Award Winning Newspaper At The Heart Of Community

The fantastic team at Life Publishing Group

‍

‍

For the second year in a row Mackay and Whitsunday Life Newspaper has won Best Community Advertising Promotion for one of its charity events held within the region and hosted by Life Publishing Group.

Enchanted Garden took place in October 2025 and raised an impressive $56,000 for seven regional charities.  

‍

“This was a truly special event,” shared Life Publishing Group Editor in Chief Rachael Smith.

‍

“Our team, led by event organiser Jess Clark, brought together an incredible event with promotions that spanned newspaper, magazine, social media, television, radio and billboard – every aspect of branding was planned meticulously and produced an epic result.

‍

“From this, we are thrilled to engage with other highly visible local events including both Mackay Mayor’s Ball and the Whitsunday Mayor’s Ball to help drive promotion for their charity events – we love that we are seen as an effective platform to drive promotionwithin the region and beyond.”

Life Publishing is also looking forward to working with other key events this year including the Whitsunday Business Conference, the Whitsunday Business Awards, the Whitsundays Wedding Trail, the Whitsunday Writers Festival and many more.

‍

In addition to the community event promotion award, Life Publishing also brought home gold for Best Locally Produced Print Advertisement and silver for Best Locally Produced Advertising Campaign for a series of ads designed for Garden Bar.

‍

“Our design and production team are truly amazing!” said Whitsunday Sales Manager Trish Jandt.

‍

“All our ads are designed from scratch right here in the Whitsundays and our team works closely with every client to create something truly spectacular – they deeply care about the client, the product and the result – and this is evident in everything we do, from the moment of sale right through to seeing their ad in the paper. It truly is award-winning stuff!”

‍

In addition to the advertising awards, two Life Publishing Group journalists won editorial awards.

Jacob Casha, journalist with Burdekin Life Newspaper, was announced as Best Young Journalist of the Year and also received a silver for Best Single Story by an Individual Journalist.

‍

Meanwhile, Chelsea Ravizza, who writes across all Life Publishing Group papers, including this one, received a silver in the Best Young Journalist of the Year category.

‍

“Young journalists are the lifeblood of regional journalism,” said Life Publishing Group Editor in Chief Rachael Smith.

‍

“We are proud to support the growth of our talented team and thrilled to see two of our journalists bring home awards.  

‍

“For me, 2026 represents a year where we continue to cement our presence within the newspaper community and are seen as high achievers among our peers – this is something I am truly proud of.

‍

“Everyone in the team has contributed to the success behind all these awards and they are a result of us all striving for excellence in everything we do.”

‍