Celebrating Excellence: Highlights from the 2025 Belgravia Leisure Awards

Guest First Award: CentrePoint Sport & Leisure Centre 
One of our newer venues hit the ground running, posting fantastic NPS and Mystery Shop results, as well as incredible attention to detail in the Guest First Month standards workshops. Also worth mentioning, they currently have a 4.5 star Google rating! 

Safety Award: Yawa Aquatic Centre 
Yawa Aquatic Centre has truly embodied the “Think Safe, Act Safe, Be Safe” mantra, setting a gold standard in safety excellence. Through initiatives like the Triple A’s for Aquatic Safety and Platinum Pool recognition, plus innovative lifeguard observations and emergency controls, they’ve created a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility. Their efforts culminated in a life-saving CPR on a 17-year-old gym user.

Innovation Award: Pelican Park Pop Up 
The Pelican Park pop up may well have contributed to retaining the Mornington contract by showing the local team’s commitment to working with Council whilst yielding significant commercial benefits. It also allowed several hundred individuals to continue participating in physical activity and remain engaged with the venue and community. 

Health Club of the Year: East Fremantle Community Park 
East Fremantle Community Park have nailed both engagement and impact. Their programs align with the Public Health Plan and transform lives through movement and community.

Swim School of the Year: Stromlo Leisure Centre 
Stromlo stood out by excelling across all judging criteria. From exceptional program growth and class occupancy to community outreach and team development, they’ve delivered impact with heart. Their commitment to customer feedback, retention and culture makes them a true leader.

Sustainability Award: Yawa Aquatic Centre 
Yawa Aquatic Centre achieved a water usage per visitor 54% below the industry average and maintained exceptional energy efficiency. Yawa’s team actively reports on sustainability and collaborates with partners to meet environmental goals.

Community Program Award: Knox Leisureworks – Veterans Exercise Program  
An inspiring initiative supporting Veterans through tailored exercise programs co-designed with participants. With expert input from the Exercise Physiology team and a welcoming café chat ritual, the program fosters both physical and social wellbeing. Extending to partners and widows, it deepens community impact and connection.

Inclusive Project Program Award: Gungahlin Leisure Centre – Refugee & Migrant Swim Program & Afghan Women’s Group 
This important initiative was launched to address tragic drownings in the ACT, securing funding and sustaining its impact. Through strong community engagement and partnership, the program innovatively welcomes, supports, and includes participants.

Belgravia Foundation Award: Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre – Ukrainian Refugee Aquatic Program 
In partnership with STARTTS, they created culturally safe aquatic programs for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees. With nearly 80 Learn to Swim participants and 20–30 regular Aqua Aerobics attendees, the initiative promotes water safety and healing, benefiting families and the community.

Support Superstar Award: Sarah Podesta 
Sarah is described as the strategic force behind Belgravia Leisure’s aquatic excellence, particularly through her leadership of the GOswim program. Her work has elevated the program nationally, and she is recognised for her innovation, community focus and operational support.

Tourism Venue of the Year: Ocean Beach Tourist Park 
This park not only has exceptional commitment to improvement and great contract partner relationships, but the guest experience given by this park is second to none, beating income on budget by 7% and a Mystery Shop of 100%.

NSW Venue of the Year: Ian Thorpe Aquatic Centre 
Delivered exceptional results across every category—including a 40-point leap in employee engagement, a 94% average in Lifeguard Mystery Shops and a 10-point rise in NPS.

ACT Venue of the Year: Stromlo Leisure Centre 
Stromlo earned the inaugural ACT Venue of the Year award through targeted marketing, innovative initiatives like a 24/7 gym and excellent guest service. The team grew membership by over 1,000 and maintained above 95% on safety audits.

New Zealand Venue of the Year: Wai Ariki Hot Springs & Spa 
In its first year, Wai Ariki welcomed a huge number of guests to embark on a journey grounded in the values, traditions and cultural heritage of Ngāti Whakaue. The venue has earnt themselves a 4.7 Google rating and consistently achieving a GRI above 90%. Their digital marketing also returned over 10x ROI.

Queensland Venue of the Year: Lawnton Aquatic Centre 
Lawnton shines as an outstanding facility, demonstrating exceptional customer service, community engagement and financial performance, achieving a 92% eNPS and a 95.37% Royal Life Audit.

VIC/TAS Venue of the Year: Monbulk Aquatic Centre 
Monbulk stood out for its resilience, outstanding service and strong leadership, overcoming storm closures to maintain high customer satisfaction and a perfect Mystery Shop record.

SA Venue of the Year: Wulanda Convention & Recreation Centre  
Wulanda delivered an outstanding turnaround! With strong financial results and health scorecard outcomes, they boosted community engagement and employee sentiment soared.

WA Venue of the Year: Carramar Golf Course  
With exceptional operational results, a thriving safety-first culture and strong alignment to strategic priorities, Carramar has delivered a successful year across all areas.