Red Ochre Award (Lifetime Achievement)
Key information
Amount: There are four Awards valued at $60,000 each
Nomination open: Thursday 28 May 2026
Applications close: Tuesday 15 September 2026, 3pm AEST
Notifications: late January 2027
The First Nations Arts & Culture Awards will be held on Thursday 27 May 2027
Please note: To nominate you must be registered in our application management system a minimum of two business days prior to the closing date.
National Relay Service
The National Relay Service is an Australia-wide telephone access service available to anyone who is Deaf or has a hearing or speech impairment.
Creative Australia uses the National Relay Service to increase access to our programs and services for people who are Deaf or have a hearing or speech impairment.
Visit the National Relay Service website to find out more information and register to use the National Relay Service.
Voice Relay number: 1300 555 727
TTY number: 133 677
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Auslan Interpreter Service
Creative Australia can provide an Auslan Interpreter Service for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing. If you require this service, please email FirstNationsArts@creative.gov.au, to schedule a suitable date and time for you, so we can book an Auslan interpreter.
To ensure an interpreter is available, we will need to receive your request at least one week before the application closing date.
The Interpreter Service is available throughout Australia, including in regional areas.
Creative Australia is pleased to invite nominations for senior First Nations artists and cultural workers with thirty or more years of continued artistic practice for the 2027 Red Ochre Awards.
Red Ochre Awards nominations are open across two categories:
- Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence: Two awards valued at $60,000 for outstanding lifetime achievement in artistic practice for a senior Australian First Nations artist.
- Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Advocacy and Leadership: Two awards valued at $60,000 for outstanding lifetime achievement in cultural advocacy and leadership for a senior Australian First Nations arts leader or arts and cultural worker.
We are seeking nominations from individuals, arts and community organisations. The recipient will be presented with the Award at the First Nations Arts and Culture Awards ceremony to be held on Thursday 27 May 2027.
About the Red Ochre Awards
The prestigious Red Ochre Award was established by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board in 1993 to pay tribute to senior Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander individuals for their outstanding lifetime achievements and contributions in the arts, recognised both nationally and internationally with thirty or more years of continued artistic practice.
The Red Ochre Award recognises:
- lifetime contribution to First Nations arts and culture nationally and internationally
- lifetime contribution to the First Nations community
- lifetime achievement in arts practice and cultural advocacy and leadership.
About the First Nations Arts and Culture Awards
The Awards are held each year on 27 May the anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the opening of National Reconciliation Week, to honour First Nations excellence and the outstanding contributions of First Nations artists, arts workers and entrepreneurs to their practice, culture, and community.
The Awards are assessed by an independent panel of First Nations Industry Advisors, with the Red Ochre Awards determined by the Creative Australia’s First Nations Board.
The Award categories are:
- the prestigious Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence for senior artists
- the prestigious Red Ochre Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Advocacy and Leadership for senior artists
- the Established Artist of the Year Award to recognise outstanding achievement in artistic practice of an established First Nations artists
- the Youth Award for Achievement in the Arts, to recognise the achievement of First Nations artists or arts workers between the age of 18 and 35
- the First Nations Arts and Culture Business Innovation Award, to recognise innovation and excellence in entrepreneurship among First Nations small to medium arts and culture businesses and community organisations (including Art Centres) nationwide.
Please note: the First Nations Arts Fellowship, supporting the creation of a major work by two artists, will be receiving an Award at the event in celebration of their achievements.
Eligibility
Nominator’s Eligibility
The nominator can be any of the following:
- an individual over 18 years of age and residing in Australia
- an organisation based in Australia.
Nominee Eligibility
The nominee is eligible for this award if they:
- are an Australian First Nations senior artist or arts and cultural worker in any artform, residing in Australia with over thirty years of continued artistic and cultural practice
- have a history of lifetime artist and cultural achievements that can be evidenced on a national and international platform.
Please note:
- senior artists may not nominate themselves
- nominations may only be made for nominees who are living artists
- nominees can only be nominated in one category for the 2027 First Nations Arts and Culture Awards.
Who can’t be nominated
You are ineligible to nominate for this award if:
- you have an overdue grant report
- you owe money to Creative Australia
- the nominee has previously received a Red Ochre Award
- the nominee was previously shortlisted for a First Nations Arts and Culture Award within the past three years.
Please note: we do not accept self-nominations in this award category, nominees can only be nominated in one category for the 2027 First Nations Arts and Culture Awards and nominations may only be made for nominees that are living artists.
If you need advice about your nomination, please email FirstNationsArts@creative.gov.au.
Assessment criteria
The Red Ochre Awards nominations will be assessed by Creative Australia’s First Nations Board against the following criteria:
- First Nations Community, Arts and Culture
- Significance of the contribution to First Nations arts and cultural expression.
- Inspire First Nations community to keep culture strong.
- First Nations community recognition.
- Impact of engagement and practice, the span of influence and contribution to the First Nations community.
- Ensuring their practice is accessible to the First Nations community.
- Arts Practice and Leadership
- Substantial contribution to the development of First Nations arts nationally and internationally.
- Artistic practice maintained over a significant period of time.
- Outstanding body of work.
- Industry and peer recognition and acknowledgment.
- Significance of the work within the area of practice.
- Contribution to diverse cultural expression.
Please note: you do not need to respond to every bullet point listed.
Support material
You must provide:
- the nominee’s CV/extended bio
- samples of the nominee's work
- up to four letters of support.
Support material can be provided as URLs (web links) and attachments. You can submit up to three URLs, which may include video, audio, images, and written material.
URLs can include a total of:
- 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
- 10 images
- 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).
See further information on how to submit URLs as support material.
If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material with your application in the following formats:
- video (MP4 and Windows Media)
- audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
- images (slideshow in MS PowerPoint (preferred) or JPEG)
- written material (MS Word and PDF).
Please note: We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender.
If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, please contact the First Nations Arts and Culture team at FirstNationsArts@creative.gov.au.
How to submit a nomination
To nominate, log in to our Application Management System. You must register an account if you do not already have one. It may take up to two business days for us to process your registration. Once you have logged in:
- select ‘Submit a Nomination’ from the left panel menu
- under ‘Awards’ select ‘Start a new award nomination’
- ensure you select the correct award from the list of options
- complete the fields and select answers using the dropdown menus
- upload any necessary support material
- select ‘Save’ once complete
- if you are not ready to submit your nomination you can return to it through ‘Your Draft Applications’ in the left panel menu
- when you are ready to submit your nomination, select ‘Submit’.
