The Advocate for Children and Young People and their Office welcomed entries for the NSW Children’s Week 2025 Art competition.
Children’s Week ran from 18–26 October 2025. The Children’s Week national theme for 2025 is “Everyone should know about children’s rights” based on Article 42 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Every child has rights, no matter their identity, where they live, their age or their background. Participating in the competition is an opportunity for children and young people to think about what rights are important to them, and to help educate others on children’s rights.
Children and young people were invited to submit a portrait of someone that they feel champions children’s rights, or someone who has taught them about children’s rights.
The competition is free to enter and open to all children and young people up to the age of 18 living in New South Wales. Group entries are allowed and encouraged.
There are three age categories for prizes:
Entries opened: Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Entries closed: Sunday, 19 October 2025
A 1st, 2nd and 3rd place was chosen for each of the 3 age groups. The winners are shown in the online exhibition below, and were announced on our Facebook and Instagram profiles.
The winning entries were decided by the Advocate for Children and Young People, Zoë Robinson. The nine winners will receive an award and a prize of a gift card from their choice of a list of age appropriate options:
Should a class or group entry be selected as a winner, the prize will be sent to the teacher/guardian mentioned on the submission form.
Children's rights are things that every child should have or be able to do – like being safe and healthy, getting to play, learn and participate. These rights are for all children, no matter where they live, their age, background or identity.
There are 54 articles that describe all of the children’s rights, and you can also watch the video below to learn more about the history of children’s rights.
Before you start creating your artwork, take a moment to think about:
Thinking about these questions will help you to decide what to base your artwork on.
Create a portrait of somebody or a group of people who is a champion of children’s rights. This could be someone you know who has taught you about children’s rights, or it could be someone you admire and have learned about.
Your artwork can be in the form of drawing, painting, photograph, collage, sculpture, textile work or digital illustration. AI-generated artwork is not allowed. The artwork must be your own original work and needs to be created specifically for the NSW Children’s Week 2025 art competition.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales has tips about what is in a portrait. Think about the:
We encourage using materials for your artwork that are easily accessible and already available to you. Examples of this include:
In 50-150 words, explain what your artwork represents including who you chose to portray and why. There is a field in the entry form for this description.
Once you have completed your artwork please, take a clear digital picture of your it.
Complete the submission form and upload the picture and description of your artwork in the sections provided.
The submission form will be open until Sunday 12th October 2025.
If you have any questions or require assistance completing the entry form, please contact our office on (02) 9248 0970 or email acyp@acyp.nsw.gov.au
Read the full terms and conditions.
P: 02 9248 0970
NSW Advocate for Children and Young People
Ground Floor, 219-241 Cleveland Street, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
NSW Advocate for Children and Young People
Locked Bag 5000, PARRAMATTA NSW 2124
The Advocate for Children and Young People is under the DCJ ABN 36 433 875 185.
P: 02 9248 0943 or 0439 346 249
Receive updates and invitations from the Advocate
We acknowledge Aboriginal people as the First Nations Peoples of NSW and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future.
Informed by lessons of the past, ACYP is improving how we work with Aboriginal people and communities. We listen and learn from the knowledge, strength and resilience of Stolen Generations Survivors, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal communities.
