MaD LogoCharles Sturt University Crest

The Charles Sturt University
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Social Justice Innovation Award

The Charles Sturt University School of Humanities and Social Sciences Social Justice Innovation Award offers you the platform to tell your story. Entrants need to be aged between 15 and 21 years and in Year 10, 11 or 12 at high school or a student at TAFE.

The task is to write an engaging story/poem/script that is creative and addresses an issue of Social Justice. It could be fictional or non-fiction. The four major winners each receive a $250 cash prize. In addition, Charles Sturt University also makes a donation of $250 to the charity of choice of the winners.

The competition is in its third year and coordinator Bill Anscombe, Senior Lecturer - Social Work at CSU was overwhelmed by the response.
“In 2006 there were 17 valid entries and in 2007 there were 48 valid entries. This is an almost 300% increase of entries from 2006 to 2007”

“Essentially the topics written about document the issues that are relevant to the young people of today. Everything from mental health, to animal rights,” Bill commented.

In 2007, the entries came from 40 schools with multiple entries from 5 of those schools. Thank you to all entrants for your contributions, the judges were extremely impressed with the calibre of work and the diversity of themes explored.

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When do I need to have my entry in by?

The competition opens Monday 3 August and entries have closed. Judging occurs during October and winners will be announced in November 2009.

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What are the judges looking for?

Strong, interesting stories about life and the issues that matter as well as creative and innovative approaches to and ideas on what could make, or has made, a difference.

The story/poem/script provides a response to human issues of social justice.

The story/poem/script should be innovative and solution-focused.

Top writing skills are not necessary as the major criteria are innovation and creativity.

Charles Sturt University academics will judge your entry. We are looking for four winners and a group of publishable stories that could number up to 20.

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Entries for 2009 have closed

Entries into the Making a Difference Social Justice Innovation Award creative writing competition have closed.

Details of the winners and their winning entries will be posted here once they have been selected. A huge thank you to everyone who participated - the high-calibre of entries makes the judging process difficult, but very enjoyable.

Emma Byrne

Being young and passionate walk hand in hand and this competition provides teens with the opportunity to express their opinion on issues that directly affect them. By participating in the MaD competition, young people are able to harness their natural enthusiasm and channel it in order to ‘make a difference’.

Emma Byrne
2007 Winner

Naomi Cooper

I think the MaD competition’s recognition of young people’s desire to express their concerns about social justice is an outstanding experience; recognising that we have valid opinions that deserve to be heard in the wider community. It’s great to stimulate awareness of social justice issues and empower young people to make a difference.

Naomi Cooper
2007 Winner

Contact Us

For more information about the Making a Difference (MaD) Competition, or about studying at Charles Sturt University, please contact info.csu

  • Telephone: 1800 334 733 (free call within Australia)
  • Telephone: +61 2 6338 6077 (outside Australia)
  • Facsimile: (02) 6338 6001 (within Australia)
  • Facsimile: +61 2 6338 6001 (outside Australia)

Prizes

Four major winners will each receive a $250 cash prize. In addition, Charles Sturt University will make a donation of $250 to the charity of choice of the winners (subject to certain conditions). You really will make a difference!!!

The Making a Difference, Charles Sturt University School of Humanities and Social Sciences Social Justice Innovation Award gives you the chance to win an opportunity of a lifetime… fame, publication, money, a donation to your favourite charity and a fantastic headstart for the future!

Your work may be published in “fourW”, an annual anthology of creative writing and artwork produced by the Booranga Writers’ Centre, in 2010.

Your story will also be on the Charles Sturt University web site and a copy will be available via the internet. The whole world can read your amazing story of social justice!

Entries may be published and modified to meet editorial guidelines and other program requirements. The intellectual property and editorial rights will be held by Charles Sturt University with suitable acknowledgement to the author(s).

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Money

Some charities you might consider

Past Winners have chosen to support the following:

Other possible charities could include, but would not be limited to:

Conditions of Entry

  1. Entrants must be aged between 15 and 21 years.
  2. Entrants must be in Year 10, 11 or 12 at high school or be a student at TAFE.
  3. Entrants must reside or be attending school or TAFE in New South Wales or the Australian Capital Territory.
  4. Entrants must submit original works of no more than 1000 words.
  5. Entries must be submitted by midnight on Monday, 5 October, 2009.
  6. Privacy of individuals must be preserved. All identifiers must be altered so that no individual or community could be identified. For example, it would not be acceptable to identify a very rare genetic disorder and identify the small community in which the individual is domiciled. By submitting an entry in this competition, entrants do so in the understanding that their work may be published. Entries may also be modified to meet editorial guidelines and other program requirements.
  7. The Intellectual Property and editorial rights will be with Charles Sturt University with suitable acknowledgement to the author(s).
  8. Any personal information collected in the process of registering for this competition will be held by Charles Sturt University in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and will not be provided to any other organisation.
  9. Entrants who indicate on the registration form their approval to be contacted by Charles Sturt University may be contacted by the University by means of phone, SMS, email or mail for marketing purposes.
  10. The nominated charity will be at the author's choice subject to the final approval of the Course Coordinator for Social Work at Charles Sturt University who will have due regard to the legality, incorporation, nature and efficacy of the nominated charity.
  11. The decision of the Judging Panel drawn from Charles Sturt University School of Humanities and Social Science shall be final with no appeal possible. No correspondence regarding judging will be entered into.

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The Teacher's Summary

Ask your Year 10, 11 or 12 high school students (or 15 to 21 year old TAFE students) to write a creative and engaging story/poem/script that addresses an issue of social justice. It may be fiction or nonfiction. It must be no longer than 1000 words. It may be a piece that addresses a global issue (e.g. the Millennium Goals), a local issue (e.g. domestic violence, disability) or it may be responsive to a particular situation (e.g. a family whose house burned down, an experience of child sponsorship).

If the piece is non-fiction, then the students must alter all identifiers to preserve the privacy of the individual or community.

Entries closed Monday 5 October 2009

Rachael Rippon

The MaD competition appealed to me, because I’m interested in social justice and it was a way of possibly making people more aware of something that is important to me.

Rachael Rippon,
2007 Highly Commended