SBS Opens Applications for 2026 Media Sustainability Challenge

SBS has opened applications for its 2026 Media Sustainability Challenge, inviting brands and agencies to develop campaigns that normalise sustainable behaviour and promote improved environmental practices.

The winning entry will receive $500,000 in SBS advertising inventory, awarded by a jury of senior industry professionals. In addition to media support, the selected campaign will receive sustainability consulting and production training through Sustainable Screens Australia to ensure best-practice sustainable production standards are met.

 

Building on a Successful Inaugural Year

 

The challenge follows a strong debut in 2025, when NRMA won the inaugural award. The winning campaign focused on encouraging Australians to consider switching to electric vehicles, while highlighting NRMA’s expanding national EV charging network.

Kate Young, National Manager of SBS CulturalConnect, said the response to the first year exceeded expectations, with a high volume of strong creative ideas submitted across the industry.

She noted that the initiative is designed to encourage brands and agencies to authentically rethink how sustainability is represented in marketing, with the aim of driving measurable and lasting behavioural change.

 

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Focus Areas for the 2026 Challenge

 

For 2026, SBS has refined the brief, asking entrants to centre their campaigns on one of three sustainability themes.

These include nature, focused on protecting and restoring the natural environment; carbon, aimed at reducing carbon emissions; and waste, addressing waste minimisation through sustainable practices or innovation.

Submissions must include a 30-second television script and a 500-word written rationale outlining how the campaign meets the judging criteria.

 

Industry Collaboration and Creative Leadership

 

Young emphasised that while SBS has taken steps to reduce its own environmental footprint, broader change requires collaboration across the media, advertising, and creative sectors.

The initiative is positioned as a platform to elevate high-quality creative ideas that make sustainable practices more visible and relatable to Australian audiences.

 

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Jury and Timeline

 

The 2026 jury includes Adam Liaw, host of The Cook Up and co-chair of Sustainable Screens Australia; Arum Nixon, Australia Chapter Lead at Ad Net Zero; Abigail Thomas, Head of Sustainability at SBS; Kate Young, National Manager of SBS CulturalConnect; and Angus Gordon, Head of Creative and Production Services at SBS CulturalConnect.

Entries close on March 6, 2026, with the winning campaign to be announced later in the year.