The awards comprise several categories, and are awarded for the best books in the categories of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, and children's literature written in the Canberra region, Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
[4] The June Shenfield Poetry Award is for an emerging Australian poet, and is awarded in collaboration with Demos Journal.
[5] The Marjorie Graber-McInnis Short Story Award is for an emerging ACT region writer.
It was established to commemorate the late short story writer Graber-McInnis, who lived in Canberra.
[7] The Publishing awards span four categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and children's books.