Editor Greg Best and deputy editor Rachael Houlihan attended the ACM Excellence awards at a gala dinner in Sydney on Wednesday night, with The Standard recognised in three award categories.

ACM's head of dailies Chad Watson said The Standard had been a "standout performer" over the year.

"Being crowned masthead of the year is the highest honour for ACM news teams," he said.

"This is the award that all the newsrooms especially want to win because it recognises journalistic excellence and advocacy online, in print and across social media."

Watson said the ACM judges considered how mastheads had grown their digital subscriber base, reach and audience.

"They look at how publications support their community, engage meaningfully with readers and subscribers, and embraced innovation and story-telling," he said.

"The Standard was declared a standout performer in its 150th year as a champion of Warrnambool and the south-west region.

"The judges agreed The Standard was above standard when it came to consistently informing, educating, entertaining and provoking readers on the issues that mattered."

Journalist Linley Wilkie won the commercial feature of the year prize for her stories on the Jericho Cup. Houlihan was highly commended in the comment piece of the year award for her editorial on Warrnambool missing out on Commonwealth Games action.

Best said he was delighted The Standard had won the top accolade at the ACM awards, organised by the publisher of the news network.

"It's a testament to our hard-working staff and the efforts they put in every day of the year," he said.

"It's a ringing endorsement of each and every person at The Standard as we maintain our tradition of being the region's trusted voice.

"Over the past year we have covered a shocking double murder/suicide that led national and international news, council controversy, court backlash, health issues, personal triumphs, housing crises, environmental emergencies, a push for Commonwealth Games inclusion for Warrnambool and full coverage of south-west sport.

"Everything we do at The Standard is with the aim of engaging, informing and advocating for the south-west - and that will never stop."