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🇫🇷🇦🇺 The nominees are here! After weeks of nominations, the 2026 French-Australian Excellence Awards have reached their next important stage: public voting is now open.

👉 Cast your vote for the 2026 nominees

And this year, the calibre and diversity of the nominees are a wonderful reminder of just how rich and dynamic the French-Australian community is. Across all categories the 2026 nominees represent people and organisations making a meaningful contribution to the connections between France and Australia.

Now it is your turn to help recognise them.

Celebrating the people who strengthen the French-Australian connection

Organised by Le Courrier Australien, the French-Australian Excellence Awards have become an annual celebration of the talent, commitment, innovation and contribution of the French-Australian community.

The Awards recognise French and Australian citizens, as well as organisations, whose achievements contribute to French-Australian relations and to Australian society more broadly.

What makes the Awards particularly meaningful is their community-driven spirit. Anyone can nominate someone they believe deserves recognition, creating an opportunity to shine a light on achievements that might otherwise go unnoticed.

For the 2026 edition, nominees have been selected across 10 categories, reflecting the remarkable breadth of the community:

• Culinary & Gastronomy
• Culture, Entertainment & Events
• Entrepreneurship
• Environment & Sustainability
• International Expansion & Value Creation
• Research & Innovation
• Solidarity & Community
• Sport & Wellbeing
• Women in STEM
• Business Leadership

The 2026 Awards will also mark a new chapter, with the ceremony taking place in Melbourne for the first time, at St Kilda Town Hall on Thursday 5 November 2026.

A community worth celebrating

The 2026 nominees come from different industries, backgrounds and walks of life. What brings them together is the contribution they make to the relationship between France and Australia. For Bilateral Solutions, this is exactly what makes these Awards worth supporting. Our work is centred on helping international businesses establish, operate and grow in Australia. Every day, we see the ambition, determination and adaptability required to build a business across borders.

We also see something equally important: the value of connections. Connections between people. Between businesses. Between markets. Between cultures. The French-Australian community is built on these connections, and the Excellence Awards provide a unique opportunity to celebrate the people who help make them stronger.

That is why Bilateral Solutions is proud to support the Awards once again in 2026, and particularly proud to be the Entrepreneurship category sponsor.

Proud to support Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has a special place in what we do at Bilateral Solutions.

We work with overseas companies establishing and operating in Australia, helping them navigate the local financial, tax, administrative and corporate environment while providing the local expertise and representation they need. Supporting entrepreneurs therefore feels like a natural extension of our role.

Entrepreneurship is about more than starting a business. It can mean identifying an opportunity, taking a calculated risk, creating something new, overcoming challenges, building a team, entering a new market or developing an idea that creates value for others. The nominees in this year’s Entrepreneurship category reflect that diversity.

Voting is now open🗳️

This is where the wider French-Australian community can get involved. Public voting is until 19 October 2026. The public vote will determine one finalist in each category, while the remaining two finalists in each category will be selected by the Awards’ expert judging panel.

👉 Discover the 2026 nominees and have your say

Take a moment to explore the nominees, discover their stories and support the people whose work you believe deserves recognition. And don’t forget to share the Awards with your network. The strength of these Awards comes from the community that gets behind them.

What’s next?

The 2026 Awards journey is now moving quickly.

• 26 September – 19 October 2026
  🗳️ Public voting
  ✨ Finalists are confirmed
• Thursday 5 November 2026
  🥂 The Awards Ceremony🏆

The 2026 winners will be announced and celebrated at St Kilda Town Hall in Melbourne.

For Bilateral Solutions, we are looking forward to following the journey from nominees to finalists — and ultimately celebrating the achievements of this year’s winners. Congratulations to every 2026 nominee and good luck to everyone taking part in the next stage of the Awards.

We look forward to seeing you in Melbourne on 5 November. 🇫🇷🇦🇺