Children’s and YA Book Awards in Australia

We often get asked about key awards for children’s and young adult books in Australia.

There are a number of key awards and prizes, here are some that we follow closely:

Children’s Book Council of Australia Shortlist: A not-for-profit organisation that aims to engage the community of literature for young children. Arguably Australia’s most recognised children’s book awards, especially in schools and libraries, featuring award categories for all ages.

The Australian Book Industry Awards: Industry voted awards that recognise the most high profile books of the year. Awards categories for young people include Older Readers and Younger Readers.

Government and Arts run awards include the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, NSW Premier’s, Victorian Premier’s, QLD Premier’s and the WA Premier’s Award. These are prestigious awards judged by a committee of readers.

The Aurelalis Awards are awards for speculative fiction that include categories for Young Adult and Children’s.

Within the industry, The Text Prize is a very well regarded prize for Young Adult and Middle Grade, as is the Ampersand Prize, a YA and MG prize run by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing. We also love the Readings Children’s Book Prize, run by one of Australia’s best booksellers. Their young adult prize, The Readings Young Adult Book Prize Shortlist has also just been announced.

There are a number of other awards and prizes run as ‘Children’s Choice’ Awards, including the YABBA Awards. RMIT University has also compiled a more substantial list here.

We also love the Australian Book Design Awards for a peek at some of the most beautifully designed books of the year.

Let us know if you have any other favourite awards!