One hundred judges and one more new category in the Australian Audio Awards

As the Australian Audio Awards gather momentum, judges are being recruited and the categories have been refined.

One hundred judges have been invited to join the jury panel, which will bring together a mix of industry leaders, podcast innovators, trainers, practitioners at the top of their field and previous award winners of the ACRAs and Radiotoday Podcast Awards. The mix of judges will balance experience and innovation with craft skills, industry understanding and strategic judgement.

With contributions to the new awards coming from across the audio industry, the organisers have taken note of several suggestions.

A new division of the Best Radio Commercial has been added to recognise station produced commercials, as well as agency campaigns. That category is now known as Best Commercial: Station Produced OR Agency/Brand Produced There are two divisions in the Best Commercial category. Radio stations should enter the ‘Station Produced’ section and Agencies or Brands should enter the ‘Agency/Brand Produced’ section. The entry must focus heavily on audio in its creative execution.

Some of the criteria in other categories have also had some minor tweeks after industry suggestions. As you prepare your entries, make sure you consult the full entry guidelines in the Call For Entries document.

Award organisers Mumbrella, Radioinfo and Radio Today can also now reveal that the winning entry with the highest score will automatically be entered into the prestigious New York Festivals audio awards to showcase Australia’s industry talent on the world stage.

Chairman of judges, Steve Ahern, says the response has been overwhelmingly supportive: “When we announced the new awards we were deluged with messages of thanks and lots of suggestions. We can’t implement every suggestion this year, but they are all on the list for consideration as the awards grow in years to come.

“The expanded focus across the whole audio industry is generating an incredible amount of positive energy around the event. As more than one person has pointed out to me, it will be a tough job for the judges, with commercial and non-commercial teams competing head to head for the first time. We are gathering a judging panel that will be up to the challenge!”

Mumbrella’s Tim Burrowes said: “Don’t leave it until the last minute, start working on your entries before Christmas so that when you get back from holidays you are ready to get your entries in before the deadline. Entries will close at midnight on 6th March, 2026.

“We have some more announcements to make in coming weeks.”