Chemistry Australia announced the 2025 winners of its annual Industry Awards at a gala event at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne last night, Thursday 8 May.
Organisations and individuals from across the Australian chemistry industry were recognised for their outstanding efforts to demonstrate leadership and address some of Australia’s most pressing challenges, such as reducing carbon emissions, increasing the circularity of supply chains, and improving the inclusiveness and health and safety of workplaces.
Chemistry Australia members, suppliers and partners of the industry turned up in force to celebrate the Awards, which acknowledged the achievements of finalists and winners across six award categories.
Chemistry Australia CEO Samantha Read said the Industry Awards is a highly anticipated annual event, which shines a light on the valuable and strategic contribution the $48 billion chemistry industry makes to the Australian economy.
“It’s fantastic to have an annual event that showcases the incredible value our sector generates for the Australian economy,” said Ms Read.
“Each year, our members impress with their talent, innovation and problem-solving capabilities, which they apply to solve real-world challenges that have a lasting impact on the efficiency and sustainability of their businesses and the broader supply chain network.
“We congratulate all our finalists and winners recognised in the 2025 Industry Awards – Chemistry Australia is very proud of your achievements!”
Chemistry Australia thanks its Platinum, Gold and Silver sponsors for their support for the 2025 Awards, and the event’s Bronze Sponsors, Marsh, MicroRisk Group, and The Tartan Group.
Workplace Inclusion – sponsored by Jobsbank
Finalists
- Bisley & Company
- Dow Australia
- Dyno Nobel Limited
Winner: Dow Australia
Dow Australia has embedded workplace diversity in its corporate strategy and has ensured its leadership reflects the true diversity of our society. In APAC, 38.9 per cent of Dow’s leadership is female, including its APAC President and Australia New Zealand Country President.
Dow has inclusive hiring standards, and equal benefits and policies that support all employees, including parental and carers leave, flexible work arrangements, and paid time off for volunteer activities.
Notably, it has piloted new initiatives in Australia such as an Equity Workshop and Giving Feedback and Microaggressions training. Last year, Dow Australia was awarded the Great Place to Work™ certification.
Net Zero Transition – sponsored by Choice Energy
Finalists
- Dow Australia
- Incitec Pivot Fertilisers
- Viva Energy
Winner: Incitec Pivot Fertilisers
Incitec Pivot Fertilisers has developed patented technologies like Green Urea and eNpower to coat Urea and other nitrogen Fertilisers to reduce agricultural Green House Gas emissions, nitrogen losses, and environmental impact. A 2024 nationwide field trial across 19 Australian sites confirmed these EEFs significantly lowered nitrous oxide and ammonia emissions, promoting sustainable agriculture across divers soils, cropping segments, and climates.
Circular Economy – sponsored by Dow Australia
Finalists
- Paintback
- Schutz Australia
- Viva Energy
Winner: Schutz Australia
Schutz provides an end-of-life solution for used packaging, allowing customers to arrange free collection and recycling of empty containers.
Schutz Australia champions circular supply chains through innovative programs such as its Ticket Collection for recycling ICBs and drums. It has 1,700 collection points in Australia and has recovered approximately 12,000 tonnes of plastic for reuse and recycling since 2021. Schutz Australia has three reconditioning sites where IBCs are cleaned and repaired, with as many components as possible reused or recycled.
Health, Safety and Environment – sponsored by HR Legal
Finalists
- BASF Australia
- BOC Australia
- Ixom
Winner: Ixom
Ixom has embraced new technology - augmented reality training - to drive considerable safety improvements to its BIGINS or Bulk Installation Guidelines Inspection.
Ixom has made two important updates to ensure the BIGINS inspection use the latest technology, are live, and the team carrying out the inspections are adequately trained in what is a highly technical activity.
Using augmented reality technology, staff carrying out inspections can be trained with several pre-determined scenarios at a 1:1–full scale within their field of vision, immersing the trainee into the virtual installation. The solution also enables remote assessment, removing the requirement for the assessor to travel and increasing the speed of assessments.
Young Leader – sponsored by Board Matters and Resilient Futures
Finalists
- Blake Hanavan, CSBP Ammonia (WesCEF)
- Maddison McFadden, Viva Energy
- Jemima Underwood, SNF Australia
Winner: Jemima Underwood, Plant Chemist, SNF Australia
Jemima Underwood joined SNF as a temporary contract and within weeks demonstrated her drive to ensure the improvement of her workplace. Despite there not being a permanent role available, the decision was made by SNF senior management to ensure she stayed with the organisation. Since that time, Jemima has moved through a series of positions, including the oversight of the ISO 9001 system, Quality Control Chemist, and Emulsion Production Chemist roles. She has demonstrated enormous willingness to learn new technologies, not only how they work at SNF, but how they can be improved. To this extent, Jemima is a central contributor to the standardisation and improvement of SNF’s local manufacturing techniques.
Hall of Fame – sponsored by Holmwood Highgate
Cameron Dunn, Managing Director, FBT Transwest
Cameron Dunn is currently the longest serving member of the Chemistry Australia Board, having been appointed in 2007, and has been the Chair of the Chemistry Australia Finance and Risk Management Sub-Committee since 2016.
Cameron has been instrumental to the governance and success of our Association. He provides enormous support to Chemistry Australia, particularly in the area of membership, and has been actively involved in measures to recruit new members to our Association. This includes the newly created category of Personal Membership, due to his recognition of the value of membership in today’s industrial landscape.
Cameron is a champion of the Industry Awards, providing support and encouragement to ensure the industry’s annual event is a success and celebrates the achievements of members.
