2026 Nature Writing Prize

GLOSSARY

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY

1.     The 2026 Nature Writing Prize (‘Competition’) writing competition is conducted by The Nature Conservancy Limited (ACN 104 635 654) as trustee for The Nature Conservancy Australia Trust (ABN 83 243 328 398) (‘TNC Australia’) of Suite 2-03B, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton 3053.

2.     These conditions of entry govern the Competition and are intended to be a legally binding agreement. Entry into this Competition is deemed acceptance of these conditions of entry. For the purposes of Australian law, this writing Competition is a 'Game of Skill' and chance plays no part in determining the winner. 

3.     Participation is open to any Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia, 18 years and over, who is not the immediate family member of a director or employee of TNC Australia or Australian Book Review (‘Eligible Participant(s)’). TNC Australia reserves the right to confirm and verify that entrants are over the age of 18 by requesting proof in writing. The Competition is not open to entries of work authored by individuals who are deceased at the time of judging.

4.     Eligible Participants are invited to submit an entry between 3,000 to 5,000 words in the theme ‘Writing of Place (‘Essay’) and explore a connection, reflection or response to the Australian environment, landscape or seascape. Each Essay must be set in the Australian landscape. Entries will be individually judged on literary and creative merit and will be judged in accordance with these Conditions of Entry.

5.     The Competition commences on Wednesday 1 July 2026 and concludes at 5pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday 23 September 2026. A late or incomplete entry that does not meet the requirements of these conditions of entry and/or an entry deemed incomprehensible by the Judging Panel (as defined below) will be deemed invalid. TNC Australia has the sole discretion to determine whether an entry is late, incomplete, or otherwise invalid.

6.     To submit an Essay, Eligible Participants must complete the Entry Form accessible on The Nature Conservancy Australia’s Nature Writing Prize webpage via the platform Submittable. Eligible Participants must upload a digital copy of their Essay. Entries will not be accepted by post, hand delivery or email. Entries will not be returned. Each Essay must conform to the Format Guidelines set forth in the Entry Form. The Eligible Participant’s name must not be visible on the Essay or in the Essay file name, as each Essay will be judged anonymously.

7.     Entrants are required to pay an entry fee to participate in the Competition. Entrants may select from the following entry fee options at the time of submission:
a.     Standard Entry – AUD $30

b.     ABR Subscriber Discounted Entry – AUD $25: Available only to entrants who are current Australian Book Review subscribers at the time of entry. Entrants will be required to provide proof of subscription.

c.     Entry and ABR Subscription Trial Bundle - $30: Includes $25 entry into the Competition, plus a four-month digital subscription to Australian Book Review, subject to activation by the entrant via the ABR website in accordance with instructions provided to the entrant, where entrants must separately pay for their four-month digital subscription by providing their details directly to ABR.

*TNC Australia reserves the right to verify eligibility for entry tiers (b) and (c) and to charge the Standard Entry Fee where eligibility cannot be confirmed.

All entry fees are non-refundable.

Entrants who select the “Entry and ABR Subscription Trial Bundle” acknowledge and agree that:

(i)    the entry fee is payable directly to TNC Australia, and TNC Australia will issue a receipt for such payment; and

(ii)    the receipt will include instructions and a link directing entrants to the ABR website, where entrants must independently pay ABR for the four-month digital subscription.

For Entrants who select the “Entry and ABR Subscription Trial Bundle”, an entry will not be considered complete and will not be eligible for judging or to receive the Prize, unless and until the subscription payment been completed in accordance with the instructions provided.

TNC Australia will not disclose an Entrant’s personal information to ABR, except (a) an Entrant who chose to enter via “Entry and ABR Subscription Trial Bundle”, or (b) an Entrant who chose to enter via “ABR Subscriber Discounted Entry”; or (c) in the event that the Entrant is the Winner of the Competition.

8.     Entries must the original, wholly human-created work of the Eligible Participant and free of any claims, including copyright or trademark claims, by other parties. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, including but not limited to ChatGPT, Claude, or similar large language models is strictly prohibited for plotting, outlining, generating text, or editing. Any submission containing AI-generated content will be immediately disqualified. If an Essay is selected as a potential winner or shortlist, the Entrant may be requested to provide evidence of the Entrant’s writing process, such as brainstorming notes, outlines, and early drafts, to verify human authorship.  Each Entrant agrees to indemnify and hold TNC Australia harmless from and against all demands, claims, damages, losses, and expenses, including attorney’s fees, arising out of or resulting from any action by a third party against TNC Australia relating to its entry.

Entries must not:

a.     have been previously published in whole or part in any medium, including internet blogs and websites etc., nor will be published in whole or part in any medium during the period of the Competition;

b.     have been entered into the Competition in a previous year;

c.      have previously won, nor be currently entered in to win any other competition, prize of award;

d.     be restricted in any way; or

e.     infringe the rights of any other person including privacy, intellectual property rights (including confidential information) or moral rights.

9.     TNC Australia reserves the right to verify the validity of entries and to disqualify any Essay which, in the opinion of TNC Australia or the independent Judging Panel, includes objectionable content, profanity, potentially insulting, inflammatory, libellous or defamatory statements and disqualify any Entrant who submits an Essay that is not in accordance with these Conditions of Entry or who has, in the opinion of TNC Australia, engaged in conduct in entering the Competition which is fraudulent, misleading, deceptive or generally damaging to the goodwill or reputation of the Competition, TNC Australia and/or ABR, or who TNC Australia has reason to believe has engaged in any activity calculated to jeopardise the fair and proper conduct of the Competition. Further, TNC Australia reserves the right, in its absolute discretion, to disqualify an Entrant if TNC Australia becomes aware that the Entrant and/or their Essay is of a type described in this Section 10. TNC Australia's legal rights to recover damages or other compensation from such a person are also reserved.

10.  Entries received will be judged by a three-person expert panel.

11.  Judging will take place from Friday 25 September 2026 to Friday 6 November 2026. The Eligible Participants whose Essay is selected by the Judging Panel as the winning entry (‘Winner’) will be announced in December 2026 via TNC Australia’s website: natureaustralia.org.au. In addition to the winning Essay, the Judging Panel will also select a highly commended Essay to receive The Rosina Joy Buckman Award (‘RJB Award’) and four (4) shortlisted Essays. The authors of the highly commended and shortlisted Essays which will be announced together with the Winner. The Shortlisted Entrants will not receive a prize. All decisions of TNC Australia and the Judging Panel are final. TNC Australia and the Judging Panel will not enter into any discussions or correspondence regarding any decision in relation to the final decision. No feedback will be provided on unsuccessful Entries.

12.  By submitting an Essay and taking part in the Competition, each Eligible Participant agrees that, if the Essay they have submitted is selected as the winning entry by the Judging Panel, that Essay may be published by TNC Australia and Australian Book Review (“ABR”) with no additional payment. The Winner will be duly attributed as the author of the winning entry in any publication.

13.  In the cases of required anonymity, either by law or request of the Eligible Participant, TNC Australia agrees to use a pseudonym name and will not publish any identifying details for the protection of the Entrant.

14.  By submitting an Essay and taking part in the Competition, the Winner grants, effective immediately and without further action:

a.     To ABR: a royalty-free, non-exclusive and non-sublicensable licence to publish the Essay one-time in print and to make it perpetually available on ABR’s website as part of its digital archive of past issues, viewable to subscribers.

b.    To TNC Australia: an exclusive (except for 15a.), royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, distribute, publish, adapt and communicate the Essay anywhere in the world for purposes related to the Competition and its promotion.

The Winner represents and warrants that the Essay is original, that they are the sole owner of the rights in the Essay, and such permissions are aligned with these Conditions of Entry.

The Winner consents, to the extent permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), to ABR and TNC Australia doing any acts or omissions in relation to the Essay that might otherwise infringe their moral rights, including editing for house style, format changes, typographical corrections, and publication and communications.

The Winner acknowledges and agrees that these licences are granted in consideration of the Competition of AUD$8,000(‘Prize’). The Winner agrees to execute any documentation required to give effect to TNC Australia’s rights under this clause in consideration of the award of the Prize, including any required moral rights waivers.

The writer of one highly commended Essay, will be awarded RJB Award and receive a monetary prize of AUD$1,000 (‘RJB Award recipient’), which is in consideration for the grant of rights herein.

15.  In addition to the Winner, each Eligible Participant hereby grants to TNC Australia and its related bodies corporate, effective immediately and without further action, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual licence to use their Essay for TNC Australia’s internal archival purposes only. Copies of the entries submitted will not be returned to entrants.

16.  The Winner, RJB Award recipient and Shortlisted Entrants will be notified on a confidential basis by telephone or email prior to the public announcement of the award of the Prize.

17.  TNC Australia reserves the right to confirm and verify the identity of the Winner, RJB Award recipient and Shortlisted Entrants, by requesting all persons to provide proof of age, proof of identity, proof of residency and proof that they submitted the Essay. Identification considered suitable for verification is at the absolute discretion of TNC Australia.

18.  The Winner, RJB Award recipient and Shortlisted Entrants may be asked to participate in editorial requests made by TNC Australia at no cost to the entrants, including but not limited to, being interviewed and photographed, filmed, and/or recorded. TNC Australia is not obliged to invite the Winner, RJB Award recipient or Shortlisted Entrants to participate in any such media campaign and the invitation is at the absolute discretion of TNC Australia.

19.  TNC Australia accepts no responsibility for lost, late, incomplete, incorrectly submitted or misdirected Entries, including Entries not received by TNC Australia or delays in the delivery of an Essay due to technical disruptions, network congestion or for any other reason.

20.  If an Eligible Participant's contact details change during the period of the Competition, it is the Eligible Participant's responsibility to notify TNC Australia. A request to access, modify or delete any information provided in an Entry Form should be directed to TNC Australia. No changes may be made to an Essay after submission.

21.  All entries, including names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers, will be entered into a database to allow TNC Australia to carry out the Competition. By entering this Competition, entrants confirm that they allow their personal information to be used and disclosed for these purposes and other purposes described in these Conditions of Entry. TNC Australia may, for example, disclose this information to its service providers to assist in the carry out of this Competition. TNC Australia will provide an opt-in newsletter option to subscribe for news on nature and conservation project updates, if the entrant chooses to receive these. The Privacy Act may provide certain rights of access to individuals whose information is held by TNC Australia. Contact TNC Australia at 03 8346 8600 or email australia@tnc.org to submit a request for access.

22.  If the entrant opts, via the Entry Form, to receive communication from TNC Australia and its related bodies corporate, TNC Australia and its related bodies corporate may use the names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers for future promotional, marketing and publicity purposes in any media worldwide without notice and without any fee being paid. If an entrant no longer consents to their details being used for these purposes, the entrant should click on the unsubscribe link in any email or otherwise contact TNC Australia by phone at 03 8346 8600 or by email at australia@tnc.org. Any request to update, modify or delete the entrant's details should be directed to TNC Australia by phone at 03 8346 8600 or by email at australia@tnc.org.

23.  If the Competition is not capable of running as planned for any reason outside the control of TNC Australia including (without limitation) vandalism, power failures, tempests, natural disasters, acts of God, civil unrest, strike, war, act of terrorism; or due to infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures or any cause which corrupts or affects the administration, security, fairness or integrity or proper conduct of the Competition, TNC Australia reserves the right in its sole discretion to take any action that may be available including to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the Competition, subject to any written directions given from the various State or Territory Government authorities (where required).

24.  TNC Australia and its related bodies corporate will not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever which is suffered (including, but not limited to, indirect or consequential loss), or for any personal injury suffered or sustained in connection with this Competition except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law. Other than statutory and other warranties that cannot be excluded by law, TNC Australia and its related bodies corporate assume no responsibility for any incorrect or inaccurate information, either caused by an entrant or as a result of any of the systems, equipment or programming associated with or utilised in this Competition, or for any technical or human error, or any combination thereof that may occur in the course of the administration of this Competition including any omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line, computer line, mobile telephone or satellite network failure, software, server or provider failure, theft or destruction or unauthorised access to or alteration of entries, and reserves the right to take any action that may be available.