Most Influential Asian Australians Awards

Now in its fourth year, the 40 Under 40 seeks to confront Australia’s “bamboo ceiling” – the underrepresentation of Asian-Australians in leadership positions. As communities, companies and governments rethink and reshape leadership for the post-pandemic world, now is the time to foreground the significant contribution of Asian-Australians to this country.

Since 2019, we have welcomed 160 Awardees as part of our growing alumni community and continue to attract hundreds of applications every year. Past awardees include Darwin-based barrister Lyma Nguyen (2020 overall winner), LPGA golfer and 2022 US Women’s Open winner Minjee Lee, disability advocate Danny Hui, academic and Superstar of STEM Dr Muneera Bano (2019 overall winner), broadcaster and writer Benjamin Law, educator Eddie Woo and many more.

The Awards are decided by a panel of judges from diverse fields across Australia.

The awards are coordinated by Asialink at The University of Melbourne, Johnson Partners and Australian National University’s Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership.

“Significant bias, discrimination and racism exists against Asian-Australians in both work and non-work situations. To date, there is a lack of focus by senior leaders on leveraging Asian-Australian talent. At a time when everybody is complaining about the lack of talent, the Awards put Asian-Australians under the limelight by celebrating their journey in reaching such an awe-inspiring milestone” says Martine Letts, CEO of Asialink Group.