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CHASS Future Leaders Writing Prize

Prizes

2025 marked the twelfth year of the annual CHASS Australia Prizes. The Australia Prizes honour distinguished achievements by Australians working, studying, or training in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) sector, including academics, researchers, practitioners, philanthropists, policy makers, and students.

CHASS Future Leaders Writing Prize

$2000 Prize Money

This prize is awarded to a future leader for a piece of written work (e.g., essay, scholarly article, media article, book chapter) from the perspective of the Humanities, Arts or Social Sciences.

Self-nominations are welcome. Applications must be sole-authored, written in English, and should deepen our understanding of aspects of Australian society and culture. Nominees must not have reached 35 years of age before the nomination cut-off date of 31 December the previous year, and be citizens or permanent residents of Australia. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

The written work may be published or unpublished and must not exceed 12,000 words.

The submission deadline, for the 2026 round, will be announced soon.

The winner must agree to participate in publicising the award. In all cases, copyright remains the property of the entrant, or the relevant publisher, and CHASS will clearly attribute any submitted material to the entrant.

Written work produced by CHASS Board members cannot be nominated.

Only one submission is permitted per applicant.

The Prize
The prize winner will receive:

$2000 prize money
A listing on the CHASS website award page
Promotion through the CHASS membership and social media

Voting Process
An eminent jury of academics and other professionals will judge the award. Jurors may request additional information from applicants during the judging process.

Writing Prize – Judging Criteria

25% - Quality: Demonstrates a high standard of thoroughness, eloquence, and persuasiveness

25% - Contribution to HASS research, scholarship and/or learning

25% - Orginality: Displays creativity and innovation through its approach, offering new ways of thinking, applying theory, or employing methods that advance the HASS disciplines.

25% - Clarity: Is clearly structured, well-written, and effectively presented, making complex ideas accessible and compelling to both academic and public audiences.

2025 Winner
The 2025 winner of the CHASS Future Leaders Writing Prize was Ruby Ekkel for her article "'‘Making friends with lyre-birds’: Alice Manfield and settler belonging in Mount Buffalo National Par. The article was originally published in the Settler Colonial Studies journal and argued that Manfield connected nostalgia for ‘pioneering’ settler colonialism with what were framed as more enlightened, intimate engagements with the threatened environment.

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Past Recipients

2020
Victoria Brookman

2021 Winner
Emma Cupitt for her writing Dust and Ashes.

Note, there were no winners selected for 2022 and 2023.

The 2024 Winner was Jack Jacobs for his piece "To live with respect in a world worth living in" - What I've learned from my friend, Stan Grant. The piece was originally published on the ABC's Religion & Ethics in December 2024 and reflected on how he was broken open to our nation in a deeper way under the guidance of his friend and mentor, Stan Grant - with whom he travelled, learning the ways of the Wiradjuri, in the midst of the heat of the Voice referendum and Stan Grant's difficult departure from Q+A.

This piece is both a lament for our country and a reflection on the aspirations he still holds for it - aspirations that arise from the deepest sorrows surrounding the future of our First Nations peoples, and from the profound personal transformation he underwent as a non-First Nations person during that time.