Welcome to

The Pearcey Foundation

The Pearcey Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 1998 in memory of a great Australian ICT pioneer Dr Trevor Pearcey. The Foundation operates broadly across the Australian Information Computing and Telecommunication (ICT) technologies sector, from celebrating achievements through national and state awards, to being involved in debate and public policy on critical national issues such as productivity, the digital economy and national infrastructure.

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AUSTRALIA 4.0

The Consumers' Grid

Australia 4.0 is an initiative of the Pearcey Foundation to help Australia develop a consistent approach to the digital and data enablement of the energy transition; and to reap the benefits of creating sovereign solutions for the Consumers' Grid.

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Huge Opportunity for Australian ICT Innovation and Export

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2024 Communiqué ........... 2025 Communiqué ............. White Paper

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This is our 28^th year of awards, focussed exclusively on outstanding individuals drawn from across our vast geography.

We present 12 awards each year, and have done so for a long time - recognising over 28 Australian ICT luminaries and entrepreneurs, as highlighted on this website.

State and National Award Nominations now open

Event	Date
WA Award (with WAITTA and Incite)	17 Jul 2026
VIC Award (with Pearcey Oration)	8 Sep 2026
ACT Award	Sep 2026
SA Award	Sep 2026
NSW Award	22 Oct 2026
QLD Award	Oct 2026
TAS Award	Oct 2026
National Awards (Canberra)	5 Nov 2026

Latest News

Sep 1, 1999

1999 NSW Award

The September 1999, the New South Wales Pearcey Award was presented to Scott Gazzard.

1999 Vic Award

The first Victorian Pearcey Award was presented to Mr Michael Kolling of Monash University for his innovative development of "BlueJ" a Java applications teaching product.

1998 Pearcey Medal

Dr Peter Jones became the first Pearcey Medallist to a standing ovation from the I.T. industry at the 1998 AIIA Annual Industry Dinner in Sydney on the 12th of November.

Awards

The Pearcey Foundation's annual awards recognise and celebrate outstanding individuals in Australian ICT.

National Awards • State Awards • Nominations

The Heritage Project

The Pearcey Foundation intends to extend the Heritage Project well beyond Phase One (the book) – with the aim to become ‘the’ central repository – hosting a ‘virtual museum’ of Australia’s computing artefacts, documents and oral histories from key players.

The Project

Kind Words

Australians have all too often seen themselves as observers rather than participants in the digital revolution, but that does not do justice to our history. The Pearcey Foundation plays a very important role in highlighting the real contributions Australians have made in the past, and in so doing will help inspire the next generation of Australian digital innovators.

Charlie Day
Former CEO, Innovation and Science Australia

The Pearcey Foundation’s project to document Australia’s achievements in the computer age is a critically important endeavour. A central repository, that documents the central role of our universities and CSIRO and the individual contributions of academics and entrepreneurs, will be an essential resource for future policy makers and for students, research workers and entrepreneurs.

Alex Zelinsky AO
Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Newcastle

Australians are a nation of storytellers. Stories make us laugh and they make us cry, they remind us who we are and they inspire us, and let us celebrate our successes and failures. Australia has much to celebrate when it comes to the digital age, from pioneering work in computer science through to innovative cloud services. The Pearcey Foundation Heritage Project will be an inspiration to future generations of Australians.

Founder
Australian Ocean Lab and Former Engineering Director, Google Australia

Initiatives

The Pearcey Foundation is actively involved in many initiatives to help promote and accelerate the Australian ICT industry.

Thought Leadership • Australia 3.0 • Australia 4.0 • ICT Heritage • Pearcey Institute

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In memory of

Dr Trevor Pearcey

The Pearcey Foundation Inc. was established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey.