Parma of the Year

Please note: The judging process for the 2027 Parma of the Year category has changed.

Judging Process
In 2027, the Parma of the Year category will follow a new two-stage judging process, combining a People’s Choice vote with independent mystery shopping.

Stage One – Nomination & People’s Choice
Venues must nominate their venue for Parma of the Year and provide:

• A photo of their Parma; and
• A statement of 50 words or less explaining why their Parma is the best.

Entry fee: $100 per venue.
Once nominations close, all nominated venues will be entered into a statewide People’s vote competition, giving customers and locals the opportunity to vote for their favourite Parma.

People’s Voting Period: Tuesday, 1 December – Tuesday, 22 December 2026
All participating venues will receive a suite of marketing materials to help promote the competition and encourage customer voting.
At the conclusion of voting, the top three venues from each of Victoria’s four Legislative Council regions will progress to the finalist stage, resulting in 12 finalists statewide:

• Eastern Victoria – 3 finalists
• Northern Victoria – 3 finalists
• Western Victoria – 3 finalists
• Metropolitan Victoria – 3 finalists

Stage Two – Mystery Shopping

The 12 finalists will be announced early in January, and will then progress to the formal judging stage.
Each finalist will be mystery shopped between Monday, 11 January and Friday, 5 March 2027 as part of the standard judging period.
The same mystery shopper will visit each finalist and assess their Parma against a consistent set of judging criteria. This ensures each finalist is assessed using the same process and provides a fair comparison across all 12 venues.
The judging will consider the Parma and overall customer experience against the certain judging criteria.
The winner will be announced at the AHA (Vic) State Awards for Excellence on Monday, 24 May 2027.

Judging Costs
Venues will only be required to pay the nomination fee for this category, with no further judging reimbursements payable.