The Ned Kelly Awards Entry Criteria

To be eligible, entries must meet the following requirements:

  • The author must be an Australian by birth or citizenship OR the author’s principal residence must be in Australia.

  • To be eligible for the Debut Crime Fiction category, the book must be the first book of any genre (fiction or non-fiction) published by the author.

  • Any Australian publishers or individual authors can submit entries to the awards provided the book is relevant to the appropriate award.

  • When submitting, publishers and / or individual authors must have a current membership of the Australian Crime Writers Association. You can join here.

  • Non-Australian publishers can enter books provided the author meets the Australian residency / citizenship criteria. (Also see Best International Crime Fiction category below.)

  • The Best International Crime Fiction category is open to non-Australian resident / citizen authors and all publishers, provided the work has been published in Australia during the Judging Period.

  • Digital book submissions are preferred. An epub format is mandatory with the options of including additional mobi format or an audio link.

  • If submitting physical books, we require four (4) copies of each book be posted to this address: The Book Orchard, 166 Main Street, Bairnsdale, Victoria, 3875. Please send as soon as possible but within seven days after entering the awards. The mailing address will also appear on the entry confirmation.

    Reminder: Physical books must be mailed within 7 days of entering.

  • Publishing period: Eligible books must be the first edition of the work, published within the specified dates of the judging period – from March 1 of the preceding year (eg 1 March, 2024) to the last day of February in the award year (eg 28 February, 2025).

  • An entry fee of $55 applies to the submission of each title. Each title must be entered via a separate form.

  • Complete each submission via the relevant award category link.

  • Do not submit digital books in WORD or PDF format - neither are valid formats. If submitting an audio file it must be ‘shareable’ between judges.

  • Gifting books via Amazon or similar will not work as we need to distribute to multiple judges.

  • Entries for the 2025 Ned Kelly Awards are set to open on 15 March 2025 and close on 15 April 2025.

  • Entries must be received before 11.59pm Australian Eastern Time on the closing date.

  • The awards are decided by guest judges and the Australian Crime Writers Association Committee.

Awards Categories

BEST CRIME FICTION

This award is for the best crime fiction work by an Australian author, published during the Judging Period. This award category encompasses a broad definition of crime fiction including thrillers, suspense, domestic, spy, action, adventure and mysteries.

BEST DEBUT CRIME FICTION 

This award is for the best debut crime fiction by a first time Australian author, published during the Judging Period. To be elgible, it must be a debut work, of any genre by the author. Entries are not accepted for this category from authors with any previous published work, fiction or non-fiction, including in an alternative genre / category OR under a pseudonym including self-published works. This award category encompasses a broad definition of crime fiction including thrillers, suspense, domestic, spy, action, adventure, historic, cosy crime and mysteries.

BEST TRUE CRIME 

This award is for any non-fiction work on a crime related theme by an Australian author as a book published in the Judging Period. This award category encompasses, though is not limited to, non-fiction works relating to true crime, historical crime, crime-related biography or autobiography.

BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION 

This award is for the best international crime fiction work published in Australia during the Judging Period by a non-Australian resident or citizen. This award category encompasses a broad definition of crime fiction, including thrillers, suspense, domestic, spy, action, adventure and mysteries.