Enter the Parli-Flicks Short Film Award and create a one-minute short film that answers this year’s question:
What do I value about democracy?
Open to Year 5 to 12 students in NSW
Entries close 8 August 2025
Across the world and throughout time, societies have had to make decisions that will work for the majority of their population. In Australia, we’ve chosen a democratic system of government based on the Westminster system inherited from the United Kingdom. This means we elect representatives to parliament who report our views and make decisions on our behalf. So, instead of each individual voting on every decision, we vote in elections and delegate that responsibility to Members of Parliament. But for citizens democracy means so much more than just voting at elections. Citizens need to participate at many levels to make democracy work.
In your Parli-Flicks short film, we want you to explore the concept of democracy: what it means to you and why it’s important that in a democratic nation all citizens have a say and share in the decision-making processes.
Five entries will be shortlisted in the following categories:
- Best Regional
- Best Metropolitan
- Best Primary (Years 5 & 6)
- Best Junior Secondary (Years 7 – 9)
- Best Senior Secondary (Years 10 – 12)
One of the shortlisted films will be awarded the Parli-Flicks Prize 2025.
The shortlisted finalists will be invited to an awards night at the Parliament of NSW in Sydney, where the Parli-Flicks Prize will be announced. Regional finalists will be provided with travel and accommodation assistance to make the trip to Sydney. The entry that wins the Parli-Flicks Prize will receive a $500 prize and a trophy to be shared amongst the students who submitted that entry. Each shortlisted entry will receive a $100, to be shared amongst the students who submitted that entry, and each shortlisted student will receive an individual medal.
To enter the Parli-Flicks short film award, create a one-minute film answering the theme question: What do I value about democracy?
Film entries will be judged on the following criteria:
- You can be imaginative! Your film can be live action or animation. It can be drama, comedy or documentary style. You can also simply speak to the camera. The main thing to remember is to answer the theme question: What do I value about democracy?
- Entries should reflect your understanding of Australian democracy.
- Participate by yourself, or in a group of up to three students.
- Your film must not exceed one-minute in length.
- Judges will be looking for short films that engage their audience.
- Short films must also conform to the conditions and guidelines below.
ENTRIES CLOSE: 8 August 2025
HOW TO ENTER:
- Read the conditions and guidelines below.
- You might want to watch past shortlisted and winning entries: 2021 (What does democracy mean to me?); 2023 (Should the voting age be lowered?) and 2024 (If you were a Member of Parliament, what is the one law that you would pass)
- Teachers may want to use our TEACHER GUIDE to help students create a short film.
- Enter your short film by 12 midnight on Friday 8 August 2025 – use the SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY button below.
- If you have any questions, please email Parliamentary Education & Engagement at [email protected].
Conditions & Guidelines
- The Parli-Flicks NSW Parliament Short Film Award is free to enter.
- The film must not exceed one minute in length (including credits).
- The entrant/s must be Year 5 – 12 students enrolled in a school in New South Wales.
- Immediate family members of NSW Parliament employees, or the immediate family of Members of the NSW Parliament are not eligible to enter.
- Entrants are responsible for any and all expenses that they incur in the making of the short film that they enter in the competition. The entrant will not be reimbursed for any and all expenses that they incur in the making of the short film, regardless of whether or not they win the competition.
- Entries must not include swearing, violence, smoking, alcohol or drug abuse. The short film must not be offensive or have objectionable content.
- All film entries must contain credits which list all the authors/creators of the entry and any actors that appear in the film.
- All copyright, moral rights and rights of personality for all content, music and actors must be obtained by the film maker. Failure to clear these rights will result in removal of the entry from consideration in the competition.
- NSW Parliament takes no responsibility for any failure by an entrant to obtain the necessary authorisations. Entrants warrant that their short film (and any material comprising their short film) does not infringe the intellectual property rights or any other rights of any person.
- Entrants give the NSW Parliament and ASPG the right to use entrant content in any form they choose for promotion of the Parli-Flicks Short Film Award or other promotional opportunities which may arise.
- Entries without a fully completed entry form (via Launchpad) will not be accepted.
- Entries not submitted via Launchpad will not be accepted.
- Entrants accept that the decision of the judges’ panel is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
- Winners will be notified by email.
- The Presentation night and Parli-Flicks Prize announcement will be on Wednesday 5 November 2025
- Winners and Finalists agree to be photographed for promotional purposes at the award night.
- Entry into the competition means that the entrant warrants that they meet the entry eligibility requirements and accept these terms and conditions.
