As always our main priority is to support photographers. Photographers will retain all and unconditional copyright to their imagery. We will only use the photographer’s imagery to promote Australian Photography Awards, Stories, Australian Photobook Awards or Photo Collective and to celebrate and feature the photographer’s work. Imagery is always credited and for features we will work with the photographers for selection. If a photographer doesn’t want us to use imagery we will happily comply.

Initial Judging

Once entries close, Photo Collective administration will consider all submissions through a scoring system. During scoring the panel is free to discuss anything that may aid in judging. For example this may include explaining an uncommon technique used or identifying subject matter. The highest scoring 50 submissions across each category will then be shortlisted for the next round of judging. In the event of multiple submissions being tied, the panel may re-score the submissions in the tie, and discuss the merits of each image to come to a final decision. Once they have selected the top 50 submissions across each category, they will manually review all entries to ensure nothing was overlooked. If they feel there are more than 50 submissions in any category which are serious contenders they will bring them in for the next round. All shortlisted entrants will then be contacted by email and a public announcement will be made via email, social channels and through our website.

Final Judging

Following initial judging, the external APA committee members will discuss and review each of the shortlisted submissions. The committee will have the opportunity to preview all submissions before judging commences. Each entry is then scored and deliberated over to determine the final outcome. In the event of multiple entries being tied, the judging committee will discuss the merits of each of the entries to come to a final decision.

Winners Announcements

The winning entry from each category will be announced at the APA Event at Bodriggy Brewpub and through our social media platforms, email database and website. The top 10 submissions from each category will also be printed for exhibition.

Other judging considerations

Administrators and employees of Photo Collective are not allowed to enter Australian Photography Awards. Neither is the judging committee for Australian Photography Awards allowed to enter. We are committed to ensuring that all entrants are treated equally regardless of their background or notoriety. We ensure our committee is held to the highest standard of ethics and every submission is treated with the same amount of time and respect. When discussing the shortlist, if committee members know the image or creator, they will acknowledge this briefly before presenting their ideas and thoughts so that this can be taken into consideration.

Read full terms and conditions here