Darren Hayes, former frontman of Savage Garden, was honoured with the Excellence in Community Award at the 17th annual Music In The House gala in Sydney on 25 August, a Support Act fundraiser recognising his advocacy on mental health, resilience and LGBTQIA+ representation alongside his musical achievements. The award, presented by longtime friend Claire Marshall with TV host Osher Günsberg as emcee, celebrates a career spanning more than 35 million album sales and both artistic success and Hayes's broader contribution to the Australian music community.

The evening also saw Hayes inducted into APRA AMCOS's Billions Club after Savage Garden's 1997 US chart-topper "Truly Madly Deeply" surpassed one billion streams across platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, with the award presented by APRA chair Jenny Morris. Savage Garden, formed by Hayes and Daniel Jones, were one of Australia's biggest 1990s exports before splitting in 2001, and Hayes has since released five solo albums, most recently 2022's Homosexual, while collecting 14 ARIA Awards and an Order of Australia medal in 2019. Performers including Tania Doko, Electric Fields, Meg Mac and Michael Paynter covered his songs on the night, which supports Support Act, the Australian music industry's charity.