The Sydney Prize is awarded monthly for a piece of journalism that exposes social or economic injustices. The winner receives $5000 and the story is published online in Overland, alongside two runners up. Submissions are welcome from writers nationally and internationally. Nominations are due the last day of each month.
This year’s winning entry delved into the lucrative prizes awaiting competitors at the World Track and Field Championships. By exploring the financial incentives to be won, it revealed how a sport once celebrated for its physical prowess is now consumed by its financial reward systems.
Maya Srikrishnan and Ashley Clarke worked for over a year, doggedly seeking new avenues to tell this important story of how states’ policies on tax collections are hurting the people they claim to serve. Through interviews with low-income taxpayer clinic attorneys and state revenue department filings, this work is a testament to what investigative journalists can do when they persist.
In the face of rising numbers of sexual assaults, the Australian Institute of Family Studies’s new report shows how a system geared to prevent these abuses has failed to protect women and children. Drawing on research and community consultation, the report outlines key policy priorities to tackle the crisis.
The Irving Oberman Memorial Awards, established by a bequest from Isabel B. Oberman, honors the memory of her husband, Irving M. Oberman, LL.B, A.B. 1917. The prize is awarded to a student paper that best demonstrates the skills of legal analysis and writing on any of seven current subjects: Bankruptcy; Constitutional Law and Equal Justice Under Law; Environmental Law; Family Law; Intellectual Property; or Law and History.
A young athlete uses her gift to tame the world around her in this short story. Winner of the 2024 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize, it was a finalist in Overland’s autumn issue. Saraid Taylor won the prize of $5000 and their story will be published in Overland, with two runners up receiving $750 each.
The Sydney Prize is named in honour of the late Philip Sidney Ardern, professor of English at Auckland University College from 1912 to 1947. This prize, administered by the University of Auckland in conjunction with the Auckland Literary Society, is awarded to that piece of undergraduate writing which most nearly meets the high standards of originality and integrity which Sir Sidney set for his students in his teaching and in his book, Indirections for Those Who Want to Write. The prize is open to any kind of writing, and the subject matter need not be restricted to Old or Middle English. The award is not intended to encourage the study of Old or Middle English; it is rather to stimulate broader interest in literature. Regulations for the prize are available from the Department of English at the University of Auckland.