What Matters? National Writing Competition

Open to: Australian Students in yrs 5 to 12
Theme: What matters to you and why
Accepts: Year 5 & 6: Opinion piece
Size: 600 words
Entry Fee: Nil
Prizes: First: $350 & Allen & Unwin book pack & full-day creative writing workshop , Runner-up: $200 & Allen & Unwin book pack & full-day creative writing workshop

What Matters? is a 'catalyst for young thinkers and young writers to develop a perspective, a point of view, on where we're heading as a society'.

Inspired by Gough Whitlam's commitment to involving young people in the shaping of Australia's future, the What Matters? writing competition is currently open to school students in years 5 to 12 from Australia. Responding to the simple question 'what matters?', entrants are free to express their views on any matter they care about.

The competition receives thousands of entries covering a wide range of subjects, putting paid to the idea that young Australians are disengaged and disaffected. Year after year we are reminded how passionate, observant and articulate young people are, and how deeply driven they are by a sense of social justice as they offer us a window into not just what concerns them, but what inspires them.

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