Making the hospo industry safer: Good Food calls for Cultural Change Champion nominees
The award came about after investigations by this masthead revealed the workplace culture of a number of Australia's hospitality businesses were putting women at risk, with allegations of sexual assault, harassment, drug use and misogyny. Further investigations this year has revealed more claims.
The Cultural Change Champion award, presented by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guides in October 2025, allows Good Food to highlight the exceptional Victorian, NSW and ACT business operators, organisations, not-for-profits, voluntary groups and networks transforming the industry.
Last year's Victoria winner was former hospitality worker Jamie Bucirde, who was behind the Instagram account Not So Hospitable. It sparked a nationwide reckoning and brought the systemic, largely sidelined issue to the surface. She consolidated her findings into an academic report with the University of Melbourne to galvanise the movement into meaningful change.
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