A Dunedin-based company has collected a top Australasian award for its software program that aids decision-making by ranking user preferences.

1000Minds was one of 13 companies from 24 finalists to pick up an award at the Consensus Software Awards at a gala dinner in Sydney on Tuesday night.

It was one of just two NZ companies to feature in the awards, which are in their eighth year and are independently judged by some of Australasia's most respected industry professionals.

They recognise innovative and ground-breaking software developments in New Zealand and Australia.

Palmerston North-based Unlimited Realities Ltd won an award for its Umajin software, Umajin is a media platform that delivers text, images, video, audio, 3D and interactivity. It supports Windows, Macintosh and Linux, and is designed to help children as young as 5 develop interactive documents on a normal home computer.

1000Minds, formerly Point Wizard, is the developer of a point-and-click software programme, which is based on a combination of selected criteria and answers to specific questions.

It is owned by Paul Hansen, an associate professor in economics at the University of Otago and former Treasury analysts, and Franz Ombler, a Wellington information technology specialist.

1000Minds' track record is mainly in diagnosing or prioritising patients for health treatment, which was the catalyst for Dr Hansen developing the program in the first place.

He has been interested for nearly a decade in refining New Zealand's healthcare points prioritisation system to make it more accurate and fairer.
1000Minds has been acknowledged in several national and international innovation awards.

This industry recognition, as well as academic peer review, has reinforced 1000Minds' scientific validity and overall credibility, he says.