"[1] The 2020 Prize only awarded novels in the Adult category.
A "Children and Young Adults" category was introduced in 2021.
The Historical Novel Society Australasia explained the boundaries of the prize as follows: "The definition of the genre set by the Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) is a novel in which the majority of the narrative, ie more than 50% of the events described, has taken place at least 50 years before publication.
Time-slip novels, multiple-time period novels, and parallel narrative novels are also considered historical fiction with flexibility to crossover between eras stretching from 50 years or more in the past until contemporary times provided more than 50% of the events described take place at least 50 years before publication.
"[1] The longlists for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize were announced on 4 September 2024.