Top honours again for the City of Stirling at the 2025 Australasian Reporting Awards

The City of Stirling has claimed Best in Sector honours for the third year in a row and won its 11th straight Gold Award at the 2025 Australasian Reporting Awards.

The Australasian Reporting Awards (ARA) were presented in Melbourne on Thursday night, marking the 75th anniversary of a program which encourages excellence in annual reporting in the Asia-Pacific region.

Annual reports are a mandatory reporting mechanism for local governments, outlining their plans and sharing their operational and financial performance with stakeholders.

The City aims to go above and beyond statutory requirements by producing annual reports that are comprehensive and engaging.

The City’s Annual Report 2023/24 tracks the organisation's progress towards the vision and objectives in the Sustainable Stirling 2022-2032 Strategic Community Plan and Corporate Business Plan 2023-2027.

The ARA Gold Award recognises overall excellence in an annual report that serves as a model for other organisations to follow.

The Best in Sector award is presented to the organisation that produces the top annual report in the local government sector in the Asia-Pacific region.

“We take these awards seriously because they’re about being accountable and transparent with our community,” Mayor Mark Irwin said.

"We put a lot of effort into getting the community involved in our planning process so that we can be guided by their aspirations and priorities. 

"The annual report is the document that closes the loop on that process and shows our community how we are performing as an organisation.

“It was particularly pleasing to see all three finalists in the local government category were from WA, which I think reflects well on the community-driven culture we have in the sector.”

Last year, the City was added to the ARA Chair’s Commendation Honour Roll after receiving 10 Gold Awards in a row – the only local government in WA to do so and one of three overall.

The Australasian Reporting Awards have expanded significantly since they were introduced in 1950 to improve the quality of business and financial reporting in Australia.

They are administered by Australasian Reporting Awards Limited, an independent not-for-profit organisation run by volunteer professionals from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.