The Finnies exist to recognise excellence across the fintech ecosystem. Our governance model is designed to:
- Protect independence
- Manage conflicts of interest
- Ensure fairness and credibility
- Uphold the trust of the industry
We will continue to evolve and strengthen our governance practices to reflect the expectations of a growing, maturing fintech community.
The Finnies are governed by a robust, transparent framework designed to ensure fairness, minimise bias, and actively manage conflicts of interest. As Australia’s fintech ecosystem grows, maintaining the credibility and independence of our awards is paramount.
Independent and Diverse Judging
We appoint a large and diverse judging pool of more than 80 judges, including international experts.
Each award category is assessed over two independent rounds of judging, with no repeat judges across rounds. This layered approach ensures decisions are not influenced by any individual or group and that outcomes are balanced and evidence-based.
Category-Specific Judging
Judges are assigned to specific categories only, based on relevant expertise. They do not judge across the full awards program.
Judges assigned to a category do not know the identity of the other judges assessing the same award.
Conflict of Interest Controls
All judges are required to formally declare that they have no direct or indirect affiliation with the companies or categories they are assessing.
When judges are allocated, it is ensured that each judge’s professional background, current and known prior experience are not aligned with categories in which they have had direct involvement. Judges are deliberately assigned to categories that are entirely separate from the areas in which they operate, across the awards program, promoting impartiality and avoiding any actual or perceived conflict of interest.
Each award category is evaluated by a minimum of eight independent judges, and any potential conflicts are reviewed and actively managed.
The integrity of the process is monitored throughout. Where concerns arise or scoring patterns raise integrity concerns, action is taken.
Board Involvement and Oversight
The FinTech Australia Board participates only in the first round of judging, as part of their broader contribution to the industry.
The second and final round of judging is conducted without Board involvement, and Board members do not know the winners until the awards night.
Transparent Criteria and Evidence-Based Assessment
All award categories are governed by:
- Publicly available criteria
- Defined scoring parameters
- Clear evidentiary requirements, including metrics, testimonials, and third-party validation where relevant
Judges assess entries against these published criteria, ensuring decisions are based on merit, impact and demonstrated outcomes — not reputation or relationships.
Confidentiality and Integrity Safeguards
Entrants do not know who the judges are for their category, and judges are prohibited from being contacted by entrants.
Any attempt to influence the judging process can result in disqualification. These safeguards are essential to maintaining fairness and trust across the program.
Technology
FinTech Australia uses a technology solution designed specifically for awards - AwardsForce - for ten years now as the platform through which all submissions are lodged and the judging process is conducted.
The entire process is managed online and structured into clearly defined, sequential stages, with no overlap between the submission and judging cycles. Access to the platform’s back end is strictly limited to two members of the FinTech Australia team and is used solely for the technical configuration of submission and judging settings.
The judging cycle operates independently from the organising team. All scores and judges’ comments are fully confidential and are not accessible to the team at any stage of the process. Once a judge begins assessing a submission, all scores and comments are securely stored within the AwardsForce platform and cannot be modified, or altered by any third party. Only the judge themselves may review or amend their assessments within the judging period.
This structure represents a core safeguard of the AwardsForce platform and reflects the Finnie Awards’ investment in Australia’s leading awards management technology, ensuring privacy, security, integrity, and transparency across the entire awards process.
Transparency and Accountability
FinTech Australia is committed to transparency and accountability. Where appropriate, we are open to disclosing information relating to specific award categories, including:
- Judge composition
- Scoring outcomes
- Aggregated feedback
Download The Finnie Awards Governance Framework
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