The AMaGA Awards
Funding Providers
Australian Museums and Galleries Association Incorporated (AMaGA)
Location
Australia WideFunding Type
Award A01036
Primary Category
Arts and cultureEligible to
- Not-for-Profits
Funding
Amount (max):Total pool: Undisclosed
Round(s)
- Opened 28-May-2026 Closes 16-Aug-2026
Purpose
AMaGA's annual awards program is dedicated to celebrating, acknowledging, and showcasing achievement within Australia's museum and gallery sector.
Overview
Individual
- Volunteer Award
- Recognises outstanding contributions of individual volunteers who have demonstrated exceptional innovation, leadership, and impact within the museum and gallery sector. Volunteers dedicate their time, energy, and expertise to making a substantial impact on a cultural organisation's ability to fulfil its purpose and enrich the communities it serves.
- Patrons Award
- Recognises individuals or organisations who have made significant contributions towards the work and advancement of museums and galleries. Patrons are understood as individuals or organisations that provide financial or other forms of support to cultural institutions.
Projects - Museum and Gallery Operations
- Collections Care Award
- Recognises institutions, policies and projects that focus on conservation, preservation and access demonstrating a level of innovation and benefit to cultural heritage.
- Examples: Policies development and implementation; conservation; repatriation projects; increasing access, digitisation; storage solutions.
- Community Connection Award
- Recognises projects that excel in community engagement and programming, which interpret and communicate the institution's collection and stories in innovative ways.
- Examples: Community co-curated project, mobile outreach; multilingual, inclusive interpretation project; storytelling workshop.
- Exhibiting Excellence Award
- Recognises institutions that have demonstrated excellence in museum and gallery exhibition initiatives, including research, planning/development, and execution phases.
- Examples: Permanent, temporary, or travelling exhibition; community research project; curatorial or collections research; fieldwork.
- First Nations Project Award
- Recognises outstanding projects that focus on or significantly involve First Nations perspectives, knowledge and communities. These projects are developed for First Nations communities and/or by First Nations people.
- Examples: Gallery development; exhibition development; interpretive programming; knowledge-sharing programs; digital learning projects; workshops.
- Social Impact Award
- Recognises projects that have made tangible and positive impacts in response to key societal issues, with outcomes including community well-being, fostering inclusivity and diversity, education, and social awareness.
- Examples: Environmental sustainability project; health and well-being project; exhibition; public program.
Projects - Design-Based
- Branding Excellence Award
- Recognises outstanding achievements in the visual and communicative aspects of promoting museums, galleries, or cultural institutions.
- Examples: Exhibition promotional design, project or institutional identity; branding; annual reports; information brochure; maps; wayfinding; poster.
- Digital Excellence Award
- Recognises projects that demonstrate excellence in leveraging digital design to enhance accessibility, engagement, storytelling and communication of the institution or program purpose.
- Examples: Digital solutions created for an institution including websites created to accompany a physical exhibition or education program; applications for use on mobile devices; online exhibitions; streamed or web-based virtual tour; online activity; e-learning program or game.
- Excellence in Print Award
- Recognises projects that demonstrate exceptional skill and innovation in the design of printed materials and publications that communicate information about exhibitions, collections, and cultural narratives through media.
- Examples: Book; exhibition catalogue; magazine.
- Kids in Print Award
- Recognises projects that demonstrate exceptional creativity and skill in producing visually engaging and informative publications that cater to the unique needs and interests of children and young audiences.
- Examples: Book or activity book made for children.
Eligibility
The AMaGAs welcome entries from a diverse range of non-commercial collecting institutions across Australia, including but not limited to museums, galleries, libraries, archives, and historical societies. The Digital Excellence and Excellence in Print categories are also open to non-commercial collecting institutions in New Zealand.
Entries must be submitted by an organisation, association, or non-profit company; however, individual contributors are permitted to submit entries on behalf of the organisations with whom they have collaborated. These entries must be submitted under the name of the respective cultural organisation and with their written permission. This collaborative spirit ensures that the AMaGAs accurately recognise and honour the achievements and contributions of the cultural institutions and the creative professionals who collaborate with them.
Further Eligibility Clarification:
- Commercial galleries, auction houses and publishing interests are not eligible.
- Only members of AMaGA may participate.
- Entries for design-based categories are defined as printed or electronically designed graphic material intended for public distribution.
- Projects nominated for the 2026 AMaGAs must have been produced between 1 January 2024 and 30 June 2026. The extended eligibility period reflects that the awards were not held in 2025.
First Nations Project Award:
- First Nations-led development and delivery;
- Implementation of standards and frameworks such as First Peoples: A Roadmap, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP), etc., to ensure Indigenous rights are recognised and protected; and
- Encouraging First Nations visitors, and/or is delivered in First Nations communities.
Patrons Award:
- The AMaGA Patrons Award welcomes entries from a diverse range of non-commercial collecting institutions across Australia, including but not limited to museums, galleries, libraries, archives, and historical societies;
- Nominations must be submitted by an organisation, association, or non-profit company, and not by individuals; however, individuals may be nominated for the Patrons Award;
- Nominees must have demonstrated long-term commitment to the sector as a whole.
While the Patrons Award is open for nominations annually, please note that this is an occasional award that will be presented at the discretion of the AMaGA National Council.
Applications / Guidelines
Contact Details
- Phone: 02 6230 0346
- Email: awards@amaga.org.au
We take pride in ensuring our data is up to date and accurate, but you should not rely on our data alone. Please double-check important information on the funder's website before applying.