Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2025

• Australian citizens or permanent residents of Australia.

Eligible entries must be:

• by a living Australian author (at the time of the closing date)
• the work of the named author/s and creator/s (not ghost written)
• created by no more than two authors or one author with one illustrator or photographer
• in the case of children’s books, created by no more than two authors and one illustrator or one author and two illustrators
• first published or released between 1 January 2023 and 31  December  2023
• made available for general sale, broadcast or distribution in Australia between 1  January  2023 and 31  December 2023
• available to the public via more than one distribution outlet
• published or produced in the English language
• deposited to the National Library of Australia (and relevant state library/libraries) as is required for legal deposit under the Copyright Act 1968. For more information on this criterion please refer here
• edited by a professional editor.

For Australian History, eligible works include:

• print media, including a published book, website, journal or magazine; an interactive or online project; a film or documentary for any form of distribution (including television, cinema, online, or radio); other forms of multimedia; or a series of these
• themes of historical events, historical figures (including biographies) and significant concepts or issues
• a series or group of works published within the allowed timeframe.

For Literary non-fiction, eligible works include biographies, autobiographies, histories, philosophy, literary criticism and works dealing with contemporary issues.

For Children’s Literature, books with up to three creators are eligible. This must be either two authors and one illustrator or one author and two illustrators. Works consisting of images or pictures only, with no text, are eligible.

• Committees or corporations (unless the work is a non-book entry for the Australian history category).

The following are not eligible:

• second edition books
• published or electronic versions of books originally released in a previous calendar year
• works consisting primarily of photographs or illustrations that include only limited descriptive text or captions
• biographies of, or works by, current (at the time of entry) members of an Australian or foreign parliament or executive
• books that are collections of essays or stories by multiple contributors, compiled by an editor, that acknowledge the work of the authors in their own right
• collected works of more than two poets
• single poems, unless they are a novel length work of verse
• books generated wholly by AI.

Please note:

• Books must have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
• Books primarily published electronically must be available in hard copy format to provide to judges.
• Books that are the collective work of a community group, or a community group and named authors, illustrators and/or photographers, may be eligible. All contributors must be individually identified as a co-author of the book in the application form, and the work must meet all other eligibility criteria
• Authors and producers must consider any legal risks associated with their work, particularly in relation to copyright and defamation law
• For works of joint authorship, or for works created collectively by a community group, each key creator must be identified on the application form and will receive an equal share of any prize money awarded
• If a shortlisted or winning entry is entered by a registered organisation, the prize money will be awarded to the registered organisation. Each identified (key member) should receive an equal share of the prize money
• Works should consist of primarily new material, or work that has been collected for the nominated book for the first time
• Where a public sector organisation (such as an arm of the Australian Defence Force or a state or territory government department) wins or is shortlisted, no prize money will be paid.