Compete
Choose a category and division, enter as a school team or on your own, and take your project from proposal to the national final.
Browse the categoriesRegistrations now open
Launch the future from Down Under
A national technology competition and festival for Australian school students and young innovators. Design it. Build it. Launch it at the national final.
A national stage for the ideas Australia will run on.
TechFest Australia is a national technology festival and competition program. School teams and individual innovators choose one of 12 categories, from AI and robotics to space, health and agritech, then design, build and test a real project with mentors in their corner.
The best teams in each category are invited to the National Final, which is planned to open its doors to the public as a four-day festival. The venue, the dates and the program are still to be confirmed, and each one will be published here as it is settled. It is built for Australian classrooms, labs and garages.
- Who
- School teams from Years 3–12 with a teacher mentor, plus university, TAFE and young innovators 18+, solo or in a team.
- How
- Six phases, from proposal and mentored build to semi-final judging and the national final.
- Final
- 30 Sep – 3 Oct 2027 · Venue to be announced Indicative dates, final schedule to be confirmed.
12 Competition categories
From artificial intelligence to disaster resilience, each built around a real Australian brief.
4 Age divisions
Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open, from primary school teams to early-stage founders.
8 States & territories
Enter from anywhere in Australia, with judging online or at a planned hub in every capital city.
1 National final
Finalists compete live and demo their builds over four days at a public festival.
Learn
Volunteer mentors, online workshops and design reviews help you test ideas early and build something that actually works.
See what you getCelebrate
The season ends at a public festival. An innovation expo, talks, supervised technology demonstrations and an awards night are planned.
Explore the festival
Twelve arenas.
One national stage.
Pick the field you care about most. Every category comes with a 2027 challenge built around an Australian problem, example projects to get you started and clear rules on who can enter.
Filter by division, then open a category for the full brief, team size and entry rules.
- AI-01
Machines that learn
Artificial Intelligence
Teams train and deploy models that do a real job, from image classifiers to language tools, and show how they tested them for accuracy and fairness.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - RB-02
Build it. Code it. Run it.
Robotics & Automation
Teams design, build and program robots that sense their surroundings and complete tasks on their own, judged on a live run and on the engineering behind it.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - SP-03
Reach for orbit
Space & Rocketry
Teams build model rockets, small satellite payloads and mission concepts, then prove them through launches, simulations and ground station demos.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - AV-04
Engineer the skies
Aviation & Drones
Teams design gliders, fixed-wing aircraft and drones, then prove them in flight tasks that test control, endurance and safe operation.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - MT-05
Tech that cares
MedTech & Health
Teams build devices, apps and assistive technology that help people stay well, manage a condition or live more independently.
Open to Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - AG-06
Grow more with less
AgriTech & Food
Teams build sensors, robots and software that help farmers grow food with less water, fewer chemicals and less waste.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - CE-07
Power the future
Clean Energy & Climate
Teams design ways to generate, store and save clean energy, from solar and wind prototypes to tools that cut emissions at home and school.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - CY-08
Defend the network
Cybersecurity
Teams find and fix security weaknesses, build tools that protect people online and compete in capture-the-flag rounds inside a safe, sandboxed environment.
Open to Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - OC-09
Protect the blue
Marine & Ocean Tech
Teams build underwater robots, buoys and sensors that monitor water quality and marine life along our coasts, rivers and reefs.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - MN-10
Safer, smarter sites
Mining & Resources Tech
Teams develop automation, sensing and recycling technology that makes mining and resources work safer and less wasteful.
Open to Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - MB-11
Move people better
Smart Mobility & EVs
Teams build electric vehicle prototypes, traffic tools and transport apps that make getting around cleaner, safer and more accessible.
Open to Secondary, Tertiary and Open. - DR-12
Prepare, respond, recover
Disaster Resilience
Teams build technology that helps communities prepare for, respond to and recover from bushfires, floods, cyclones and heatwaves.
Open to Junior, Secondary, Tertiary and Open.
03 Flagship challenges
Six missions.
Built by students.
The flagship challenges are the headline field events of the national final. Each is a hands-on engineering brief your team designs and tests through the season, then runs live in front of the judges.
National final · Indicative dates, final schedule to be confirmed.
SP-03Space & Rocketry
Model Rocketry Challenge
Hit the target altitude. Bring the payload home.
Mission brief01 / 06
Teams design, build and fly a single-stage model rocket to a target altitude announced on launch day, carrying a fragile payload that must land intact. Flights are scored on altitude accuracy, flight duration and a clean recovery. Launches would run from a supervised range under the competition safety rules. The format is planned and depends on the site and approvals we secure.
- Divisions
- Secondary · Tertiary · Open
- Team
- 2–6
- Format
- Supervised launch day, planned
- Mission
- Target apogee + intact payload
RB-02Robotics & Automation
Outback Rover Challenge
No driver. No signal. Just red dirt.
Mission brief02 / 06
Teams build an autonomous rover that crosses a course of loose red soil, rocks and slopes modelled on outback terrain. The rover must find marked sample sites, record what it sees and return to base with no remote steering. Judges score the run and the engineering logbook behind it.
- Divisions
- Secondary · Tertiary · Open
- Team
- 2–6
- Format
- Field trial
- Mission
- Autonomous 200 m course
AV-04Aviation & Drones
Drone Search & Rescue
Find them fast. Report them right.
Mission brief03 / 06
Teams program a drone to search a defined area, detect simulated casualties marked on the ground and report their exact positions. The mission ends with a precise drop of a small aid package on the right target. Speed counts, but accuracy and safe flying count more. This challenge is planned. The flying format depends on the venue and on the approvals the aviation rules require.
- Divisions
- Secondary · Tertiary · Open
- Team
- 2–5
- Format
- Timed search flight
- Mission
- Locate targets + drop aid kit
OC-09Marine & Ocean Tech
Reef Guardian ROV
Survey the reef without touching it.
Mission brief04 / 06
Teams build a remotely operated underwater vehicle and pilot it through a pool mission over a mock reef. The ROV must identify healthy and bleached coral tiles, count pest starfish models and collect a water sample. Any contact with the reef structure costs points. Planned: the pool venue and supervision arrangements are still to be confirmed.
- Divisions
- Secondary · Tertiary · Open
- Team
- 2–6
- Format
- Pool mission, planned
- Mission
- Survey, count, sample
AI-01Artificial Intelligence
AI for Good Sprint
Two days. One real problem. A working answer.
Mission brief05 / 06
At the start of the sprint, teams receive a problem statement and an open dataset tied to an Australian issue such as bushfire risk, water use or access to health care. They have two days to build a working prototype and present it in a short live demo. Judging looks at usefulness, responsible use of data and how clearly the team explains its limits.
- Divisions
- Secondary · Tertiary · Open
- Team
- 1–5
- Format
- Two-day sprint
- Output
- Prototype + 3-minute demo
CE-07Clean Energy & Climate
Solar Sprint
Built by students. Powered by the sun.
Mission brief06 / 06
Teams design and build a model vehicle that runs on sunlight alone, using a standard solar panel and motor set by the competition rules. Cars race on a straight track and a hill climb, with extra marks for design, workmanship and an energy logbook. A strong first build that rewards smart engineering over big budgets.
- Divisions
- Junior · Secondary
- Team
- 2–5
- Format
- Track race + hill climb
- Power
- Solar only, no batteries
04 Who can compete
Built for classrooms. Open to every maker.
Two lanes, three ways in. Schools enter student teams with a teacher mentor, and anyone 18 or over can enter on their own or as an open team. Pick your lane, then find your division.
- Entry types
- 03
- Divisions
- 04
- Categories
- 12
Entry is paid for every entrant. The entry fee for the 2027 season will be published before registrations open.
ENT-ASchool team
- Mentor
- Required
- Consent
- Under 18s
- Entry fee
- To be announced
Primary and secondary · Years 3–12
Schools
For teachers and STEM coordinators entering student teams from their school, whether it is a class project, a lunchtime club or a mixed year group.
How entry works
- Form a team of 2 or more students. Junior teams have 2–5 students and Secondary teams 2–6.
- A teacher from your school registers the team and stays on as its mentor for the whole season.
- A parent or guardian gives consent for every student under 18 before any stage begins.
What you need
- A teacher mentor from your school
- 2 or more students in Years 3–12
- Parent or guardian consent for each student
- Your school name, suburb and postcode
- A problem worth solving. No experience needed
ENT-B/CIndividual · Open team
- Age
- 18+
- Solo
- Welcome
- Entry fee
- To be announced
University, TAFE and beyond · 18+
Individuals& open teams
For university and TAFE students, makers and early-stage founders aged 18 and over. Enter on your own, or bring a team of people you build with.
How entry works
- Enter solo, or as an open team where everyone is aged 18 or over.
- Choose Tertiary if you study at a university or TAFE, or Open if you are 18–30.
- Register as the lead contact. You can add team members until registrations close.
What you need
- Everyone in the entry aged 18 or over
- Your university or TAFE name for Tertiary
- An email address and an Australian phone number
- An idea, a prototype or a working demo
- Team member names, if you enter as a team
Divisions · 04
Four divisions. One national final.
Your division is set by year level or age. Every division follows the same season, from the first proposal to the national final.
Junior
Primary school students
For curious primary students who want to build their first robot, rocket or app with their class, guided by a teacher mentor.
- Year levels
- Years 3–6
- Ages
- 8–12
- Team
- 2–5 students + teacher mentor
- Entry
- School team
- Categories
- 8 of 12
Secondary
High school students
For high school teams ready to take on a real engineering brief, test their design and defend it in front of expert judges.
- Year levels
- Years 7–12
- Ages
- 12–18
- Team
- 2–6 students + teacher mentor
- Entry
- School team
- Categories
- 12 of 12
Tertiary
University and TAFE students
For university and TAFE students who want to turn coursework, a club project or a side build into a working prototype.
- Year levels
- University or TAFE
- Ages
- 18+
- Team
- 1–6 members, solo entries welcome
- Entry
- Solo or team
- Categories
- 12 of 12
Open
Young innovators, makers and early-stage founders
For makers, tinkerers and early-stage founders with an idea they want to prove, whether or not they are studying.
- Year levels
- Any background
- Ages
- 18–30
- Team
- 1–6 members, solo entries welcome
- Entry
- Solo or team
- Categories
- 12 of 12
05 The journey
From first idea to the national stage.
One season, 6 phases. Proposals, mentoring check-ins and semi-final reviews can all happen online, so teams can take part from anywhere in Australia before finalists meet in person.
Season ramp06 phases · 01 national final
Oct 2026From Oct 2027
- Phase 01
Registrations open
Schools, teams and individuals register online, choose a division and pick a competition category. Entry is paid, and the fee will be published before registrations open.
- Phase 02
Proposal and preliminary design report
Every team submits a short proposal: the problem, your idea, how it will work and how you plan to test it. Shortlisted teams move into the build phase.
- Phase 03
Mentoring and build phase
Teams build and test their projects with support from volunteer mentors, with regular online check-ins that fit around the school term.
- Phase 04
Semi-final judging and critical design review
Teams present their prototype and test results to a judging panel online. We plan to add in-person judging at regional hubs, subject to venues. Finalists for each category are selected on their scores.
- Phase 05In person
National Final and Festival
Finalists compete live, demo their projects at the innovation expo and meet the public over four days. The dates are planned to fall in the spring school holidays in most states and are still to be confirmed.
- Phase 06
Awards and launchpad
Category winners are recognised on the judges’ scores. We plan to publish a list of incubator, scholarship and further study programs run by other organisations, for teams who want to keep going.
Indicative dates, final schedule to be confirmed.
Start at Phase 0106 The festival
4 days.
One giant launchpad.
The national final is planned to open its doors to the public. Families, schools and industry are welcome to walk the expo floor, meet the finalist teams, hear the talks and try a hands-on workshop. The program below is planned and will be confirmed on this site, along with ticketing for the public days.
Festival window04 days · 2027
National final · 2027
Venue to be announced
Indicative dates, final schedule to be confirmed.
Model rocketry, planned
We plan a supervised model rocket activity as part of the final, with every countdown called from the field. It will only run at a site that suits it and with the approvals the aviation rules require. We will confirm it once the venue and approvals are in place.
- Planned
Drone demonstrations, planned
We plan supervised drone demonstrations inside an enclosed flight area, run by approved operators, with the pilots explaining what you are seeing. The format depends on the venue and on the approvals the aviation rules require.
- Expo
Innovation expo
Walk the floor, meet the teams and see the projects up close. Finalists demo their builds and answer questions from visitors.
- Stage
Main stage talks
Engineers, researchers and founders talk about the work they do and how they got there, with time for audience questions.
- Workshops
Hands-on workshops
Short sessions for kids and families: wire a circuit, code a robot or fly a simulator. No experience needed.
- Awards
Awards night
The season ends with category winners announced on stage and every finalist team recognised for what they built.
07 Across Australia
From Darwin to Hobart. Planned in every state and territory.
Regional hubs in each capital city are planned for qualifiers and workshops, and online stages let regional and remote teams compete from wherever they are. Hub venues and format to be confirmed.
State readoutLocal time
Northern Territory
- Hub city
- Darwin DRW
- Local time
- Darwin
- Hub coords
- 12.46° S · 130.85° E
- Status
- PlannedFormat to be confirmed
A hub is planned in Darwin, with online stages so teams from Arnhem Land to Alice Springs can take part without long trips.
States and territories North to south
08 What you get
More than a competition.
Support is built into every stage of the season: people to learn from, sessions to build your skills and a national stage to show what you made. Your entry fee covers the workshops, a mentor match and judging at every stage your entry reaches. Anything marked as planned depends on the funding we secure.
- One entry fee, no stage fees
- Online from anywhere
- Mentors screened first
Mentoring
Volunteer mentors with industry and academic experience review your plans, answer technical questions and help you test your thinking. Before a mentor is matched with a team, we check that they hold the Working with Children Check required where the activity takes place. No mentor works with students until that check is verified.
Phase 03 · BuildMentors screened firstBuild materials support, planned
We plan to open applications for help with components and materials for shortlisted teams. Whether we can offer it depends on the funding we secure, and we will say so before the build phase starts. Your entry fee does not cover build materials.
Shortlisted teamsSubject to fundingOnline workshops
Live and recorded sessions on design, prototyping, testing and pitching, open to every registered team wherever they are.
Every registered teamLive + recordedFinalist showcase
Finalists present at the National Final and demo their projects to visitors at the innovation expo.
Phase 05 · National FinalStage + expoPathways, planned
At the end of the season we plan to publish a list of scholarship, incubator and further study programs run by other organisations. We do not award scholarships or places ourselves.
Phase 06 · LaunchpadPrograms run by othersCertificates
Every team that submits a proposal receives a certificate of participation.
Phase 02 · ProposalEvery entry that submits
Partner with us
Help build Australia’s next generation of innovators
Partner support helps fund mentoring, build materials, finalist travel and the national final. Tell us how your organisation would like to be involved and we will shape a partnership around it.
Become a partner hello@techfestaustralia.com.au
Industry
Set a real-world brief, volunteer mentors and judges, or back build materials and finalist travel.
Universities & TAFEs
Open labs and makerspaces, connect students with academic mentors and share pathways into further study.
Government & community
Help reach regional and remote schools, host regional hub events and widen access for every student.
09 FAQ
Pre-flight checks.
The questions schools, teams and individual entrants ask most before they register. Pick a topic or work through the full list.
There is one entry fee per entry, charged to schools, teams and individuals alike. The amount for the 2027 season has not been set yet. We will publish it as a single price including GST before registrations open, and that is the only amount we charge to enter. It is planned to cover your place in the competition, the online workshops, a mentor match, judging at every stage your entry reaches and a certificate of participation. It does not cover build materials, travel, accommodation or tickets to the public festival. The terms of entry and the refund and cancellation policy are on this site.
Dates, venue, regional hubs and the festival program are planned and not yet confirmed. We will confirm each one on this site as it is locked in. If we cancel the competition, you get a full refund of your entry fee. If we move the national final to different dates or a different city, we will tell you as soon as we know, and you can withdraw and ask for a full refund. Nothing in our terms takes away your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.
Primary students in Years 3–6 (Junior), high school students in Years 7–12 (Secondary), university and TAFE students aged 18 and over (Tertiary), and young innovators, makers and early-stage founders aged 18–30 (Open). Junior and Secondary teams enter through their school.
Junior teams have 2–5 students and Secondary teams have 2–6 students, plus a teacher mentor who does not count towards the team size. Tertiary and Open entries can be solo or a team, up to the limit set by the category you choose, which is between 4 and 6 people. Each category card shows its own team size.
Yes. Each team registers separately and needs a teacher mentor. One teacher can mentor more than one team if they can support each one properly. Any limit on teams per school in a single category will be set out in the competition rules.
No. Many teams will be building something for the first time. The proposal stage asks for a clear idea and a sensible plan, not a finished product, and mentoring and online workshops help you build the skills along the way.
Yes. The proposal, mentoring check-ins and semi-final reviews can all be done online, so you do not need to live near a capital city to progress. Regional hub events are an extra chance to meet other teams, not a requirement.
You do. Teams keep ownership of the intellectual property in their projects. By entering, you allow us to show your project name, summary and approved images for the competition and festival. School teams should also check whether their school or education department has a policy on student work.
A parent or guardian must give consent for every participant under 18 before they take part in any stage. Consent to take and publish photos or video is asked for separately, and saying no to photos does not affect a student’s entry.
The teacher mentor registers the team, is our main contact, collects consent forms and supervises students at any in-person event. Mentors guide and encourage, but the students do the design and build work themselves.
Each stage is scored by a panel of volunteer judges against a published rubric covering the problem, originality, technical quality, testing, teamwork and presentation. Every award is decided on those scores alone. Nothing is decided by a random draw, a ballot or a lucky entrant, and ties are broken by the head judge re-scoring against a named criterion. Judges declare any conflict of interest and do not score teams they are connected to. Full criteria will be in the competition rules.
We would like to help finalist teams with the cost of travelling to the National Final, with a focus on teams from regional and remote areas. We cannot promise travel support. Any support depends on funding we secure, and we will publish what is available before finalists are confirmed. Your entry fee does not cover travel or accommodation.
We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles. We collect only what we need to run the competition and festival, we do not sell it, and we only send marketing emails to people who opt in. You can ask to access or correct your information at any time.
If you are 18 or over and enter Tertiary or Open, you can enter solo or as a team of up to 6, and you can add team members until registrations close. School students enter as part of a school team, so talk to a teacher about starting one.
Email us at hello@techfestaustralia.com.au and we will get back to you. For privacy questions or requests, email privacy@techfestaustralia.com.au.
- T-03Choose a divisionJunior · Secondary · Tertiary · Open
- T-02Form your teamSolo entries welcome 18+
- T-01Pick a category12 categories
- T-00RegisterEntry fee · To be announced
Registrations now openFinal call
Ready for launch?
Pick a category, build your team and take your idea from first sketch to the national final. The entry fee for the 2027 season will be published before registrations open.
School teams register through a teacher mentor. Tertiary and Open entrants can enter solo.
Registrations close in
Registrations close (19 February 2027)
Indicative dates, final schedule to be confirmed.