The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers".
Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction.
[2] The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy.
[2] Ties can occur if the panel decides that both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner.
Four people have won the award twice – Isobelle Carmody, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfeld, and most recently Kathryn Barker.