Winners announced at the 2025 Australian Not-for-Profit Technology Awards

Last night, Infoxchange hosted an incredible event—our 2025 Australian NFP Technology Awards—as part of the Technology for Social Justice Conference. From the beautiful 43rd floor of the Telstra Insights Centre, we were treated to fantastic city views and a glorious sunset, and our hearts were warmed and cheered by networking with our fellow not-for-profit workers and volunteers. Thanks to Telstra for generously hosting this marvellous event.

The judges this year faced a near-impossible task to pick winners, with some awards coming down to a single point's difference! Every award winner and finalist should feel incredibly proud of the impact they have made on their coworkers and their communities and we heartily congratulate them all. 

Here are the winners!

Not-for-Profit Technology Innovator of the Year Award

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This award recognises a not-for-profit organisation that has best showcased innovation through the use of technology to effectively deliver programs and/or services that positively impact the community.

WINNER: Watch on Nature, Wilderness Society 

Developed by the Wilderness Society, Watch on Nature is a web-based platform to detect and expose deforestation across Australia. It utilises satellite imagery with simplified GIS tools to monitor and map deforestation activities. Citizen scientists play a crucial role in identifying changes in vegetation cover, which are then backed by organisational intervention.

Finalists:

This award recognises excellence in the use or development of technology by an Indigenous Australian or group of Indigenous Australians to positively connect with and impact local communities.

WINNER: The Indigenous Governance Toolkit, Australian Indigenous Governance Institute

The Indigenous Governance Toolkit is a ground-breaking technological achievement that empowers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by providing a comprehensive, accessible and culturally responsive resource to strengthen Indigenous governance practices. Through innovative digital design and content, the Toolkit addresses critical gaps in governance education, supporting self-determination and improving decision-making processes across Australia.

Finalists:

• Indigenous Digital Archive, Dr Donna Odegaard AM, First Nations Broadcasting Australia

Best Accidental IT Person Award

This award recognises a volunteer or staff member who has made an exemplary contribution to the not-for-profit sector and has positively impacted the lives of others by taking responsibility for their organisation’s IT, despite it not originally being a formal part of their role.

WINNER: Lenka Brazda, Wombat Housing Support Services 

A youth program Team Leader by role — and AI innovator by surprise — Lenka built WomBot, an AI chatbot that’s transformed how people access homelessness support. With zero formal IT training, she taught herself automation, data analysis, prompt engineering and more, all while keeping the needs of vulnerable clients at the heart of every technical decision.

Finalists:

• Melissa Bell, Barnardos Australia
• Kurt Everade, TIACS 
• Tamra Smith, Community Restorative Centre
• Paul Ballard, Marine Rescue NSW
• Michael Brown, Community Based Support Ltd

Technology Volunteer of the Year Award

This award recognises a volunteer who, through the use of technology, has made an exemplary voluntary contribution to the not-for-profit sector and has positively impacted the lives of others through their volunteering activities.

WINNER: Graham Grundy, AMaGA Western Australia

Graham's extensive efforts throughout the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s to voluntarily document and digitise historical community records. In 2024, he helped launch the WestPride Archives collection on Collections WA to overcome access, rights, restrictions and concerns for LGBTQIA+ community safety to appropriately record information, offering heritage groups training to identify historically significant objects in collections.

Finalists:

• Edan Ellison, Holistic Avenue
• Guillermo Ramallo, LatinOZ QLD
• Aidan O'Brien, Bat Conservation & Rescue QLD

Best Use of Data for Community Impact Award

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This award recognises the innovative use of data by an not-for-profit to drive an organisation’s mission and culture, and how this data innovation has improved impact and service delivery.

WINNER: Embedding Data-Driven Culture, Justice Connect

The data-driven team holds quarterly data reflection sessions and pivots when needed. Dashboards are used daily to monitor impact, and the team blends data skills with storytelling and design principles. This tool coaches people on how to store electronic copies of documents safely in case they are needed in an emergency. Tools involved geographic analysis overlaying two national datasets: Aus Digital Inclusion Index and Disaster Resilience Index, to identify regions of low digital inclusion and low disaster resilience, and then focus on outreach campaigns.

Finalists:

• Removing Tate's Harmful Content: A Data-Driven Win, Collective Shout
• Accessible Telecoms, ACCAN
• Broken Bonds: Renters Tied Up by Unfair Bond Claims report, Anika Legal
• Capacity Tracker, National Centre for Disability Advocacy
• Data dashboard for the sector, Co-Act

Technology for Community Impact Award

This award recognises a private-sector business that has made a highly-valued contribution to the not-for-profit sector and the broader community through the use of technology.

WINNER: ImpactIQ, Enrichd Group

Enrichd Group is an independent agency dedicated to empowering purpose-driven brands to create positive and sustainable impact. ImpactIQ is an analytics dashboard that measures the impact of clients' work by tracking traditional digital metrics alongside real-world context-specific outcomes – from Indigenous yarning circles to university data and surveys.

Finalists:

• See, Hear, Believe, LGBTQ Domestic Violence Awareness Foundation
• The Volunteering Gateway, Volunteering Australia and Portable
• Power to Change, Tacklit
• Membership Management Platform, GiveNow
• Pathways to Wellbeing, Legal Tech Helper

Congratulations to all winners and finalists!