ArtsHub has compiled this go-to reference list of art prizes and competitions to enter in 2025. Included are those with entry deadlines announced so far and the list will be updated periodically.
New opportunities for commissions, grants and professional development will also be included in our weekly Opportunities and awards wrap throughout the year as they are announced.
Last updated 3 June.
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January
Visual arts
Valued at $25,000, the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing is an acquisitive prize. Finalists in the competition are also eligible to be considered for The People’s Choice Award, valued at $2000 (non-acquisitive). To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the event, a second acquisitive prize, the PLC Sydney Prize for Arts Education, valued at a minimum of $5000, will be awarded in 2025.
Entries close 15 January; learn more.
Glover Prize 2025 (Tas)
The John Glover Art Prize (Glover Prize) is awarded for a landscape painting of Tasmania to a local, interstate or international artist. The winner receives $80,000 for the acquisitive prize, with all entries eligible for the People’s Choice Award, the Children’s Choice Award and the Hanger’s Choice Award. The entered work should be a landscape painting of Tasmania, but does not have to have been painted in Tasmania. Landscape painting is defined in its broadest sense. The aim is to stimulate conversations about the meaning and possibilities expressed in the words ‘landscape’, ‘painting’ and ‘Tasmania’.
Entries close 24 January; learn more and enter.
SolarPunk Public Art Competition (Vic)
Part of the 2025 Off-Grid Living Festival in regional Victoria, SolarPunk Public Art Competition invites submissions that exemplify the new artistic genre. It’s looking for large-format public sculpture, to be presented in a crowded public arena and to inspire thousands to think positively about the future. A $3000 prize is on offer.
Entries close 30 January; learn more and enter.
2025 National Photographic Portrait Prize (ACT)
Entering its 18th year, the National Photographic Portrait Prize (NPPP) is one of the National Portrait Gallery’s most popular annual events. Each selected finalist receives a total artist/s fee of $1200 to exhibit at the NPG in addition to copyright and image licensing fees, and an allowance to travel for the exhibition launch. In 2025, the winner will receive a prize of $30,000 and $20,000 worth of equipment courtesy of Imaging Partner Canon Australia
Entries close 31 January; learn more and enter.
23rd SWELL Sculpture Festival (Qld)
Artists are invited to apply to exhibit in the 23rd annual SWELL Sculpture Festival, which will transform Currumbin Beach into a stunning outdoor gallery for 10 days in September. Artist submissions may comprise completed works, works in progress or concepts, with artists’ awards totalling over $30,000.
Entries close 31 January; learn more and enter.
Homiens Art Prize (International)
The Homiens Art Prize is an international, non-acquisitive art prize valued at US$24,000 (AU$37,000) annually and open to all artists. Six winning artists are exhibited by Homiens on its platform with an unrestricted cash award.
Entries close 31 January; learn more and enter.
Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize (SA)
The Adelaide Park Lands Art Prize is an opportunity to convey the many faces of the Adelaide Park Lands and their value in our urban setting. The 2025 theme is ‘Inspire’ with a $20,000 first prize on offer. All art forms welcome.
Entries close 31 January; learn more and enter.
Archibald Prize 2025 (NSW)
The annual Archibald Prize is awarded to the best portrait of a distinguished person, completed in the 12 months preceding the date of sending in the artwork. The value of the Archibald Prize is $100,000; entries are also eligible to be considered for the $3000 Packing Room Prize and the $5000 ANZ People’s Choice. This year, artworks must not exceed 70,000 square centimetres for the entire work of art (including the mounting or framing), with maximum dimensions of 250 by 280 centimetres or 280 by 250 centimetres.
Entries forms available early 2025 for works to be delivered in late March; learn more.
Writing and publishing
Local Word Poetry Prize (Vic)
The 2024-25 Local Word Poetry Prize is presented by Geelong Regional Library Corporation and Deakin University. This is the second time this prize has been offered. Entries of up to 75 lines are welcome from emerging and established writers in poetry with a $2000 major prize.
Entries close 20 January; learn more and enter.
Since 1996, the National Biography Award has celebrated excellence in biography, autobiography and memoir writing. With a prize pool of $42,000, it is the nation’s richest prize for Australian biographical writing and memoir, hosted by the State Library New South Wales.
Entries close 23 January; learn more and enter.
Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction
The Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction challenges writers to create an original piece of flash fiction (500 words) in 60 hours based on two writing prompts plus one anti-prompt. Participants will compete for $4000 in cash prizes, including $1500 for the winner, cash prizes for the entire shortlist and two bonus ‘wildcard’ prizes.
Prompts drop 24 January and submissions close 26 January; learn more.
Australian Book Review welcomes entries to the 2025 Calibre Essay Prize for non-fiction essays between 2000-5000 words on any subject. The prize worth a total of $10,000 is open to all essayists writing in English.
Entries close 28 January; learn more and enter.
February
Visual arts
SWELL Art Prize 2025 (Qld)
Artists working in all mediums and forms are invited to apply for the SWELL Art Prize with the inaugural exhibition to be held at the Broadbeach Community Space from 14-23 March 2025. The SWELL Art Prize is $2000.
Entries close 2 February; learn more and enter.
The 10th edition of the Award invites photographers from around the world to submit their best work with winners receiving US$5000 (AU$8050) in cash awards.
Entries close 4 February; learn more and enter.
The biennial Australian Monoprint Prize offers a $3000 First Prize and $500 Second Prize. The 2025 judges are Lisa Sullivan, Senior Curator at Geelong Gallery, and Emily Ferretti, a painter based in Naarm/Melbourne.
Entries close 4 February; learn more and enter.
2025 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year
The South Australian Museum and Australian Geographic invite photographers of all ages and experience, anywhere in the world, to submit their best images of the Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea regions. The overall winner receives a $10,000 cash prize with other category prizes also on offer.
Entries close 6 February; learn more and enter.
2025 Flanagan Art Prize (Vic)
Organised by St Patrick’s College, the Flanagan Art Prize is an acquisitive competition that celebrates emerging and established artists across contemporary art forms. A total of $18,000 is on offer across six categories, including the inaugural Young Flanagan Prize and Clontarf Academy Prize for secondary school-aged students.
Entries close 7 February; learn more and enter.
TRAILS Sculpture Prize 2025 (Vic)
The 2025 TRAILS Sculpture Exhibition welcomes contemporary sculptures for a total of $10,000 in prizes. Based in the seaside town of Portland in south-west Victoria, the TRAILS Sculpture Exhibition was established in 2021. Up to 20 large-form works and 30 small-form works will be selected for exhibition.
Entries close 7 February; learn more and enter.
Established in 1952, the Muswellbrook Art Prize is one of the richest prizes for painting in regional Australia. Three awards are awarded: the $50,000 acquisitive Painting Prize, the $10,000 acquisitive Works on Paper Prize and the $10,000 acquisitive Ceramics Prize.
Entries close 7 February; learn more and enter.
8th Rutherglen Tastes of Art Prize (Vic)
The Rutherglen Tastes of Art Prize is an opportunity for artists to exhibit in a well-established, popular show with visitors being able to purchase varied, creative works of exceptional quality. Prize sections include Painting, Work on Paper, Photography, 3D and Youth with total prize money of $16,350.
Entries close 9 February; learn more and enter.
2025 Local Contemporary Art Prize (Qld)
Sunshine Coast artists are invited to enter the 2025 Local Contemporary Art Prize with a $10,000 top accolade up for grabs. The Best in Show artwork will be acquired into the Sunshine Coast Art Collection, while all finalist works will be available for sale.
Entries close 9 February 2025; learn more and enter.
Bayside Painting Prize 2025 (Vic)
A major $25,000 Major Prize and $10,000 acquisitive Beckett Local Prize are on offer this year as part of the annual Bayside Painting Prize. The prize encourages varied approaches to the painted medium that convey the breadth and diversity of current Australian painting practice. The finalists’ exhibition will be held from 9 May to 22 June.
Entries close 21 February; learn more and enter.
Wold Illustration Awards 2025 (International)
The World Illustration Awards (WIA) showcase great work being made by illustrators all over the world today. WIA focuses on supporting and celebrating creativity, and connecting illustrators to their peers and the industry. Entrants are able to submit works in 10 categories, including Animation, Publishing, Advertising, Book Covers, Editorial, Site Specific and more.
Applications close 11 February; learn more and apply.
2025 City of Rockingham Art Prize (WA)
Artists from across WA are encouraged to enter the prize, which has a non-acquisitive prize pool worth more than $20,000. Artworks are welcomed in any two or three-dimensional medium.
Entries close 13 February; learn more and enter.
Australian Interior Design Awards 2025
The Australian Interior Design Awards recognise and celebrate interior design excellence via a credible, industry-based program, which is backed by the Design Institute of Australia. Any Australia-based design professional may enter. Projects may be located anywhere in the world. There are seven primary categories, two optional categories and four automatic categories, including Installation Design, Public Design and the Premier Award for Australian Interior Design.
Entries close 14 February; learn more and enter.
Australian Quilt Show Challenge 2025
With a prize pool of over $37,000 and categories to suit all styles and skill levels, the Australian Quilt Show Challenge is for all quilters across the country to gain recognition and connect with the quilting community. The competition welcomes submissions created between December 2023 and February 2025.
Entries close 20 February; learn more and enter.
Performing arts
Basel Composition Competition 2025 (International)
This is the fifth Basel Composition Competition, an international event held biennially in collaboration with the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, to give recognition to works for chamber and symphony orchestra. It is open to all living composers, with no limitation as to age or nationality.
Entries close 2 February; learn more and enter.
Willoughby Symphony Orchestra Young Composer Award (NSW)
The annual national competition invites young composers to take part in a one-day workshop with the adjudicating panel and the opportunity to win a cash prize of $5000. The winner will also receive both a concert performance and live recording of the successful composition by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra.
Submissions close 3 February; learn more and submit.
Willgoss Choral Composition Prize 2025 (NSW)
The Willgoss Choral Composition Prize for 2025 is calling all emerging composers to submit an original, short choral work for SATB (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), in support the choral program at UNSW. The Prize is open to all Australian citizens and permanent residents, of any age, and offers an opportunity for the winning composer to have their composition come to life, in addition to a cash prize of $3500.
Applications close 5 February; learn more and apply.
Writing and publishing
The Dal Stivens Award is presented biennially to an author, aged 30 or under, for a short story or essay of the highest literary merit. The recipient will receive $15,000 and up to two entries can be submitted.
Entries close 4 February; learn more and enter.
The Kathleen Mitchell Award is presented biennially to the author, aged 30 or under, of an outstanding novel or novella to encourage advancement in their literary career. The recipient receives $15,000.
Entries close 4 February; learn more and enter.
2025 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (International)
The 2025 Next Generation Indie Book Awards is open to all indie book authors and publishers including independent publishers (small, medium or otherwise), university presses, self-published authors, e-book authors, seasoned authors and even first-time authors in the US, Canada or internationally who have a book, a manuscript or a galley proof written in English and published in 2023, 2024 or 2025 or with a 2023, 2024 or 2025 copyright date. First place in fiction and non-fiction receives a cash prize of $1500.
Entries close 14 February; learn more and enter.
The Tasmanian Writers’ Prize 2025
The prize is for short stories up to 3000 words having an island, or island-resonant, theme. The winning entry receives a cash prize of $500 and all finalists’ stories will appear in the Forty South Short Story Anthology 2025.
Entries close 14 February; learn more and enter.
March
Visual arts
2025 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA)
All emerging, mid-career and established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists are invited to submit their entries in the 2025 Telstra NATSIAA, celebrating First Nations art. Presented by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT), in collaboration with Principal Partner Telstra, awards include the $100,000 Telstra Art Award, and $15,000 awards for six other categories.
Entries close 2 March; learn more and enter.
Emerging Prize 2025 (NSW)
Submissions are invited from NSW artists aged 18-30 working in any medium for Gosford Regional Gallery’s biannual art award. Accepted submissions will receive $1000 for the development of new work or presentation of existing work, with one submission being awarded a $5000 Emerging Prize, announced at the exhibition opening on the 27 June 2025.
Entries close 3 March; learn more and enter.
2025 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize
Artists across Australia are invited to enter the 2024 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, which includes a $35,000 Professional Art Prize, a $7500 Indigenous Emerging Artist Prize and a $7500 Emerging Artist Prize.
Entries close 5 March; learn more and enter.
Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award 2025
The biennial Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award is calling for entries with two prizes offered – a $40,000 acquisitive award and the $2500 Ruth Amery Highly Commended non-acquisitive award. Artists working with the textile medium in any form from across Australia are invited to apply.
Entries close 7 March; learn more and enter.
2025 Burwood Art Prize (NSW)
The Burwood Art Prize invites artists from across Sydney to engage with the theme I AM HERE, exploring the importance of diverse cultural stories and community identity. Artists are invited to interpret this statement as a call to explore how art can spark meaningful dialogues, connecting audiences with the vibrant experiences that enrich our collective understanding. A major $20,000 acquisitive prize is on offer alongside the $2500 Burwood Local Prize and $2500 Burwood Youth Prize.
Entries close 14 March; learn more and enter.
This annual $15,000 art prize is open to established and emerging Australian contemporary artists, with all artworks for sale through the Omnia gallery space and online shop. Artists are invited to submit up to three artworks in any medium, including small sculptures.
Entries close 14 March; learn more and submit.
The Lester Prize for portraiture returns in 2025 with more than $130,000 in prize money to winning finalists. Entries are welcome from everyone, with the finalists’ exhibition featuring established artists alongside those who may only be at the beginning of their careers. In addition to its Main Awards, The Lester Prize also runs a Youth Awards category, open to all high school students across Australia.
Early-bird applications close 18 March for the main prize, and entries close 5 March for the Youth Awards; learn more and apply.
Anderson Art Award 2025 (NSW)
The second biennial Anderson Art Award 2025 is a community initiative of Galleries in the Gardens, inviting artists from across NSW to enter. There will be two prizes of $4000 for the winners in two-dimensional and three-dimensional categories as well as two highly commended awards.
Entries close 27 March; learn more and enter.
Performing arts
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) has launched a new $50,000 Jim Sharman Future Award for artists aged 16-30 from across Australia and the Asia Pacific. The award seeks bold ideas with the potential to reshape the arts. The application for the Award can be in any form – a video of up to five minutes, a written pitch of up to 1500 words, or any form of engagement that best suits the idea or project. Finalists will be invited to a live pitch presentation at NIDA in front of a judging panel on 29 or 30 April 2025.
Applications close 24 March; learn more and apply.
Writing and publishing
South Coast Writers Centre (SCWC) invites poets to respond to the theme ‘shape shifter’ in the 2025 Poetry Award with a first prize of $1000. The Award is run in association with the Wollongong Art Gallery exhibition Shape Shifters, an innovative retrospective of Australian collage.
Entries close 2 March; learn more and enter.
The Jennifer Burbridge Short Story Award 2025
The Jennifer Burbidge Short Story Award was established in 2001 by Mary and Andrew Burbidge to honour the life of their eldest daughter, Jennifer, who died aged 21. The prize is funded by royalties from Mary Burbidge’s memoir Forever Baby, published by Harper Collins in 1999, and welcomes short stories of fiction or non-fiction up to 3000 words on the theme of disability. The winner will receive $500.
Entries close 7 March; learn more and enter.
Little Black Dress Spooky Story Competition (WA)
Little Black Dress Productions and the KSP Writers’ Centre presents the annual spooky story competition. The judges will be looking for good quality original, unpublished writing with engaging characters and a compelling narrative including an excellent beginning, middle and end. Entries must be rated PG and should address the theme, ‘The Call’.
Entries close 13 March; learn more and enter.
The Best Australian Science Writing 2025 and the UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing 2025
In 2025, science journalist and broadcaster Tegan Taylor and journalist and science author Zoe Kean will take on the reins as co-editors of the anthology, Best Australian Science Writing. The two will be looking for writing across genres, from poetry to essays, features to news articles, opinion pieces and science stories that defy definition. They encourage submissions from established and emerging voices from a range of professions. Pieces must have been published in print and/or online in Australia or globally between 1 January 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Entries close 31 March; learn more and apply.
Australian Writers’ Guide (AWG) Associate and Student members are invited to submit new scripts to the Emerging Writers’ Awards, open to screen and stage writers of any genre. Winning writers will share in $10,000 prize money. All shortlisted scripts will be added to the AWG’s Pathways Showcase.
Entries close 31 March; learn more and enter.
All
2025 National Trust Heritage Awards (NSW)
Individuals, charities, community groups, councils, businesses, organisations, government departments and others offering heritage-related initiatives are encouraged to now enter the 2025 National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards. Returning to Pyrmont’s heritage-listed Doltone House on 16 May 2025, the National Trust Heritage Awards will showcase fantastic heritage projects, innovations and achievements.
Entries close 5 March; learn more and enter.
April
Visual arts
All Connections to Unley Art Prize (SA)
South Australian artists of all ages and career stages are invited to create artworks on their personal connection to the City of Unley. Works may represent, be an interpretation of, or be inspired by, currently or historically, the Unley area, its people and places. A major prize of $5000 is on offer to the overall winner.
Entries close 11 April; learn more and enter.
Lake Macquarie City Council is calling for captains and crafters to join the Float Your Boat fleet for 2025 and be in the running for $1000 cash prize. The annual event sees illuminated artworks affixed to boats and welcomes onlookers to enjoy the show. The Council is offering $400 for the first 20 boats to enter to assist with costs.
Applications close 30 April; learn more and apply.
Writing and publishing
The John Hinde Award for excellence in science-fiction writing recognises the best sci-fi scripts across feature film, television, web series, audio and interactive media. Winning writers share in a $10,000 prize pool, with two categories: produced and unproduced.
Entries close 2 April; learn more and enter.
The State Library of NSW welcomes nominations for the NSW History Awards worth $85,000, including the Australian History Prize, General History Prize, New South Wales Community and Regional History Prize, Young People’s History Prize, Digital History Prize and the Anzac Memorial Trustees Military History Prize. All works nominated for the NSW History Awards 2025 must be first published, screened, broadcast or made publicly available between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Entries close 3 April; learn more and enter.
Griffith Review is looking for original submissions of fiction and creative non-fiction from 3500 to 5000 words. For the purposes of this competition, ‘emerging’ is defined as writers ranging from previously unpublished through to those with a maximum of one published book (fiction or non-fiction). Submissions can be based on any theme, with new ideas, fresh voices and bold perspectives encouraged. The winners will share a prize pool of $20,000 and have their work published in Griffith Review.
Submissions close 7 April; learn more and enter.
Western Australian writers aged 18-35 are invited to submit their unpublished work of fiction, narrative non-fiction, young adult fiction or a verse novel to be in the running to win $20,000, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and a fellowship with the Centre for Stories.
Entries close 18 April; learn more and enter.
May
Visual arts
Remagine Art Prize is an environmental art prize that began in 2009, to promote awareness of environmental challenges such as waste and consumption. This year’s theme ‘RE:THINK TO RE:PURPOSE’ refers to the decisions we make each day about how much waste we create, and how this directly affects our environment. Total prize money of $11,000 and the prize is open to painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, photography, digital stills and mixed media.
Entries open 20 January to 1 May; learn more.
The Lennox St Gallery Art Award 2025
The inaugural award is open to artists under the age of 35 for original paintings and works on paper created within the last 12 months. A prize pool of $25,000 is up for grabs.
Entries close 4 May; learn more and enter.
The $20,000 Olive Cotton Award is celebrating its 20th anniversary of supporting photographic portraiture. This year’s judges include Cotton’s daughter and the inaugural Award Judge, Sally McInerney, Glenn Iseger-Pilkington from the Aboriginal Cultural Centre project WA, Museum of Australian Photography’s Angela Connor and National Gallery of Australia’s Shaune Lakin.
Submissions close 13 May; learn more and submit.
Best in Show 2025: Australian Photographic Dog Prize (SA)
David Roche Gallery in Adelaide has launched a biannual prize to celebrate Australian dogs and pay homage to the legacy of its founder, David Roche AM, whose dogs won Best in Show from the 1950s to the early 2010s. The competition is open to amateur and professional photographers, with a first prize of $5000. The Young Photographer (12-18 years old) category offers a first prize of $500 and the People’s Choice Award $500.
Entries close 19 May; learn more and enter.
Kimberley Art and Photographic Prize (KAPP) 2025 (WA)
The KAPP is facilitated by the Shire and is one of the most remote art and photographic competitions in Australia and one of the longest running art prizes in Western Australia. All entries mist be Kimberley-related or themed.
Entries close 30 May; learn more.
Performing arts
Australian Youth Classical Music Competition 2025
This Scholarship competition for classical musicians includes both a national prize and a regional section to encourage and recognise local young musicians. The National First Prize-winner receives a $20,000 Overseas Travel Scholarship sponsored by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. A Second Prize of $5000 and a Third Prize of $3000 are also awarded, plus a participation award and Audience Prize. The Regional Prize awards $2000 with runner-up prizes of $1000 to three finalists.
Entries close 25 May; learn more and apply.
Strike A Chord is Musica Viva Australia’s national chamber music competition for Australian school students. Twelve groups, from at least six states/territories, will be selected to play live at the Grand Final at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
Entries open 1 May and close 29 May; learn more.
Writing and publishing
2025 Annual Banjo Paterson Writing Awards
This year there will be no entry fees to the annual Banjo Paterson Writing Awards for short story, contemporary poetry and a dedicated children’s section for entrants 16 years old and under.
Entries close 2 May; learn more and enter.
2025 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize
Australian Book Review welcomes original short stories for the annual prize worth a total of $12,500. The Prize is open to all writers writing in English, with stories of between 2000 and 5000 words on any subject and in any style.
Entries close 5 May; learn more and apply.
2025 Living Stories Western Sydney Writing Prize (NSW)
In its fifth year, Living Stories is open to residents of Western Sydney and Wingecarribee Shire, offering the opportunity of being published and cash prizes from a pool of over $12,000. Participants should respond to the theme, ‘Only I can say’ and are able to write their stories at one of the free creative writing workshops hosted by WestWords and WestLit Libraries.
Entries close 5 May; learn more and enter.
Presented as part of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2025, the Danger Awards honour books featuring Australia as a setting for stories about crime and justice. In addition to the Danger Award trophy, each winner across four categories receives $1000 in prize money and will be invited to speak at BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival 2026.
Entries close 16 May; learn more and enter.
June
Visual arts
47th Walyalup | Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award (WA)
The 47th Walyalup | Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award is an acquisitive exhibition of works that welcomes any printing process with $30,000 in prize money. Artists living in Australia aged 16 years and older are invited to submit their best works.
Entries close 2 June; learn more and enter.
Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize 2025
The Australian Photographic Society’s Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize is a national $30,000 acquisitive prize that seeks to find Australia’s best conceptual photographic works. Finalists are exhibited annually at Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre with the prize-winning work joining the Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection, and a collection of contemporary photographic works acquired through the Muswellbrook Photographic Award (1987 – 2014).
Entries close 13 June; learn more and enter.
Submissions are open for the 20th anniversary of the Bowness Photography Prize, now offering $50,000 for the winner and $2500 cash prizes for two Honourable Mentions. Loan fees will be available for all shortlisted artists.
Submissions close 13 June; learn more and submit.
CIMAM Outstanding Museum Practices Award (International)
CIMAM, the International Committee for Museums and Collections of Modern Art, is calling for nominations for its fifth Outstanding Museum Practice Award (OMPA). This award highlights museum practices that drive structural transformation, foster deeper connections with people, communities and context, and can serve as catalysts for meaningful change. Nominations are open to modern and contemporary museum professionals worldwide.
Nominations close 27 June; learn more and nominate.
The Almenara Art Prize (online)
The Almenara Art Prize is an online competition open to artists internationally with more than EUR29,000 (AU$47,930) in cash prizes. Categories include Figurative, Portrait, Drawing, Landscape and Plein Air Painting, Still Life, Wildlife and Animal, Fantastic Realism and Young category. An entry fee applies.
Entries close 30 June; learn more and enter.
The 2025 Sony Alpha Awards marks the 10th year of the photo competition showcasing outstanding photography captured on Sony cameras and lenses from photographers across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Entrants can submit their work across 13 categories, including Astrophotography, Bird Life, City/Street, Creative, Editorial, Landscape, Portrait, Seascape, Sea Life, Sports, Wedding, Wildlife and Youth. $62,000 worth of Sony camera gear is available for the winners of the 2025 Alpha Awards.
Entries close 30 June; learn more and enter.
Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize 2025
The annual prize is open to all Australian ceramic artists. Applicants may be working across functional, small-scale, fine art, handcrafted or more complex commercial pursuits with ceramics.
Entries close 30 June; learn more and enter.
Performing arts
Paul Lowin Orchestral and Song Cycle Prizes 2025
In celebration of the Australian Music Centre’s 50th anniversary year, the 2025 Prizes will offer an increased total prize pool of $47,500. In 2025, the Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize will award an Australian composer $30,000 in merit of excellence in an orchestral work written within the last three years. The Song Cycle Prize will award an Australian composer $15,500 in merit of excellence in a song cycle written within the last three years.
Entries close 10 June; learn more and enter.
Writing and publishing
A first prize of $10,000 is on offer at the ACU Prize for Poetry, now in its 13th year running. It is open to new works on the theme of ‘Belonging’, inspired by a quotation from St Teresa of Kolkata: “If we have no peace, we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Entries close 1 June; learn more and enter.
The 2024 Questions Writing Prize aims to recognise and reward young Australian writers (18 to 30 years). The writing can be fiction or non-fiction on any topic, as long as the piece is between 1500 and 2000 words. The prize for best writing is $3000.
Submissions close 1 June; learn more and submit.
2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize
Submissions are open for the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize with an overall prize pool of $150,000 and the overall winner of the adult category receiving $100,000. The prize is open to authors who are citizens or residents of Australia and New Zealand. Novels must have been first published between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.
Submissions close 11 June; learn more and submit.
Performing arts
2025 Pinnacle Awards (WA)
WA performing arts producers and presenters will be celebrated at the Pinnacle Awards and nominations are now open to support your peers.
Nominations close 9 June; learn more and nominate.
2025 National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs)
The 2025 NIMAs ceremony will take place on 9 August at Garamilla/Darwin’s Darwin Amphitheatre and nominations are now open. For the first time, the NIMAs will be shared and showcase Indigenous music to international audiences through a global livestream on YouTube.
Nominations close 16 June; learn more and nominate.
All
WA Innovators of the Year Awards
The awards recognise WA innovators across seven categories with winners sharing in the program’s largest ever prize pool of over $280,000.
Applications close 11 June; learn more and apply.
Celebrating the achievements of WA businesses exporting to the world, the Awards include a Creative Industries category as well as the new category, First Nations exporter.
Applications close 13 June; learn more and apply.
July
Visual arts
The Brisbane Portrait Prize celebrates the city of Meanjin/Brisbane and its people with over $100,000 or prizes and grants available in 2025. This year, the prize consists of two key competitions: The Main Prize and the Next Gen Prize (open to entrants 18 and under).
Entries open in January and close 1 July; learn more and enter.
Queen’s Wharf Brisbane Art Prize 2025 (Qld)
Presented by the Royal Queensland Art Society Brisbane Branch, this prize asks artists to submit a painting or drawing that reflects what makes Brisbane and its surrounding attractions unique. A $20,000 first prize is on offer, with two $5000 Highly Commended prizes.
Entries close 5 July; learn more and enter.
STILL: National Still Life Award 2025 (NSW)
STILL is open to all Australian resident artists with artworks of all mediums made after 1 January 2024 eligible for entry. A $30,000 acquisitive award is on offer at STILL this year, with 2025 marking the launch of the new Coffs Coast Artist Award of $5000. The exhibition of finalists will be held at City of Coffs Harbour’s Yarrila Arts and Museum (YAM) from 6 September to 9 November.
Entries close 6 July; learn more and enter.
Chapel Hill Horizons Art Prize (SA)
This $5000 acquisitive art prize invites South Australian artists to interpret the dual meaning of Horizon – both the physical line where the earth meets the sky and the symbolic concept of something that may be attained. Shortlisted works will be exhibited as part of 2025 South Australian Living Arts Festival (SALA).
Entries close 14 July; learn more and enter.
Performing arts
Melbourne Prize for Music 2025
Open to all music genres and for Victorian residents only, this year’s program includes four categories: the $60,000 Melbourne Prize for Music 2025, The $20,000 Beleura John Tallis Award for Emerging Composers, the $10,000 Professional Development Award and the Falls Creek Musicians Residencies (two 14-day residencies plus $1000 to each recipient). Runner-up finalists in the Melbourne Prize for Music 2025 receive $1,000, supported by Fed Square.
Entries close 7 July; learn more and enter.
Writing and publishing
2025 Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers
Now in its 11th year, this prize is awarded to the best short story up to 3000 words by an Indigenous writer who is 35 years or younger. The 2025 judges are Evelyn Araluen, Nardi Simpson and Mykaela Saunders.
Entries close 27 July; learn more and enter.
All
Celebrate excellence in the events industry as the 2025 Australian Event Awards invites submissions from event professionals, producers, suppliers and creatives. Eligible events must have been delivered between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025. Categories include public events, corporate functions, exhibitions, conferences and festivals.
Entries close 28 July; learn more and enter.
August
Visual arts
Artists are invited to submit works to this year’s Hornsby Art Prize in the categories of painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and sculpture. This year, the total prize money is $23,000 with the major prize worth $10,000. All artworks must have been produced in the past two years and not previously exhibited in an art prize.
Entries close 7 August; learn more and enter.
2025 Sculpture on the Edge (Qld)
Local, national and international sculptors are invited to enter the 2025 exhibition and competition at Flaxton Gardens, Sunshine Coast Queensland. Sculpture on the Edge runs across nine days from 28 November to 7 December.
Entries close 31 August; learn more and enter.
Writing and publishing
UQP Mentorship Prize for Under-represented Writers
University Queensland Press (UQP) is looking for talented emerging authors from under-represented backgrounds who have 5000 words of a new work in Fiction, Non-fiction or Children’s fiction (excluding picture books). Two mentorship prize winners will each receive $5000, a residency at UQP’s office at the University of Queensland in Brisbane (including return flights and accomodation, online or in-person mentoring sessions for writing, editorial mentoring with a UQP editor, and a professional development session), and consideration of the final manuscript by a UQP publisher.
Entries close 1 August; learn more.
September
Visual arts
13th Prospect Portrait Prize (SA)
The longest running portrait prize in South Australia, the Prospect Portrait Prize is a non-acquisitive juried exhibition of contemporary portraits in any medium. First Prize-winner takes home $5000, with $1000 for People’s Choice and a $500 Payinthi Award.
Applications close 26 September; learn more and apply.
