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ENTRIES FOR THE
2025 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE OPENING IN JULY!

The MLSA Awards of Excellence celebrate the pinnacle of landscaping achievement in South Australia. From apprentices to trade contractors, and small businesses to the biggest names in the landscaping industry, there's an award to suit everyone.

These prestigious annual awards recognise and honour the outstanding work of landscaping professionals who have demonstrated excellence, innovation, and a commitment to quality in their projects. The Awards of Excellence aim to inspire and elevate industry standards, showcasing the best in landscape design, construction, and maintenance.

The MLSA Awards of Excellence have grown to become a highlight of the landscaping calendar. Over the years, the awards have evolved, adding new categories to reflect emerging trends and innovations in the industry. From modest beginnings, the awards now attract entries from the most talented and dedicated professionals in South Australia, making it a true celebration of landscaping excellence.

2025 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
GALA DINNER

EVENT DETAILS

Join us for the grand Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner (date and venue to be confirmed). The evening will feature delicious food & drink, lots of fun, and of course, the announcement of the award winners. It is a night to celebrate the best in the landscaping industry, network with peers, and enjoy an evening of recognition and celebration.

HOW TO ATTEND

Tickets for the ceremony will be open for purchase soon. For more details, visit our the event page HERE.

No upcoming events

Not a Member?
Join Today to Enter

Winning an Award of Excellence will:

Gain you industry and public recognition for your high quality workmanship and projects
Get you a winner's trophy and logo to promote the win to clients and differentiate you from your competitors
Drive business sales and catch the attention of potential clients
Access unrivalled media coverage and promotion across a range of Master Landscapers of SA opportunities; and
Boost staff morale.

JOIN NOW

2025
Sponsorship Opportunities

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

We offer a range of sponsorship packages designed to provide maximum visibility and engagement with our audience. Packages include Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels, each with unique benefits such as branding opportunities, speaking slots, and VIP seating at the ceremony.

HOW TO BECOME A SPONSOR

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities and to tailor a package that meets your business needs, review our available sponsorship opportunities HERE.

Join us in celebrating excellence in landscaping and gain unparalleled exposure to industry leaders.

Eligibility and Entry Requirements

WHO CAN ENTER

The Awards of Excellence are open to all members of the MLSA, including landscaping companies, individual designers, and maintenance professionals who have completed eligible projects within South Australia.

Conditions of Entry are available to MLSA Members and can be found HERE.

ENTRY PROCESS

We understand that compiling and entering your fabulous projects in the MLSA Awards of Excellence can sometimes be time consuming. Well, at least it used to be!

WE STREAMLINE YOUR ENTRY PROCESS

To make entering the Awards easy, we’ve created a bespoke entry portal that saves your work and even transfers applicable content to alternative categories should you wish to enter the project in them too!

Once you’re registered you’ll be able to enter projects across 20 Award categories designed to showcase the achievements of the South Australian landscaping industry.

Entering is simple, just follow these four steps:⁠

Check out this important information about the Awards
Log in to the MLSAs Member-Only area to register an account
Choose which projects to enter and start creating your entry with the option to save as you go and come back later
Submit your entry and easily check-out online!

OUTSOURCE YOUR ENTRY WRITING

Winning an MLSA Awards of Excellence is a great way to enhance and strengthen your business. It effectively:

showcases your ability
establishes and builds your credibility
grows awareness of your brand, product or service
boosts your team morale
attracts talent and potential investors.

Even just being showcased as an entrant can provide significant fuel for your marketing and business development.

However, writing a winning award entry requires work and time, and busy landscapers and business operators often don’t have the resources available.

In that case, you can lose out – not because you don't deserve an award, but because you've got to be in it to win it!

If you want to be 'in it', leave the entry writing to us. For ONLY $99 per entry we'll prepare your entry for you, including:

15 minute phone consultation
30 minute writing service
15 minute administration.*

Leaving your submission to us means you can get back to doing what you do best – running your award-level business, and making your big ideas a reality.

*Member must supply all documentation and photography required for the entry.

SHOWCASE YOUR PROJECT IN THE BEST LIGHT

It’s a great idea to hire a professional photographer to take photos of your project. Not only can you use the photos to support your entry, you can also use them for your own marketing purposes down the road.

It’s mandatory to provide photos of your project with your entry as this helps our judges pick the winners and will be used to promote your win to the media and across a range of official communications.

If submitting professional photos is a stumbling block for your entry, let us snap the project for you. For ONLY $325 per project, we'll visit your project and provide you with all the photos captured.*

Photos will include:

Project shots - landscaping, green-life and any outdoor areas like pools, patios and deck
Feature shots - any main features, such as balustrading, timber or steel work.

*Member must supply owner consent to visit the project, along with address details as required.

WHY NOT HAVE BOTH?

It’s a great idea to hire a professional photographer to take photos of your project. Not only can you use the photos to support your entry, you can also use them for your own marketing purposes down the road.

if you need both writing services and photography, lock them in today! We'll capture your project and write your entry requirements for ONLY $375.*

*All fees include GST and must be paid before the service is rendered.

2025
AWARD CATEGORIES

COMMERCIAL

Design
All project values

Construction
Exceeding $1,000,000
$500,000 - $1,000,000
$200,000 - $500,000
Under $200,000

Maintenance
All project values

RESIDENTIAL

Design
Exceeding $250,000

$150,000 - $250,000

$70,000 - $150,000

Under $70,000
Professional Review - Design

Construction
Exceeding $250,000
$150,000 - $250,000
$70,000 - $150,000
Under $70,000
Professional Review - Construct

Maintenance
All project values

pROJECT SPECIFIC

Individual Landscape Feature
Most Environmentally Sensitive Project
Best-Use of Green-Life

RECOGNISE A PERSON OR BUSINESS

Trainee or Apprentice of the Year
Frank Ugody Award
Craig Norman Award - Industry Supplier of the Year
Landscpaing Yard of the Year
Rising Star

ENTRY
FEES

$110 per entry.

Plus, enter the same project in additional categories for ONLY $75 per additional entry.

IMPORTANT
DATES

ENTRIES OPEN

tbc

ENTRIES CLOSE

Special Award categories

tbc

Residential & Commercial categories

tbc

JUDGING COMMENCES

Special Award categories

tbc

Residential & Commercial categories

tbc

JUDGING PROCESS

Each entry is assessed against the judging criteria by a panel of independent judges during an on-site inspection.
Here's a brief overview of the judging process:

ENTRY SUBMITTED
Entry submitted through the online awards entry system.

ENTRY CLOSED
After entries are closed an on-site inspection is scheduled - MLSA will contact you to advise your allocated inspection day.

Please note: Due to the high volume of entries, flexibility around judge’s inspection times is limited. However, MLSA will endeavour to give you as much notice as possible to allow for arrangements with building/home owners.

On-site judging excludes entrants in the following categories, that will be judged solely on the submission provided:

Rising Star [Interview also required]
Trainee or Apprentice of the Year [Interview also required]
Frank Ugody Memorial Award
Professional Review - Design
Professional Review - Construct

On-site judging excludes entrants in the following categories, which will be judged solely on MLSA Member votes:

Craig Norman Award - Industry Supplier of the Year
Landscaping Yard of the Year

JUDGING DAYS
Special Award categories - online interview.
Our independent judges will interview nominees and evaluate their entry according to the judging criteria.

Residential & Commercial categories - on-site inspection.
Our independent judges will inspect and judge your entry according to the judging criteria.

DELIBERATION
The judges will deliberate and choose a winner for each category.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED
All winners are announced at the 2025 MLSA Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner; Saturday 1 November.

NATIONAL JUDGING COMMENCES
Not all categories go through to the National Awards. All eligible winners will be chosen to compete at national level. Immediately after the Awards of Excellence, entrants will be notified if they have been chosen to go through to the National Awards.

NATIONAL WINNERS ANNOUNCED
National winners are announced at the Champion of Champions Awards.