At the Australasian Reporting Awards Presentation Dinner in Sydney on 15 June, Main Roads Western Australia was announced winner of the 2023 Australasian Report of the Year in the face of fierce competition from other finalists including leading organisations from around Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and New Zealand. Main Roads WA also won Awards for Best Report in the State Public Administration Sector and for Governance Reporting in the Public Sector.

Annual reports aren’t expected to be easy reading. Then again, we’ve never dealt in the expected. Main Roads approached our team for a fresh approach to the design of their annual report that would prioritise navigation and reader engagement.

The 2022 annual report for Main Roads – themed ‘we’re working for Western Australia’ – drew upon our experience in wayfinding. Each page has a natural flow section-to-section, an uncomplicated layout, and elements that spark interest. We took care to never overload the reader with information and clearly signposted important statistics and achievements. A suite of bespoke illustrations told the story whenever possible to break-up text and added a friendly personality to a public resource that might otherwise appear intimidating.

The document went on to win ‘Best Annual Report of the Year’ at the Institute of Public Administration Australia WA (IPAA WA) Awards for Excellence. The award recognised Main Road’s annual report as the most outstanding across reports produced by all State Government bodies in the year. A great final chapter for the project.

View the report microsite here https://annualreports.mainroads.wa.gov.au/AR-2022/‍