Australian Film Institute Awards - Rules and Voting

Rules and Voting

To be eligible for nomination, a production must be an Australian production or program and, in the case of a film, cannot have been previously submitted for an award; the material is sent to the AFI in DVD or video formats; for a feature film, it must have been publicly exhibited for seven consecutive days in at least two Australian states; for television and documentaries, the production must have been broadcast on television between the elgibility period. The submission of a production is accompanied by an entry fee in Australian dollars, of up to A$1680 for feature films, $400 for documentaries, $330 for short film and animation and $1125 for television categories.

At the time of the awards inception, a jury of five judges, composed of film critics and filmmakers, determined the winner of a production. In 1976, the jury system was replaced by a peer voting process for feature films which would allow public members the right to vote in the Best Film category. The nominees and winners were later peer-voted by a jury which was made up of representatives from all industry crafts, including members of guilds, who have a "professional membership" with the AFI.
When the AFI announced the launch of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, it introduced the Chapters who vote through a two step voting process. The fifteen Chapters comprise of professionals from industry guilds and organisations including actors, producers, directors and screenwriters. In round one of feature film voting, each chapter determines the nominees for their own respective category; in round two all members of the Academy can vote for the shortlisted nominees in each category to determine the winner. All television and non-feature film awards, and feature film pre-selection are determined by juries. Members of the Australian Film Institute are eligible to vote in the Best Short Fiction Film, Best Short Animation and Audience Choice award categories only. The votes are audited by accounting firm Ernst and Young from 2011.