CRITERIA

What do I need to enter?

To be ranked as a fast growing SmartCompany your company must:

• Report the last three fiscal years of revenue*.
• Each year must show revenue growth.
• Be Australian (not a subsidiary of a multinational).
• Revenue must not exceed $200 million.
• Revenue must not be below $500,000.
• Your company will also be considered for all major awards relevant to your business.

* By entering the awards, you agree to have your revenue details published on SmartCompany.com.au.

CATEGORIES

The Smart50:

The Smart50 list is based on revenue growth over the last three financial years. The fastest growing companies will be ranked in order. All companies who enter the SmartCompany Awards and meet the criteria will be considered for the Smart50.

Other major awards:

There are five other major awards to be won. These are:

• The Top Website Award
• The Top Exporter Award
• The Top Franchise Award
• The Fastest Growth Award
• Most Outstanding Entrepreneur Award

All companies who enter the SmartCompany Awards 2009 and meet the criteria will be considered for all major awards that are relevant to their business. These awards are decided by a panel of experts who will judge the innovation of each company's product or service.

SPONSOR

The SmartCompany Awards 2009 are proudly sponsored by Westpac

As Australia's first bank, Westpac has been supporting the Australian community for over 192 years. We are proud to further support the Australian Business Community through the sponsorship of SmartCompany and their 2009 awards.  

Here are some other ways Westpac aims to support Australian Businesses.

Investing locally:

• More face-to-face support - Westpac is currently hiring Business Bankers in local areas making face-to-face business banking expertise available at your doorstep. We currently have 56 specialist Business Banking Centres around the country, and will continuously increase this presence (with five to open in 2009). We're backing your business by putting more Business Bankers in local branches and business banking centres. So when you want to talk business, you'll get the personal service you deserve. And the local expertise your business needs.
• Our growth plans also extend to branches, where we will be putting in place 380 Local Business Bankers specifically trained to deal with the needs of SME businesses in their local community.

Advice and Education:

• Practical knowledge - our interactive workshops cover a range of concepts in an easy-to-follow, practical format. Since 2001, Westpac has provided financial education and advice to over 30,000 workshop participants throughout Australia.
• Financial education expertise - Westpac is the only Australian bank with an in-house team of Financial Education professionals.
• Lectern Rock - inspiration for your business. Lectern Rock is a ground-breaking new business seminar that re-focuses and re-ignites passion for your business. Mixing the music of great rock artists with the genius of this generation's leading business thinkers, Lectern Rock teaches business people about the power of building unique brands.

Convenient and valuable banking solutions

• All the expertise you need - we know that each business is unique with different banking needs, so through your business banker, you can access a team of experts to provide relevant and personalised advice on key areas like cash flow, transactional banking and international trade.
• Extended hours - to make banking more convenient, our branches are open for business on Saturdays, providing the opportunity face-to-face banking on weekends.
• Largest ATM footprint - our network of 1755 ATMs (plus a further 1100 St George/Bank SA ATMs

Visit www.westpac.com.au/business for more information on how Westpac can help your business become more successful.

The new IR laws mean big changes for every employer and particularly small and medium businesses. For example, protection against unfair dismissal claims that SMEs enjoyed under WorkChoices is gone and while there are some protection for companies with 15 employees or less, there are still traps these small employers need to dodge.

In order to help entrepreneurs and managers understand their rights and obligations under the Fair Work regime, SmartCompany has put together a page of articles, including a number of pieces by workplace lawyers Peter Vitale and Andrew Douglas guiding you through key aspects of the new laws.

Five reasons employers need to worry about the Fair Work IR regime

Two days. That's all the time that is left before the Rudd Government's new Fair Work industrial relations regime starts, but many workplace lawyers say Australian employers simply haven't spent enough time understanding what the new rules mean for their business.

Are you ready for the new IR laws?

Get ready for some big changes in the workplace on July 1. If Howard's Work Choices sent the pendulum swinging in one direction, Rudd's Fair Work Act is swinging it back.

Workplace law changes for small business: The essentials explained

Yesterday we finally got the detail of the Federal Government’s new workplace relations laws including collective bargaining, unfair dismissal and arbitration.

Five new Fair Work traps

After hearing it said more than a little since the election of the Rudd Government, WorkChoices is now, officially, dead.

Will the Fair Work act re-write your work contracts?

The new Fair Work act comes into operation on 1 July 2009.  OK, most employers know that, but why would they want to worry about it before then?

Inside the new Fair Work bill

It was always expected that Labor would change the IR landscape, and aspects of its workplace changes have been previewed – but there are still some surprises, and every employer will need to know them.

The swinging pendulum of workplace relations

From a position that many saw as too far to the right, IR can now be accused of having too far a left wing bias. There is an important lesson here for employers, says ANDREW DOUGLAS, about managing the physics-like machinations of workplace law.

Is your business ‘family friendly’?

A growing legislative onus to accommodate staff with caring responsibilities won't always mesh with your business as it stands. You need to prepare now for the changes that are coming.

The new IR world

Will there be a recession that compares to, or is worse than, the Great Depression of 1930?  Maybe there will not be 25% unemployment like 1930, but current employment is more skilled, more highly paid and less flexible in a difficult employment market.

How performance reviews can protect you from unfair dismissal claims

For a little over three years many businesses who wanted to dismiss employees have not really had to give a second thought to unfair dismissal rules. All of that changes on 1 July with the commencement of the Fair Work Act.

Get ready now to avoid unfair dismissal claims

Companies should review the performance of existing staff and determine whether disciplinary action needs to be taken before the changes to unfair dismissal laws come into affect on 1 July.

Read more on:

• fair work act
• fair work australia
• unfair dismissal