Always Was, Always Will Be (2024) takes a closer look at some of the iconic First Peoples protest movements of the last 200 years, celebrating the strength, wisdom, and bravery of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people defending their land and asserting their right to self-determination through history.

The winners will be announced during Nature Book Week, the annual celebration of nature and storytelling between 11–19 October 2025.

About the creators

Aunty Fay Muir is a senior Boon Wurrung and Wamba Wamba Elder, First Nations community leader and Koori Court Elder. She is a Language Specialist, working as a prison educator in First Nations languages and is a creative language revival consultant and collaborator.

Award-winning Australian author Sue Lawson writes books for children and young adults. Her books include The Biscuit Maker, illustrated by Liz Anelli and young adult novels Freedom Ride, shortlisted for the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year and the NSW and WA Premier’s Literary Awards, and Pan’s Whisper, which won the Australian Family Therapist Award and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award.