A judging panel composed of representatives from The Australian Ballet, Telstra and the media selects the winner based on "the artistic quality of their work, the strength of a written submission, their personal development, and future potential.
[13] In addition, the Telstra People's Choice Award, with a cash prize of $5,000, is made to the most popular of the nominees in that year,[1] as determined by internet and SMS votes from the public.
The 2019 nominees were Isobelle Dashwood, Cristiano Martino, Marcus Morelli, Jill Ogai,[27] Sharni Spencer and Yichuan Wang.
[3] The 2018 nominees were Nathan Brook, Corey Herbert, Brodie James, Rina Nemoto, Jade Wood and Lucien Xu.
[35] Second-timers Jarryd Madden[36] and Jade Wood[37] were joined by Nicola Curry,[38] Brodie James,[39] Callum Linnane[40] and Jill Ogai[41] in the first evenly-distributed set of nominations.
[48] The 2014 nominees were announced on 7 March 2014 at a free performance at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne[49] and were Dimity Azoury, Imogen Chapman,[50] Ingrid Gow,[51] Cristiano Martino,[52] Rina Nemoto,[53] and Jade Wood.
[37] The 2013 nominees were announced on 13 February 2013[54] and were Benedicte Bemet,[55] Cameron Hunter,[56] Natasha Kusen,[57] Christopher Rodgers-Wilson,[58] Sharni Spencer,[59] and Valerie Tereshchenko.
[60] The 2012 nominees[61] were Dimity Azoury,[62] Calvin Hannaford,[63] Amy Harris, Ako Kondo,[64] Jarryd Madden[36] and Jake Mangakahia.
[74][75] The 2010 nominees were Amy Harris, Ty King-Wall,[76] Miwako Kubota, Natasha Kusen,[77] Dana Stephensen,[78] and Vivienne Wong (now retired).