Awards, Prizes and Opportunities – listed by closing date

17 Aug – Screen Producers Australia – Ones To Watch This program is a professional development and mentoring program for early-career screen producers looking to accelerate their screen business acumen to the next level.

20 Aug – Hornsby Art Prize Calling for works  now across a variety of mediums

21 Aug – Kangaroo Valley Art Prize – Artists may submit up to 3 entries. $30 per entry or $80 for three, The Exhibition will take place in the Kangaroo Valley Hall during the Visual Arts in the Valley Festival from 2-5 October

21 Aug – Bindi Digital Art Prize – Bindi Enterprises Invites artists to submit digital and moving image works for this all inclusive national art prize!

26 Aug – 2026 Tim Copes Portrait Prize Sponsored by the Copes Family. The work must be an original signed painting or drawing and may include mixed media or any original print making technique, excluding photography or digital reproductions.

28 Aug – The CASE (Contemporary Art, Socially Engaged) Incubator program is now accepting applications from mid-career artists working in socially engaged art. One artist from each Australian state and territory will be selected to participate in a paid 12-month residency from October 2026 to September 2027.

31 Aug – Boorowa Irish Woolfest 2026 Upcycle Fashion Contest invites designers, makers, students and sustainability lovers to transform existing wool garments and textiles into original fashion creations.

31 Aug – Study at NAISDA 2027 – For 50 years, NAISDA has been Australia’s leading dance and arts training organisation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students aged 16 and over.

4 Sep – Bowral Art Gallery – Together We Bloom – Held over the opening weekend of Tulip Time, this special exhibition offers BDAS members the opportunity to exhibit and sell original artworks and jewellery in the Bowral Senior Citizens Centre, located within the beautiful Corbett Gardens.

6 Sep – Koori Mail Indigenous Art Award 2026 – A national award, open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists working in any medium. Artists at any stage of their career are encouraged to enter this non-acquisitive award. Entries are free.

11 Sep – Basil Sellers Art Prize is a major national Australian art prize, celebrating artistic excellence in 2D works across painting, drawing and printmaking. This acquisitive biennial prize supports artists at all stages of their careers, with a structure grounded in care, accessibility and generosity.

14 Sep – Dobell Drawing Prize is Australia’s leading prize for drawing, and an unparalleled celebration of technique, innovation and expanded practice.

14 Sep – Oral History NSW Community History Award – The award is designed to acknowledge the work of individuals or community groups who are recording the histories of their communities.

15 Sep – Red Ochre Award (Lifetime Achievement) – nominations open for senior First Nations artists and cultural workers with thirty or more years of continued artistic practice for the 2027 Red Ochre Awards.

15 Sep – Established Artist of the Year Award – nominations open for the 2027 First Nations Established Artist of the Year Award. Valued at $25,000 for one recipient, this Award recognises the achievement of one First Nations artist in community arts and cultural development, dance, experimental arts, literature, multi-arts, music, theatre and/or visual arts with twenty or more years of continued artistic practice.

15 Sep – Youth Award for Achievement in the Arts – nominations open for the 2027 Youth Award for Achievement in the Arts. Valued at $25,000, this Award recognises the achievement of one Australian First Nations artist or arts worker in community arts and cultural development, dance, experimental arts, literature, multi-arts, music, theatre and/or visual arts between the age of 18 and 35.

15 Sep – First Nations Arts and Culture Business Innovation Award – nominations open for the 2027 First Nations Arts and Culture Business Innovation Award. Valued at $25,000 this Award, for one business, recognises innovation and excellence in entrepreneurship among Australian First Nations small to medium arts and culture businesses or community organisations (including Art Centres) nationwide.

19 Sept The Thin Green Line Art Prize. The Robertson Rainforest Festival invites Artists to explore this theme and bring awareness to the necessity to create more habitat and maintain the beautiful bushland and rainforests of Robertson and its surrounds. The winning entry will take home $500 and all will be hung at CTC.

21 Sep – Redland Art Awards 2026 – is a biennial contemporary painting competition. Entries are open to artists who are Australian citizens or permanent residents, who currently reside in Australia.

23 Sep – 2026 Nature Writing Prize – The Nature Writing Prize invites Australian writers to help bring the wonder, beauty and fragility of nature to life through storytelling. Entries now open!

5 Oct – Kilgour Prize Newcastle Art Gallery celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the Kilgour Prize. Administered by Newcastle Art Gallery since 2006.

30 Oct – Burnie Print Prize 2027 – Entries are open now for the prestigious Burnie Print Prize 2027. Total Prize money $24,000. All forms of printmaking.

30 Nov – Halloran Contemporary Art Prize Acquistive prize that responds to the collection: Science and Sea. Theme for 2027 Between Light and Reason

1 Mar 2027  – Screen NSW – Crew Development Program: Production Placement – The Crew Development Program offers intensive training and paid production placements (with mentorship) for NSW entry-level and mid-career crew from underrepresented backgrounds.

open  – Majors Creek Festival EOI 2026/27 – Expressions of Interest for inclusion in our performer pool for the next two festivals are now open.

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 – Exhibition space is avalible for Artists to propose exhibitions in Queanbeyan.

open  – QPRC Cultural Grants are open for the 2025-26 financial year – The Cultural Grants Program aims to assist local arts, artists, musicians, performers, writers and arts/cultural groups to start and develop their own projects, and to improve the community’s opportunities for involvement in cultural and arts activities. Applications are open throughout the year, or until funds have been exhausted.