Heywire Storytelling Competition (ABC)

The annual Heywire Competition begins with a storytelling competition, open to people aged 16-22, living in regional or rural Australia. Heywire encourages young people to tell stories about their life outside the major cities in text, photo, video or audio format. Over the past 17 years more than 9,000 young Australians have taken part.

Each year, every ABC regional station selects a winning Heywire Competition entry to represent their part of Australia. The young winners work with ABC staff to produce their story to be featured on ABC Radio and abc.net.au. Heywire stories are renowned for their honesty and for giving us a window on the lives of young people in regional Australia.

Competition winners also score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Summit, designed to ensure their voices are heard in Canberra and around the nation. Over the week participants undertake leadership workshops and meet with members of parliament, government departments and community leaders. The 'Heywirers' work together in teams to develop ideas aimed at improving the lives of young people in regional Australia. The ideas are presented at Parliament House in front of an esteemed panel.

Heywire puts young Australians at the center of the conversations that shape their communities. The ABC has run the annual regional youth project in partnership with the Australian Government since 1998.

For more information visit the official website here. 

4/5

Open submissions, but several winners are selected

Free

2/5

One off event, only a singular submission required; winners will attend a several day summit. Submission time is variable depending on format, with more skill needed for video, photo, or audio submissions.

1/5

Variable depending on format

Story (either 400 written words, 2-4 minute video, 10 photos, or 2-4 minutes of audio [recommended lengths]) & online entry form. There is no limit to the number of stories you can enter.