Kate Challis RAKA Award

The Kate Challis RAKA Award is an arts award worth A$20,000, awarded annually by the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Indigenous Australian creative artists. It is awarded in a five-year cycle, each year in a different area of the arts: creative prose, drama, the visual arts, script-writing (screenplay or for theatre) and poetry.[1]

Kate Challis RAKA Award
DescriptionAward recognizing Indigenous Australian creative artists in a five-year cycle across prose, drama, visual arts, script-writing, and poetry
CountryAustralia
Presented byUniversity of Melbourne

Professor Emeritus established the award Bernard Smith, art and cultural historian, in honour of his late wife, Kate Challis, who was earlier known as Ruth Adeney. "RAKA" is an acronym for "Ruth Adeney Koori Award". In the Pintupi language, "raka" means "five", and in Warlpiri, "rdaka" means "hand".[1]

It has been awarded since 1991.[2]

Past winners

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Source:[3]

References

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  1. 1 2 "Kate Challis RAKA Award". Scholarships. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. Sakellaropoulos, Stace (14 November 2025). "Poet Jazz Money wins Kate Challis RAKA 2025 Award". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  3. "More past winners : Faculty of Arts". Faculty of Arts. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  4. Kevey, Donna (23 February 2022). "Reckoning with Australia's colonial archive: poet Natalie Harkin wins RAKA Prize". Newsroom. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  5. Sekuless, Emma (1 November 2022). "Kate Challis RAKA 2021 Award Winner". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  6. Ling, Susanna (10 November 2022). "Dylan Van Den Berg's Milk wins Kate Challis RAKA 2022 Award". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  7. Clay, Ellie (11 September 2023). "Artist Brian Robinson wins Kate Challis RAKA 2023 Award". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  8. Wrethman, Emily (15 November 2024). "Filmmaker Ivan Sen wins Kate Challis RAKA 2024 Award". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  9. Sakellaropoulos, Stace (14 November 2025). "Poet Jazz Money wins Kate Challis RAKA 2025 Award". Faculty of Arts. Retrieved 18 May 2026.