The award recognises organisations that deliver exceptional digital workplace experiences and highlights the growing role intranets play in supporting employee engagement, collaboration and productivity.

Port Waratah's submission was commended for its strong focus on frontline employee needs, bringing together key business information, safety and operational insights, mobile accessibility and a simplified publishing experience that makes it easier for employees across the business to contribute content.

Jennifer Murphy, Specialist Business Information, said The Channel has evolved beyond a communications platform to become a key digital workplace resource that supports how employees work and access information across the organisation.

"The Channel upgrade project in 2024 gave us the opportunity to reimagine our employee intranet and create an innovative, engaging and contemporary platform that is comparable to leading intranets from around the world," Ms Murphy said.

"The redevelopment was designed to address a range of complex digital workplace needs, including improving employee engagement and communications, providing targeted data and notifications, and supporting a highly mobile workforce operating across multiple locations.

"Our IT team consulted extensively across the business to understand the diverse needs of our people. Working closely with our implementation partner, Elcom, we delivered a solution that achieved those objectives.

“The end result is a modern, accessible and highly engaging platform that has become embedded in day-to-day operations and supports how our people work. We are very proud of that.”

Port Waratah CEO, Hennie du Plooy, congratulated the teams involved in delivering the award-winning platform.

“To receive a global Step Two Silver Award for The Channel is an impressive achievement and our IT Team and respective business partners and contractors should be very proud of their efforts,” Mr du Plooy said.

"The intranet enhancements have delivered clear benefits across our business. More employees are contributing relevant and timely content, while improved access and engagement have strengthened knowledge sharing, responsiveness and internal communication overall."

The award places Port Waratah among an impressive group of international organisations recognised for digital workplace excellence. Gold Award recipients included Adobe, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners and NAB, while fellow Silver Award winners included DTEK (Ukraine) and Smulders Projects Poland (Poland).

The Step Two Intranet and Digital Workplace Awards recognise organisations that are leading the way in intranet, digital workplace and employee experience innovation. The awards celebrate solutions that deliver measurable business value while providing employees with a trusted source of information that helps them stay informed, connected and productive.

To find out more about the awards, Port Waratah’s recognition and a full list of award recipients visit Step Two Intranet and Digital Workplace Awards 2026