INNER WEST COUNCIL’S LIBRARY YOUNG CREATIVES AWARDS 2026 TERMS & CONDITIONS
DEFINITIONS
Following definitions apply to these Terms and Conditions:
1) “Closing Date” means 31 August 2026
2) “Commencement Date” means 31 May 2026
3) “Competition Period” means the period between the Commencement Date and the Closing Date.
4) “Entrant” means a person who enters the Competition.
5) “Entry Criteria” means the entry must be original and not be late; incomplete; incomprehensible; obscene; defamatory; libellous; threatening; pornographic; harassing; hateful; racially or ethnically offensive; or breach any law.
6) Prize means:
Winner Prizes
$500 to the Young Writer Award winner for 12 – 15 year olds
$500 to the Young Writer Award winner for 16 -18 year olds
$500 to the Young Writer Award winner for 19-25 year olds
$500 to the Young Artist Award winner for 12 – 15 year olds
$500 to the Young Artist Award winner for 16 – 18 year olds
$500 to the Young Artist Award winner 19-25 year olds
$500 to the Young Filmmaker Award winner 12-15 year olds
$500 to the Young Filmmaker Award winner 16-18 year olds
$500 to the Young Filmmaker Award winner 19-25 year olds
Runner Up Prizes:
$250 to the Young Writer Award runner up for 12 – 15 year olds
$250 to the Young Writer Award runner up for 16 -18 year olds
$250 to the Young Writer Awards runner for 19-25 years olds
$250 to the Young Artist Award runner up for 12 -15 year olds
$250 to the Young Artist Award runner up for 16 – 18 year olds
$250 to the Young Artist Award runner up for 19-25 year olds
$250 to the Young Filmmaker Award runner up for 12 – 15 year olds
$250 to the Young Filmmaker Award runner up for 16 -18 year olds
$250 to the Young Filmmaker Awards runner for 19-25 years olds
Librarian’s Choice Prizes:
$250 to the Young Writer
$250 to the Young Artist
$250 to the Young Filmmaker
People’s Choice Prizes:
$250 to Young Writer
$250 to Young Artist
$250 to Young Filmmaker
7) “Promoter” means Inner West Council, PO Box 14, Petersham NSW 2049, ABN - 19 488 017 987.
8) “Entry” for all categories must in some way be inspired or reference an item from the Inner West Library and History collection. The item must be any work in the current collection including the IWC history archives and can be in any medium (for example, books, e-books, audiobooks, files, periodicals). Inner West Libraries are located at Ashfield, Balmain, Dulwich Hill, Haberfield, Leichhardt, Marrickville, Stanmore, and St. Peters (Sydenham)
The entire collection can be viewed online here.
9) “Entry” for the Young Writer Award means submitting a piece of writing which can be a short story, poetry, film or play script, journalistic piece, fan fiction or a piece of prose.
10) Entries will be accepted +/- 20% of 1000 words.
11) “Entry” for the Young Artist Award means submitting a photo or photos of an artwork or series of artworks which can be painting, drawing, sculpture, textile piece or still digital work.
12) “Entry” for the Young Filmmaker Award means submitting an MP4 file of a moving image digital work, animation, narrative film or music video between 2 and 7 minutes in duration.
13) “Entry” will be submitted online via smarty grants or larger files will be required to be shared via link.
14) “Winner” means an Entrant who wins a Prize.
15) “Unclaimed Prize Determination” means a further selection of a Winner/s by the panel of judges.
16) “Unclaimed Prize Determination Date” means 1 December 2026.
17) All times and dates are AEDT for Sydney and times are stated using the 24-hour clock.
18) “Generative AI tool” refers to artificial intelligence designed to produce output, especially text or images, normally requiring human intelligence, typically by applying machine learning techniques to collections of data.
PARTICIPATION
1) The Competition is conducted by the Promoter.
2) The Competition is a game of skill, and chance plays no part in determining the Winner.
3) Entry to the Competition constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
4) All entry instructions and prize information published by the Promoter form part of these Terms and Conditions.
5) This Competition will be advertised from 31 May 2026.
6) An Entrant is eligible to win a Prize if they:
1. are under the age of 26 and have their parent’s or guardian’s permission before entering the Competition (if under 16 years)
2. and are not: an employee of the Promoter; or
3. a child or sibling (whether natural or by marriage or adoption) of a person who is an employee
7) Entry to the Competition commences on the commencement date and closes on the Closing Date.
8) If the entrant has a birthday during the Awards submission dates, the entrant must enter the age category that fits their age on the Closing Date.
ENTRY
1) To enter the Competition, the entrant must submit the entry online www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/youngcreativesawards
2) An Entrant’s entry must meet the Entry Criteria.
3) Multiples entries per person may be submitted.
4) One prize will be given to each winner.
5) Entrants must ensure that their entries are received by the Promoter during the Competition Period. All entries are deemed to be received at the time of receipt by the Promoter, not the time of transmission by the Entrant. The Promoter takes no responsibility for late, lost or misdirected entries or for any delays or failures in any telecommunications services or equipment.
6) Should an Entrant’s contact details change at any time between the date on which they enter the Competition and the Unclaimed Prize Determination Date, the Entrant must notify the Promoter of their correct contact details immediately.
7) The Promoter may decide in its sole discretion which documents are considered suitable for establishing eligibility to enter or win. If a Winner cannot provide suitable proof of eligibility, that Winner will forfeit their Prize in whole and no substitute or compensation will be offered.
8) Any entry that is made on behalf of an Entrant by a third party, or otherwise by proxy, will be invalid.
9) Inner West Council follow strict guidelines on the use of generative AI tools in Young Creatives Award entries. Entrants must review the AI eligibility guidelines on the Young Creatives webpage before submitting your work.
10) The Promoter may, at its absolute discretion, declare any or all entries made by an Entrant to be invalid if the Entrant:
11) fails to establish their entitlement to win the Competition to the Promoter’s satisfaction.
12) appears, to the Promoter, to have tampered with, or benefited from tampering with, the entry process; or
13) has submitted an entry that is not in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
14) By entering a film for consideration to the Young Creatives awards, the submitter understands that the work is their own and they are responsible for the copyright on their materials (sound, songs and/or images).
15) Inner West Council reserves the right to copy and use any entries (Film, stills, artworks, photographs, pieces of writing) for non-commercial promotional purposes and for addition to the Inner West Library catalogue or archival material.
16) By submitting to us, you give us consent and right to screen your film in front of a live audience, and, under special circumstances, online screening.
WINNERS
1) Each Winner and Runner Up will be selected by a panel of judges selected by the Promoter.
2) Librarian’s Choice winner will be selected by library staff
3) People’s Choice winner will be selected through public vote 20th November to 30th November. It is a voting system enabling the public to vote for their favourite works. The entry with the most votes is the winner. One vote per device and in the case of a draw judges will determine the winner out of the two.
4) The processes, discussions and deliberations undertaken by the Young Creatives Judges are strictly confidential, and no correspondence will be entered into regarding their decisions.
5) Shortlisted entrants will be notified by 2 October 2026
6) Winners will not be notified until the Awards presentations scheduled for November 2026
7) All reasonable attempts will be made to contact each Winner. If a Prize is:
1. not claimed by the Winner by 9:00am on the Unclaimed Prize Determination Date; or
2. forfeited for any reason, the Prize will be awarded to another Entrant in an Unclaimed Prize Determination.
8) The Winner/s of the Unclaimed Prize Determination will be notified by phone or email within two (2) days of the Unclaimed Prize Determination Date. 1 December 2026
9) Each Prize will be awarded to the people named in the winning entries. Collaborative works will receive one prize, and entrants determine sharing of the prize.
10) By entering the Competition, each Winner agrees that:
1. if requested by the Promoter will:
i. provide comments about the Competition and/or a photograph or audio- visual clip of themselves; and
ii. participate in a photo shoot in connection with Competition
2. The Promoter may use their name, image, comments, photographs or clips (“Materials”) for publicity and Competition purposes in any form of media, without reference or compensation to the Winner or any other person.
i. the Promoter may use, reproduce, edit and communicate to the public the Materials at any time in any form of media.
11) Each Prize is valid from date of issue. If they are not collected by this date the prize is forfeited. The Promoter cannot extend these dates, and it is the responsibility of the entrant to check these dates.
12) Winners of the Young Artist Awards will have their works exhibited at the Chrissie Cotter Gallery. Winners of the Young Writers Awards will have their works published in an Anthology. Winners of the Young Filmmakers Awards will have their works screened. All winners will be featured on the Inner West Libraries website. The Promoter reserves the right to change the location or method of exhibition.
13) Entrants will retain original copies of art works to be made available to the promoter upon request.
14) Original art works will be required to be ready to be hung with suitable wiring, D rings or other mechanism to enable hanging.
15) Shortlisted digital works are required to be printed and framed by the entrant before 16 October 2026
16) If suitable an original work may be requested to be exhibited or screened in the Chrissie Cotter Gallery November 2026.
GENERAL
1) These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of New South Wales. The Promoter and all Entrants irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of New South Wales.
2) These rules are Terms and Conditions and constitute the entire terms and conditions between the Entrant and the Promoter with respect to the Competition. The Promoter may alter, modify, or amend these Terms and Conditions at its sole discretion and will only provide Entrants with notice of substantial amendments.
3) All entries become the property of the Promoter.
PRIVACY
1) The Promoter is bound by the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (NSW). Below is a copy of the Promoters Privacy and Personal Information Protection Notice.
Privacy and Personal Information Protection Notice
Collection of Your Personal Information in this Competition
What is Personal Information and why is it being collected?
Personal information means information or an opinion about an individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion. Personal information Council collects includes:
(a) personal contact details including phone numbers and email addresses
(b) signatures
(c) personal financial information, e.g. credit card details
(d) health and medical information
(e) audio footage, photos / videos depicting people
Council collects information at (a) for the purpose of running the Competition, for general recordkeeping purposes, and information in (e) for, advertising future events.
How is my personal Information being collected?
Personal information may be collected at this event through a variety of means such as audio/video recording, photography and form/s you complete at/for this Competition. Council may reproduce the information in (e) in a number of ways such as promotional material distributed by Council and/or by publishing the information on our website.
What are my rights?
Please advise a Council officer who is working in conjunction with the Competition if you do not wish for Council to publish / distribute the personal information in (e) we are collecting about you. You may contact Council at any time in the future to withdraw permission for us to circulate or hold your personal information. Council will respect your right to protect your privacy and will not circulate or hold your personal information unless required to by law. Further, you may contact us at any time to ask us to correct the personal information we hold about you.
Want to Know More?
If you would like to learn more about how we manage the personal information we collect, please contact one of our Customer Service Centres during business hours to be referred to one of our governance specialists.
This Privacy Notice has been produced in accordance with the requirements of Section 10 of the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 (PPIPA).