The Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year aims to promote children’s books as literacy tools, as well as to raise awareness of the role speech pathologists play in helping children develop language and literacy skills.

The Daisy Utemorrah Award is for an unpublished manuscript of junior or YA fiction by a First Nations author. The Daisy Utemorrah Award is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people currently living in Australia. The winner of the award receives $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books. The Daisy Utemorrah Award for Unpublished Indigenous Junior and YA Fiction is administered and presented by Magabala Books.

The Calanthe Collective Prize for Unpublished Poetry was initiated in 2022. This competition is designed to encourage aspiring and current poets in two categories: Under 18, restricted to high school aged people; and the Open category, which is restricted to poets who are yet to have a book or chapbook published, either commercially or by self-publication. Calanthe Poetry is looking for exceptional poems on any theme in both categories.

The Anne Elder Award, (a national, annual award) is for a sole-authored first book of poetry of 20-minimum pages in length, published in Australia. The 2025 award, for books published during 2025, opens January 2026, and closes March 2026.

The Tom Collins Poetry Prize opened 2nd August 2025, and closes 1st November 2025. Submit up to 3 poems in the Tom Collins Poetry Prize. Each entry must have a separate entry form and submission fee. There is a maximum of 60 lines per poem. The competition is run by the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Western Australia (FAWWA).

April

May

June

July

The Tasmanian Literary Awards (formerly known as the Premier's Literary Prizes), recognise and promote excellence in Tasmania’s literary sector, and is offered biennually. Timelines for the 2025 awards:
Longlists for the book prizes released in December 2024.
Shortlists for all the awards announced in February 2025.
Winners were announced in March 2025.

August

September

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Key dates for all 2026 awards
Entries opened: Thursday 22 July 2025
Close of entries: 5pm AEST Friday 29 August 2025
Shortlist announcement: December 2025
Winner announcement: February 2026

October

NSW Premier's Literary Awards Entries for the 2026 awards close 5pm Tuesday 21st October 2025. Eligible entries need to have been published between 1st October 2024 and 30th September 2025. Entries per category vary between four and six books, though entries for the poetry, playwriting and scriptwriting categories are permitted to enter pdfs in lieu of print copies.

The Mary Gilmore Award is awarded for a first book of poetry (containing 32 or more pages of poetry) published during the previous year. The deadline for submissions for the 2026 Mary Gilmore Award is 24th October 2025, publishers will need to submit volumes to the judges by 7th November 2025. Winners will be announced in July 2026.

November

Entries for the 2026 South Australian Literary Awards close on 12th November, 2025.

December

The Blake Poetry Prize challenges Australian poets to explore the spiritual and religious in a new work of 100 lines or less. From 2017 Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre in partnership with WestWords has delivered The Blake Poetry Prize as a biennial event. It continues to engage contemporary poets, both national and international, in conversations concerning faith, spirituality, religion and/or belief. It runs alongside the Blake Art Prize and the major prize is $5000. The Blake Poetry Prize is an aesthetic means of exploring the wider experience of spirituality with the visionary imagining of contemporary poets. The Blake Prize takes its name from William Blake, a poet and artist of undoubted genius, who integrated religious and artistic content in his work.

The Newcastle Poetry Prize, presented in partnership with the University of Newcastle, offers one of Australia’s most significant opportunities for poets, Submissions close 8 pm, Sunday 7 December, 2025 (AEDT).