Robert Irwin is fronting Australia Zoo’s 10th Crikey! Magazine Photography Competition, where the winning image will land on the cover of the 2026 Summer issue and selected winning images will be exhibited across Australia. The contest is open from Monday 15 June through Monday 31 August 2026, with winners scheduled to be announced on Friday 9 October 2026.
Australia Zoo has built the anniversary edition around three adult categories: the original Crikey! Magazine Cover category, a Natural World category for wildlife and wild places from anywhere on Earth, and a new Australia category created for the 10-year milestone. Tourism Australia will help judge the new Australia category, giving local landscapes and wildlife a direct route to added exposure. For photographers weighing what to enter, the field is clear: bold conservation stories, clean wildlife frames and place-driven images with a strong sense of Australia are the most obvious fits.
The competition’s youth divisions continue under Crikey! Kids, split into 10 years and under, 11 to 14 years, and 15 to 17 years. Australia Zoo says winners, highly commended entries and three finalists will be selected in each youth division, keeping younger shooters in the same showcase structure as the adult categories.
Entry rules are straightforward. Adult categories carry a $10 fee, while Crikey! Kids entries are exempt. Submissions must be high-resolution JPG or TIF files at a minimum of 300 DPI, with no borders, signatures or watermarks. Those technical requirements matter as much as the subject matter, especially for photographers aiming at magazine reproduction and public display.
Australia Zoo says all profits from Crikey! Magazine go directly to conservation initiatives, a point that keeps the competition tied to the wider Wildlife Warriors mission around the zoo at Beerwah on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Luke Reavley, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, says the publication is meant to give readers a behind-the-scenes look at Australia Zoo while carrying on Steve Irwin’s education-first approach to wildlife protection. Australia Zoo describes Robert Irwin as a passionate wildlife conservationist and nature photographer, and he has framed the competition as a way to showcase the wild kingdom and encourage people to help preserve it. For shooters who want more than a gallery upload, the prize package offers something rare: a cover, a public exhibition and a conservation platform all at once.
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