognise individual inclusion champions in three new categories.
“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 new structure reflects the fact that inclusion happens at every level – not only in boardrooms or policy documents, but in conversations, relationships, and courageous actions across the workplace, she said.
“We’ve simplified the entry process, clarified the categories, and created space to recognise both strategic organisation-wide shifts and targeted team-led efforts. It’s a more accessible, practical, and powerful platform for celebrating progress that will spotlight the many ways individuals, teams, and organisations are building a fairer future, one step at a time.”
There are three awards recognising 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 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.
Entrants in the team or organisation categories 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 at the awards ceremony.
Entries close at 3pm on Tuesday, 25 November. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, 5 May 2026.
More information on the awards programme is available online.
