Awards, Prizes and Opportunities – listed by closing date.

May- Jun Download: Online Digital Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) Online Workshop Series  – Download: Online is a series of Zoom workshops for First Nations artists and arts workers at all career stages, who are engaging or wish to engage with digital practice and learn more about ICIP. This is a program developed in partnership with Arts Law Centre of Australia to provide practical advice on how to manage and protect ICIP when working digitally. Four online workshops will be held across May and early June. Workshops will be 2 hours in duration and will be grouped by art form area to provide tailored advice to attendees around IP and ICIP considerations and protections. First Nations artists and arts workers are welcome to register for one or more workshops depending on art form area practice and interest.

6 Jun 2025 – Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award This annual acquisitive award and exhibition is in its 14th year and organised by the Art Collection and Galleries Unit at Deakin University. One outstanding entry will be awarded a cash prize $15 000 and will become part of the Deakin University Art Collection. 

9 Jun 2025 – Strathnairn Arts Small Sculpture Prize Strathnairn Arts Association, in partnership with Ginninderry and artsACT, is thrilled to announce the launch of the inaugural Strathnairn Arts Small Sculpture Prize (SASS). This prestigious new award seeks to celebrate and highlight the creativity and innovation found in small-scale sculptural works by artists from across Australia. 

13 Jun 2025 – Bowness Photography Prize. The prize invites entries from artists working with photography. Entries for the Bowness Photography Prize will be considered from still photo-based media including analogue and digital photography, produced within the last year.

14 Jun 2025 – Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize
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. 

18 Jun 2025 – Singleton Art Prize an aquisative painting and drawing show  

19 Jun 2025 – The Lester Prize is one of the country’s premier art prizes—an award that places artists and community proudly front-and-centre. Our prize is about the advancement of the artists, not the celebrity of the sitters.

23 Jun 2025 – Frank Moorhouse Fellowship for Young Writers
Supports a writer aged 18-35 years to develop and write a new work of fiction.

26 Jun 2025 – Screen Australia – Special Initiative: Audience Design – The program aims to build skills and awareness for producers and/or key creatives to enable them to effectively advance their scripted feature film projects in audience design.

29 Jun 2025 – Accessible Arts & Bundanon Artists in Residence. Each year, Accessible Arts partners with Bundanon to present a valuable week-long residency program specifically for artists with disability or who are d/Deaf. These residencies have been important stepping stones in the creative and career development of many successful Australian artists with disability.

29 Jun 2025 – The Young Paddo Art Prize. a new concurrent annual national exhibit of 20 young national finalaists whose A4 paintings on paper draw from the Australian Landscape and environment.

30 Jun 2025 – Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award promotes excellence and innovation in the field of art on paper while supporting and encouraging artists who specialise in this medium. With a total prize pool of $26,000, the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award recognises outstanding artworks created with, on, or about paper. Artforms can include, but are not limited to painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, mixed media and video.

30 Jun 2025 – Samstag Scholarships The annual Samstag Scholarships enable Australian artists to develop their artistic capacities and skills through a dedicated period of practice-based learning in an international learning institution.

30 Jun 2025 – Australian Screen Production Incentive – Location Offset This program aims aims to provide an incentive for large budget screen productions to film in Australia. It forms part of the Australian Screen Production Incentive that supports film, television and other screen production by providing rebates and incentive

5 Jul 2025 – Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP)
This three-month residency offers $12,500 plus time and space for open-ended research and experimentation.

6 Jul 2025 – Lanyon Art Prize We invite ACT and regional artists to submit works of any medium that respond to Lanyon Homestead and its surrounds. Inspire
contemporary perspectives and explore the deeper stories of this historic place.

6 Jul 2025 – The Calleen Art Award is an annual acquisitive painting prize and exhibition. It presents the best of contemporary Australian painting in any style, theme or subject.

6 Jul 2025 – STILL: National Still Life Award is open to artists at all stages of their practice and working across all mediums, including but not limited to painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video and installation

7 Jul 2025 – The Windmill Trust Scholarship supports artists in various career aspects, including independent artistic research or practice, professional development, exhibiting and presenting work in new ways. Financial support encompasses studio rental, materials or labour costs, framing, space rental, promotion, artists’ fees, freight, installation, and documentation. 

9 Jul 2025 – Strathnairn Arts Small Sculpture Prize This new award seeks to celebrate and highlight the creativity and innovation found in small-scale sculptural works by artists from across Australia.  The prize encourages a diverse range of artistic expression, with submissions open to artists of all levels—from emerging talents to established professionals. The SASS prize will be determined by a panel of appointed judges, who will review each entry before shortlisting 30 finalists. The same panel will then select the 1stPrize ($10,000) Highly Commended ($3,000) and Emerging Artist ($1,000).

Jul 11 2025 – State Library of NSW Artist in Residence Creative artists are invited to interpret or respond to the Library’s public and behind-the-scenes interior spaces or our collections.

17 Jul 2025 – Screen Australia – Online Production Special Initiatives: Digital Originals This program aims to support screen creatives currently under-represented in the sector, including people who identify as culturally and linguistically diverse, First Nations Australians, people with disability, female and gender diverse, LGBTIQ+ and those who are located in regional and remote areas. It is a joint initiative of Screen Australia, SBS and NITV, aimed at developing exciting and innovative online scripted series for SBS and NITV platforms.

18 Jul 2025 – Hawkesbury Art Prize This is a biennial prize held every odd year. First prize of $15,000 plus a two week at residency at Glenhuntly Estate in the Hawkesbury is awarded to the winning entry.

21 Jul 2025 – Wesley Michel Wright Prize is awarded for an original work of verse or poetry. Up to $5,230 is available and only one award will be offered from this amount. Award payments will be made as a single lump-sum.

25 Jul 2025  – Cité Internationale des Arts Paris Residency Program The Art Gallery of New South Wales offers a three-month tenancy in the Moya Dyring Studio or Dr Denise Hickey Memorial Studio to Australian visual artists and researchers in the visual arts.

30 Jul 2025 – MAC yapang Art Prize is a national, acquisitive art prize. This new Art Prize has a total prize pool of $40,000 and is open to artists from all disciplines across Australia, with artworks in any medium.  

10 Aug 2025 – P𝖺𝖽𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗍𝗈𝗇 𝖠𝗋𝗍 𝖯𝗋𝗂𝗓𝖾 A $30,000 National Acquisitive Prize, now in its 22nd year for a painting inspired by the Australian Landscape

15 Aug 2025 – Portia Geach Memorial Award The S.H. Ervin Gallery is calling for entries for Australia’s most famed portraiture prize for women, the Portia Geach Memorial Award. Applicants must be a female Australian resident who is either Australian born, British born or a naturalised Australian.

18 Aug 2025 – Fellowship for Non-Fiction Writing
Supports an Australian author to create a significant new work of literary non-fiction.

1 Sep 2025 – NAISDA Dance College is Australia’s leading arts training organisation providing nationally accredited qualifications specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. Applications for 2026 are now open. We have a proud tradition of producing the next generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers since 1976.

23 Sep 2025 – A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship and Art Prize is awarded to Australian artists who have demonstrated talent and achievement in traditional styles. This includes realist, figurative and representational styles.

open – Incentives for live music and performance venues – This program aims to encourage more live music, performance and other arts and cultural events and employment opportunities for musicians and performers.

open – Rusten House Galleries  now has limited availability in our 2025 exhibition calendar. However we have one gallery space available in July and October