The 2025 Kate Challis RAKA Award is now open for applications from Indigenous authors.
The RAKA, which means ‘five’ in the Pintupi language, is awarded to an Indigenous artist in one of five categories annually, including creative prose, poetry, script writing, drama and visual arts.
In 2025, the $25,000 award supports the best book of poems written by an Indigenous author and published in the preceding five years.
The RAKA, or Ruth Adeney Koori Award, was first awarded in 1991 to help advance recognition of Indigenous artistic achievements and creativity, was one of the earliest prizes for Indigenous artists in Australia. The award was established by eminent art and cultural historian Professor Emeritus Bernard Smith. Smith believed in the restorative justice powers of the arts in all forms, which is why the Kate Challis RAKA Award celebrates Indigenous creative excellence. It is named to honour the memory of his late wife, Kate Challis, who was known in her youth as Ruth Adeney. Past winners of the RAKA include filmmaker Ivan Sen (2024, 2014, and 2004), playwright Dylan Van Den Berg (2022), filmmakers Steven McGregor and David Tranter (2019), visual artist Yhonnie Scarce (2018), and author Alexis Wright (2016). See the full list of past winners.
Applications close on 28 July 2025.
For more information click here
