The Ruby Awards celebrate South Australia’s arts, cultural and creative industries.

Named after late arts patron, Dame Ruby Litchfield, the Ruby Awards is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025.

These annual awards recognise the achievements and excellence of artists, creatives and organisations, demonstrated by innovation, collaboration, community involvement and inspirational leadership.

Ruby Awards 2025

The winners of the 20th anniversary Ruby Awards 2025 were announced at a gala event on Friday, 21 November 2025.

Congratulations to all the award winners, and to those who were shortlisted. Learn more about the award categories and winners below.

See all the event highlights in the photo gallery.

Outstanding Community Event or Project

  • Winner:  The Knowledge Project – Kuma Kaaru and Nucleus
  • Shortlisted: Artists on the Inside – KuArts
  • Shortlisted: The Walking Track by Karul Projects – Vitalstatistix

Outstanding Regional Event or Project

  • Winner: Kulinma – Wellbeing Project – Anangu Schools Partnership
  • Shortlisted: SALT on the Water: Message in a Bottle – SALT Festival

Outstanding Work, Event or Project for Young People

  • Winner: Neo – Art Gallery of South Australia
  • Shortlisted: Can Touch This – Adelaide Contemporary Experimental (ACE)
  • Shortlisted: War of the Worlds – Riverland Youth Theatre, D'Faces and Arena
  • Shortlisted: BTS with Jess – BTS with Jess (Jessica McCall)

Outstanding Work or Event Outside a Festival

  • Winner: Adhocracy – 15th Anniversary – Vitalstatistix
  • Shortlisted: HIGH – No Strings Attached
  • Shortlisted: Gathering Light – JamFactory

Outstanding Work or Event Within a Festival

  • Winner: Songs Inside World Premiere – Adelaide Film Festival 2024
  • Shortlisted: Radical Textiles – Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Festival 2024
  • Shortlisted: The Art of Work is a Work of Art by Kim Munro and collaborators – Vitalstatistix, History Festival 2025

Outstanding Collaboration

  • Winner: nyilamum song cycles – Dr Lou Bennett AM, Paul Stanhope and the Australian String Quartet, in association with Binung Boorigan
  • Shortlisted: The Lensical – Restless Dance Theatre, Michelle Heaven and Ben Cobham, Women's and Children's Hospital Foundation, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network
  • Shortlisted: Chihuly in the Botanic Garden – Adelaide Botanic Garden, State Herbarium of South Australia, and JamFactory ‍

Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation or Group

  • Winner: Gray Street Workshop
  • Shortlisted: Cirkidz Incorporated

Frank Ford Memorial Young Achiever Award

  • Winner: Katherine Sortini

Geoff Crowhurst Memorial Award

  • Winner: Matthew Ives

Stevie Gadlabarti Goldsmith Memorial Award

  • Winner: Umeewarra Aboriginal Media Association

Premier’s Award for Lifetime Achievement

  • Winner: Lesley Newton

About the award categories

  • Category description

    This award is for an outstanding artistic or cultural event or project that has had a significant positive impact on a community in South Australia.

    A community may be defined by a uniting factor, such as geographic location, cultural background, religious belief, gender, or disability, or it could be an online community.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries
    • community organisations
    • individual artists
    • local and state government
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • professional artists and organisations.

    Judges' considerations

    • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
    • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/activity
    • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through the arts, cultural and creative industries
  • Category description

    This award is for an outstanding artistic or cultural event or project that has had a significant positive impact on a regional community in South Australia.

    A community may be defined by a uniting factor, such as geographic location, cultural background, religious belief, gender, or disability, or it could be an online community within a regional area in South Australia.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries
    • community organisations
    • individual artists
    • local and state government
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • professional artists and organisations.

    Judges' considerations

    • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
    • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/activity
    • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through the arts, cultural and creative industries
  • Category description

    This award is for an outstanding arts, cultural or creative industries work, event or project for young people presented or held in South Australia. Nominees must be able to demonstrate a positive impact on and/or outcomes for young people.

    The nominated work can be a performance, show, production, film, visual arts exhibition, publication, project, or initiative aimed specifically at people aged 30 years and under.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries
    • community organisations
    • individual artists
    • local and state government
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • professional artists and organisations.

    Judges' considerations

    • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
    • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/activity
    • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through the arts, cultural and creative industries
  • Category description

    This award is for an outstanding work or event presented or held as part of a festival program in South Australia.

    Works and events can include performances, shows, productions, films, artworks, publications, and visual arts exhibitions presented as part of a festival.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries
    • community organisations
    • individual artists
    • local and state government
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • professional artists and organisations.

    Judges' considerations

    • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
    • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/activity
    • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through the arts, cultural and creative industries
  • Category description

    This award is for an outstanding work or event presented or held in South Australia, not as part of a festival program.

    Works and events can include performances, shows, productions, films, artworks, publications, and visual arts exhibitions presented not as part of a festival.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries
    • community organisations
    • individual artists
    • local and state government
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • professional artists and organisations.

    Judges' considerations

    • The artistic merit of the event/activity, its originality, quality and impact,
    • How the work/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form/event type/activity
    • How the nominee has contributed to South Australia through arts, cultural and creative industries
  • Category description

    This award recognises activities that encourage strategic and innovative collaboration between independent artists and groups, funded arts, and cultural organisations, or with organisations outside the arts and cultural sector.

    Nominations will be accepted for creative developments, projects, events, exhibitions, publications, or performances that have been developed through a collaborative process that includes the sharing of resources and knowledge. Nominees should consider collaborations outside of the usual co-production relationships.

    Both the partners involved, and the outcomes of the collaboration will be considered for the award

    Eligibiltiy

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries
    • community organisations
    • individual artists
    • local and state government
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • professional artists and organisations.

    Judges' consideration

    • The artistic merit of the work/project/event/activity, its originality, quality and impact
    • How the work/project/event/activity has contributed to the development of its art form
    • What the input of the partners/collaborators has been
    • How the input of the collaborator/partners has enhanced the outcome
    • Collaborations outside of the usual co-production relationships
  • Category description

    This award recognises a small-to-medium organisation or group that has made an outstanding contribution to arts and culture in South Australia.

    Nominees must be small-to-medium arts or cultural organisations or groups, receiving no funding or less than $1 million in funding from Arts South Australia.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • amateur companies
    • small-to-medium funded and funded and unfunded, arts, cultural and creative industries organisations
    • community organisations
    • not-for-profit sector
    • private enterprise
    • volunteer organisations or groups.

    Judges' considerations

    • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
    • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field
    • What major activities or developments has the Organisation or Group achieved in the past financial year
  • Category description

    Named in honour of South Australian theatre director Geoff Crowhurst, this award recognises the contribution of an individual or organisation to community arts and cultural development.

    Nominees must be able to demonstrate credibility through involvement in arts and cultural projects that build stronger, more cohesive communities. This may be evidenced by creative collaborations between the arts and cultural sector and communities, working to achieve artistic and social outcomes.

    A community is determined by a uniting factor, such as geographic location, cultural background, religious belief, gender, or disability, or it could be an online community.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries workers
    • community workers
    • local and State Government workers
    • not-for-profit sector workers
    • private enterprise workers
    • professional artists
    • volunteers.

    Judges' considerations

    • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
    • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field
  • Category description

    This award recognises outstanding artistic or cultural achievement or contribution by an individual young South Australian. Nominees must be aged 30 years or under as of 30 June 2025.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries workers
    • community workers
    • individual artists (professional and emerging)
    • local and State Government workers
    • not-for-profit sector workers
    • private enterprise workers
    • volunteers.

    Judges' considerations

    • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
    • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field
  • Category description

    This award recognises outstanding artistic or cultural achievement or contribution by a South Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-focused organisation or group, or an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identified individual.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries workers
    • community workers
    • local and state government workers
    • not-for-profit sector workers
    • private enterprise workers
    • volunteers.

    Judges' considerations

    • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
    • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field
  • Category description

    This award recognises an extraordinary South Australian who, through a lifetime of outstanding service, has made an indelible contribution to arts and culture.

    Nominees must be able to demonstrate credibility through a lifetime’s body of work, creative originality, professionalism, or leadership.

    Eligibility

    The award is open to:

    • arts, cultural and creative industries workers
    • community workers
    • local and state government workers
    • not-for-profit sector workers
    • private enterprise workers
    • professional artists
    • volunteers.

    Judges' considerations

    • How the nominee has demonstrated artistic merit, originality, quality, impact or leadership in their field
    • How the nominee has achieved peer recognition in their field.
  • Previous Ruby Awards

    Relive the excitement of past Ruby Awards by viewing the event photo galleries:

    2024 Ruby Awards at Adelaide Botanic Gardens

    2023 Ruby Awards at Adelaide Festival Centre

    2022 Ruby Awards at The Queens Theatre, Adelaide

    Previous recipients

    Ruby Awards 2024 (PDF, 102.5 KB)

    Ruby Awards 2023 (PDF, 253.0 KB)

    Ruby Awards 2022 (PDF, 134.4 KB)

    Ruby Awards 2021 (PDF, 127.2 KB)

    Ruby Awards 2020 (PDF, 168.2 KB)

    Ruby Awards 2019 (PDF, 180.5 KB)

    Judging panel expressions of interest

    Expressions of interest for future Ruby Awards judging panels remain open.

    Join us in celebrating and recognising the vibrant arts, cultural and creative industries communities of South Australia.

    Find out more