We are delighted to announce our 2016 IABCA Finalists who have stood out among an extremely competitive field of over 200 nominees.
National nominations this year have produced the highest calibre of nominees, presenting our expert leading panel with many a deserving application across all categories.
Tickets for the IABCA gala dinner are now on sale. Visit the IABCA website www.iabca.com.au to purchase your tickets for the IABCA gala night on Friday 28 October at Four Points by Sheraton.
Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalists
Amit Arora, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Western Sydney University is a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow.
Ashwin Tyagi, Principal, Immigration Hotspot Australia, 35, arrived as a seventeen-year old international student in Australia. He pursued his Hospitality degree jointly conferred by Cornell – RMIT at the Blue Mountains and the Australian International Hotel School (AIHS), Canberra.
Deepti Sachdeva, Content strategist, Be-better People is someone with a deep passion for all kinds of stories. She moved to Australia in 2009 after finishing her stint of 5 years as the producer of one of the most successful Current Affairs talk show in India – We the People on NDTV.
Nikhil Wason, Sales and Marketing Director, HUBER+SUHNER Australia, which is a fully owned subsidiary of a large Global Swiss corporation that has offices, agents, and distributors in more than 60 countries worldwide.
Pritika Desai, Founder and Project Leader ShoutOut! Youth Mental Health is 25 years old, raised in the Northern Territory and works in youth and community engagement.
Priyanka Rao, CEO, Luxmy Furniture, at just 29 years of age, there’s not much Priyanka Rao hasn’t already achieved. Priyanka is CEO of Luxmy Furniture, a leading contract furniture manufacturer that was started by her father in 1997.
Ramnaresh Gorlamandala, Co-founder, Tat Capital facilitates trade and investment ideas between Australia, New Zealand and the Indian Subcontinent through effective capital raising, M&A and international business development.
Young Community Achiever of the Year
Amit Arora, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Western Sydney University is a National Health and Medical Research Council Research Fellow.
Francesca Mcmillan, Creative Director, Fusion Beats Bollywood, Cultural Secretary Indian Association of South Australia and has been crowned Mrs Australia Universe in 2014.
Kerry-Anne Peterson is very dedicated to charity and spends most of her spare time raising funds for various charities, she has raised over $35 000 for charities including: Make A Wish Australia, Variety Children’s Charity, Children with HIV in Cambodia, Breast Cancer Awareness, Brainstorm, Cerebral Palsy research, Building a school in Leyte.
Mannu Kala, Secretary and Founding Member, GOPIO Gold Coast has made a good name in the Indian community in Queensland in a short span of time. He runs a successful business in Pathology and Medical centres
Pritika Desai, Founder and Project Leader ShoutOut! Youth Mental Health is 25 years old, raised in the Northern Territory and works in youth and community engagement.
Reena Augustine, is a Brisbane based entrepreneur with a passion and drive to unite and promote the multicultural society of Brisbane and Australia.
Community Services Excellence Award
Anju (Anne) Kalra, Allied Health Consultant, Uniting has a strong passion for serving the community and the seniors from Indian subcontinent and South Asian Communities.
Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC) has been recognised for over 25 years at a state and National level, as a leader in the area of multicultural resettlement
Dr Khimji Vaghjiani, Founding President, Swaminarayan Mandir and Community Centre has been in the role for over 20 years and has seen the organisation growing from a few families to over 300 families and provides a place like home for the local Indian community in Western Sydney.
Kulbir Singh Malhotra, Honorary General Secretary, Sikh Kirtan Prachar Mission of Australia was nominated for the Community Services Excellence Award in recognition of his untiring and continuous efforts to build and further integration and harmony for the Indian community in his 25-year long journey as a migrant in Australia
Reena Augustine, is a Brisbane based entrepreneur with a passion and drive to unite and promote the multicultural society of Brisbane and Australia.
Dr Subbaram Sundar, General Practitioner was born in Ooty and completed his education from prestigious JIPMER, Pondicherry in 1971. He worked as Junior Child Specialist in tribal regions of Ooty, Tamilnadu before he moved to UK in 1973 for a brief period and then migrated to Australia.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) creating social impact through core business is the guiding principle of Tata Consultancy Services Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.
Herman Singh Lotey, Development Manager for South West Sydney, Cricket NSW was born in Sweden, raised and educated in Sydney, Australia. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Media & Cultural Studies at Macquarie University and was the founder of the Winter Cricket Cup.
Shubhika Dubey, Student, Meriden School, Sydney was part of Australian National Girls school sport Tennis Team which won ISF’s World Schools Tennis Championships in March 2015. This achievement was a first for any Australian team till date. Also, she is the first Indian-Australian to achieve this feat.
Business Woman of the Year
Div Pillay, Co-Founder and Managing Director, MindTribes, a company that improves how people sell, service, administer and negotiate across the East and West. MindTribes applies cultural diagnostics, training and performance coaching to support clients across 12 months.
Mittu Gopalan, Principal, Freedman & Gopalan took charge and carriage of the portfolio of complex family law matters in April 2015
Reet Phulwani, Director, K.R Impex Pty Ltd is a qualified Gemmologist by Gemmological Association of Australia (VIC) Practical Diamond Grader & a Registered Jewellery Valuer registered by National Council of Jewellery Valuers.
Retu Kaul, Managing Director, Engineers Enterprise Pty Ltd (EEPL) and her photonics consulting team has built a science and technology hub whereby unique solutions are built for both Indian and Australian industries.
Rohini Kappadath, Former Director, Cross-Border Business, Pitcher Partners is an iconic business leader with 28-years’ experience in doing business in Australia, India, Japan and the ASEAN region.
Simla Sooboodoo, Founder, Hands on Journeys after awoke from over a month in a life threatening coma she knew that she wanted to dedicate her life to something more.
Uppma Virdi, Founder, Chai Walli is the granddaughter of an Ayurvedic doctor who used to make Ayurvedic chai blends.
Business Leader or Professional of the Year Female
Manisha Angirish, Group Strategic Director, Global, VCSO (Victory Corporate Serviced Offices) has done things differently at her company and opened 5 new locations in less than a year.
Priyanka Mehta, Senior Foreign Exchange Dealer, Compass Global Markets Australia has forged a path in Foreign exchange transactions for Importers and Exporters.
Tamanna Monem, International Business Development Specialist, Queensland Government is an extraordinary individual, with a responsibility to facilitate export and investment for Queensland to India.
Business Leader or Professional of the Year Male
Dr Dalbir Ahlawat, Senior Lecturer, Department of Security Studies and Criminology, Macquarie University has over 15 years’ experience in conducting research on topics related to strategic and security issues.
Deepak Nangia, Chief Customer Officer & Corporate Vice President, Asia Pacific & Middle East, Capgemini currently drives business development across the region.
Jignesh Shah, Director, Oppenheimer was migrated in year 1993 and joined Oppenheimer as a technical manager in year 1996. He has worked so hard and climbed the ladder and had opportunity to have 25 % shares in year 2000 and became shareholder and Director of Oppenheimer.
Kam Phulwani, Managing Director and CEO of Medicianz Australia has identified key vision and motto for his company as: “We Value Life”. Established in 2007, the company provides high quality and lower-cost alternatives in pharmaceutical and medical devices throughout the Asia pacific region such as Australia, New Zealand and surrounding areas.
Professor Kichu Balakrishnan Nair AM, Professor of Medicine and Deputy Dean (Clinical Affairs), University of Newcastle School of Medicine and Public Health and Director for the Centre for Medical Professional Development within the Hunter New England Health District, researching in conjunction with the Hunter Medical Research Institute.
Mike Vasavada, Co-Founder & Director, Mobiddiction. In late 2011 working as a Senior Executive at Telstra Mike and his business partner realised that Mobility was the new communications channel that was going to explode and was largely unexplored and very underdeveloped within the Australian and broader Global market.
Rajesh Jagadale, Managing Director, SAGE Automation India, began his career with SAGE in 2006 as an Electrical Engineer based in Adelaide. He understood first-hand the culture of excellence within SAGE and took initiative to propose this idea of starting an office in India to the Executive Team and Board at SAGE.
Raju Narayanan, Director India Engagement, Government of South Australia is the key driver for promoting economic engagement between the two regions. He sees India as playing a huge role in the future of the South Australian economy and is in a unique position of understanding both markets.
Sam Johnson, CEO and Strategic leader, Southern Cross has spearheaded the company’s growth from providing security services to delivering fully integrated services both Hard and soft Facilities, Technology and training.
Travel Agency/Tour Operator of the Year
Desi Travel based in Victoria was established in February 2005. It is the largest network of Travel Agencies nationwide having 3 branch locations in Australia and offices in New Zealand and in India.
Helloworld Carlingford’s mission is to promote tourism between two major destinations that play an integral part in respective communities, Australia and India.
Insider Journeys is celebrating its 10th year of creating unique, innovative and personalised group and independent travel experiences to India.
Mantra Wild Adventures is a boutique travel company specialising in hand crafted experiences that peel back the layers of India.
Total Holiday Options is a Destination Management Company based in Australia and New Zealand, offering bespoke solutions for individuals and corporates across the board.
Travel and Taste based out of Victoria is the fastest growing Destination Management Company specializing in inbound and outbound tourism for Australia, India and New Zealand.
Viv’s Travel Bug is a boutique travel agency that brings personal experience of India to clients. Situated in beautiful Mollymook on the south coast of New South Wales, the company’s aim is to provide sound, friendly advice and a good service.
Australian Exporter of the year
SoftLabs, a leading Information Technology and Communications (IT&C) company with core competency in providing Independent Software Testing services, Communication and Business Consulting services worldwide, supported by a passionate team of industry and functional expertise.
Total Alliance Health Projects International Pty Limited (TAHPI) is an Australian based, specialist firm of Health Facility Planners and Architects. TAHPI provides a complete range of consultancy services for health facility planning, design and commissioning.
Victory Aluminium (VicAl) is part of Victory Group Holdings and is one of the largest exporter of Aluminium alloys from Australia. VicAl’s products are used by majority of the steel mills across the globe, producing coated steel. In India, VicAl is being imported for last 10 years by leading steel mills viz Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Essar Steel.
Indian Restaurant of the Year
Bombay Affair is indeed coming together of two beautiful young souls falling in love. Their love culminated to marriage and they eventually bonded vowing to take care of each other and growing old together.
Bombay Street Kitchen is bringing Bombay Street food to the heart of Glebe. Having opened its doors in October 2015, the restaurant has warmed hearts of many foodies who are after something a bit different.
Delhi ‘O’ Delhi, a fine dining Indian restaurant located in the streets of Newtown, promises an experience like no other. The brain child of restaurateur Javed Khan, from his humble roots in small-town India, has provided Traditional Indie cuisine with a contemporary twist of innovation for over 8 years now.
Saffrron is an environmentally-accredited, highly-awarded Parap, Darwin, restaurant. Saffrron is known for authentic yet innovative Indian cuisine (southern, northern and tandoor) created from Top End produce fresh from the farm or market, including 100% NT seafood.
Saravanaa Bhavan is a household name in most parts of the world. The restaurant chain is akin to the best brands like Nike, Din Tai Fung, or Maxim’s within their target segment.
The Spice Room is the newest installment to Circular Quay dining that has set tongues wagging with its delicious, exotic Indian meals.
Micro Business of the Year
BDS Autocare was first established in Geelong, Victoria, Australia in 2012 and has quickly grown to become the leading brand in automotive service centre.
Green Territory has a vision to become a leading brand in the sustainable lifestyle solutions marketplace through high-quality and uniquely designed home furnishing products.
KoRa Kandles offers a wide range of stunning luxury scented candles, Melts, tealight cups, Reed Diffusers and Pot Pourrie.
Ridhi Sidhi Creations, Adelaide based Indian designer suits boutique was started by Geeta Mehta in 2014 in a room at her home and is now one of the very renowned names in the profession.
WaliaJones was started by Garima Walia and Hanin Jones in March 2014 following Garima’s own wedding in January early that year.
Small Business of the Year
Ayurvedic Wellness Centre was opened in 2011 by Rita Sagrani. It is the first true oasis in Sydney that offers the authentic experience of true Ayurveda.
Charismatics AUS & NZ is the sole distributor of natural aromatherapy skincare range Aroma Magic.
Connect Migration Solutions is a Perth based migration agency and they are expert in all types of Visas of Australia
Footwork Sports Academy was established in 2006 to address the increased need for physical activity/sport amongst New Australian communities around Western suburbs of Sydney.
MindTribes improves how people connect cross culturally so that they sell, service, negotiate, manage and lead better in foreign markets across the East and West.
Mobiddiction is a Digital Consultancy that specialises in building mobile based solutions which connect people and brands.
Onroad Driving School provides driving lessons to all age groups to support individuals in attaining their license, among other services as the business continues to grow.
Pentagon Group is constantly trying to find ways to give customers what they want and more. Customer focus and delivering the property is their main goal.
REACH For Training is a Registered Training Organisation that fully committed to providing and achieving the highest possible standard(s) of learning outcomes to our student(s).
The Wizard of Oz Funland is a one-of-its-kind, totally themed play, party, entertainment & education centre in Sydney’s South West, with a strong focus on community arts.
SMS of the Year
AdactIn Group is a fast growing, award winning professional services company with skills in Software Testing Services, providing IT Consulting, Training and Products to organizations that help them improve their Testing Processes and Quality.
Executive Life provides services that are unique, aimed at the executives who come from India to Australia on various IT projects.
P & N NSW Pty Ltd, Euro Solar is Largest Solar company in NSW, with over 26000 Customers. Euro Solar is holding 6.2% Australian solar market share.
Medicianz Healthcare is one of the fastest growing, key pharmaceutical company of specialised lifesaving medicines to healthcare professionals in Australia and New Zealand.
NandaHobbs Contemporary is a commercial art gallery in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. Established in 2003 by Raj Nanda and Ralph Hobbs, our gallery traded under the name Art Equity until mid 2015.
Oppenheimer is fully owned by Jignesh Shah and increased company revenue by 10 times from year 2000 to 2016. Jignesh Shah is the owner and Managing Director of Oppenheimer. After 145 years in business, Oppenheimer is now a modern and innovative organization.