Nov
Your pub had a good year. The Christmas appeal raised more than ever, the training program kept your best bar staff, or the marketing finally filled Tuesday nights. Now nominations for the AHA (Vic) State Awards for Excellence are open, the written submission is due on 14 December, and you’ve got 1,000 words to make the case.
Every written category asks for the same thing under every criterion. Heart of the Community asks for evidence of your activity, Best Marketed Hotel for evidence of outcomes, Outstanding Achievement in Training for evidence of retention. The performance awards are judged on the submission alone, with no site visit, so the judges have never been to your pub, haven’t met your staff and didn’t see the fundraiser. Your year only exists for them in what you can show. A great one with nothing behind it reads the same as an ordinary one.
So what counts? In those 1,000 words, evidence means a figure the judges can check and something they can see. “We support local sport” is a claim. “We’ve sponsored the under-14s since 2019 and this year’s trivia nights raised $18,400 for the club’s new lights, receipts attached” is evidence. Every criterion in the written categories comes down to that difference, and the venues that miss out on the finalist list are usually the ones that wrote the first sentence and thought they’d written the second.
How do you enter the AHA Vic Awards for Excellence 2027?
AHA Vic sets out the rules on its written submission requirements page, and the word limit and page limit are enforced. Here’s what you need to know:
- Nominations close Monday 30 November 2026. The written submission and supporting documents are due Monday 14 December 2026.
- Everything has to come from the qualifying period, 30 November 2025 to 30 November 2026, and last year’s submission can’t be reused.
- The main document is no more than 1,000 words. Supporting documents run to no more than three pages (five for the Property awards, which also need before-and-after photos). Both parts go in as one PDF.
- Every criterion has to be stated, then answered. AHA Vic suggests using the criteria as your headings and putting figures and results in tables or graphs.
- Anything over the word limit or the three pages “will not be considered during judging”.
The word limit is the one that bites. Heart of the Community has six criteria, which leaves about 160 words for each, so there’s no room for a page on the history of the hotel before the first one. The three supporting pages are where the receipts, screenshots and analytics go, which frees the 1,000 words for what happened and what it achieved.
What counts as evidence in an AHA Vic entry?
The criteria tell you, if you read them closely. Best Marketed Hotel asks entrants to “Demonstrate the impact of your digital activity rather than simply providing examples of content”, and to “Explain how results were calculated, using direct sales, comparative sales, advertising value or other relevant measures”. That’s the organiser saying it in plain words. A screenshot of a post isn’t evidence. The bookings it brought in, against the month before, is.
Here’s how that plays out in three of the written categories, one criterion from each.
Heart of the Community: “Outline the extent to which employees participate in community service activities”
“Extent” is a number. How many staff, how many hours or events, across the year. If 14 of your 22 staff worked the footy club’s fundraiser and the kitchen cooked the CFA dinner twice, say exactly that. The supporting documents for this category ask for a “Breakdown of funds raised, supported by evidence of donations, such as receipts, thank-you letters or images”, so the main document carries the totals and the appendix carries the proof. Judges can’t check a figure that has nothing behind it.
Best Marketed Hotel: “Provide evidence of outcomes, such as ROI, sales, visitation, media exposure or brand awareness”
Pick the measure you can show and give the comparison. A campaign that lifted Thursday covers from 60 to 95 is evidence. “Engagement was strong” isn’t, and neither is a follower count on its own. Where a dollar figure isn’t possible, say how you measured the result instead. That is what the “explain how results were calculated” line quoted above is asking for. If the campaign was about awareness rather than sales, name the measure you used, such as bookings through the campaign link against the month before or walk-ins counted on the nights it ran, and show how you got to the number.
Outstanding Achievement in Training: “Provide evidence of employee retention outcomes”
Retention is a percentage over time, so give the before and after. Turnover this qualifying year against last, or how many of the people you trained are still on the roster. A glassy who started in January and now runs the floor is evidence too, provided you say when it happened and which training got them there. The category also asks for “Staff feedback on the quality and outcomes of training provided” in the appendix, and two or three quotes with names and roles do that job better than a paragraph saying the team loved it.
The same shape works under every criterion. Each answer carries a date, a figure and a comparison, and the appendix carries the thing the figure came from.
How do you fit it all into 1,000 words?
Answer every criterion, even the thin ones, because the rules say each one must be stated and addressed. Then cut from the strongest answers rather than the weakest, since a criterion with 40 words and a figure beats one with 200 words and none. Anything a judge can see in a table, a photo or a receipt comes out of the main document and goes in the appendix.
Tip: Build the appendix first. Once the receipts, analytics and photos are in one folder, you know which claims you can back, and those are the ones that earn their place in the 1,000 words.
FAQ
How many words is an AHA Vic awards submission?
For the performance awards and Local Legends, the main document is no more than 1,000 words, plus supporting documents of up to three pages (five for the Property awards), combined in one PDF. Best Bush Pub of the Year is the exception: it asks eight open questions and states no word limit. The employee awards take a one to two page submission instead. Content over either limit isn’t considered.
When do AHA Vic Awards for Excellence nominations close?
Nominations close Monday 30 November 2026 and written submissions are due Monday 14 December 2026. Judging runs from 11 January to 5 March 2027, finalists are announced the week of 5 April, and the awards night is Monday 24 May 2027.
Which AHA Vic award categories need a written submission?
The seven Performance awards (Best Hotel Group Operator, Best Marketed Hotel, Best Refurbished Venue Space, Best Redeveloped Hotel, Best Bush Pub of the Year, Heart of the Community and Outstanding Achievement in Training) and the Local Legends Award take a submission of up to 1,000 words, except Best Bush Pub, which asks eight open questions with no word limit stated. The other employee awards take a one to two page submission, a CV and a Zoom interview. Dining, General, Accommodation and Gaming and Wagering categories are judged on an anonymous site visit, so there’s nothing to write beyond the nomination.
Can I reuse last year's AHA awards submission?
No. AHA Vic asks for a new submission each year, covering the qualifying period of 30 November 2025 to 30 November 2026.
Rather hand it over?
If you’d rather hand it over, here’s how it works. We start with a one-hour call about the year your venue had, you send through the figures and the receipts, and we write the submission to the criteria with the appendix laid out so the judges can find every number. You get a draft and a round of edits, all done remotely.
Good News Travels has written 100 award entries since 2021. 75% have made finalist or better and, of those, nearly half have won. In tourism and hospitality, 91% of our entries have made finalist, and of those, 62% have won or placed.
You’ll find what we do for pubs and hotels on the Accommodation & Hospitality Award Writing page, and if you’re writing it yourself, start with How to write an award entry that wins. Let’s make that next award yours.