Frequently asked.
Do I have to pay anything to submit?+
No. Nominating and submitting an entry are free, with no RET membership requirement. Awards night attendance requires a purchased ticket. Purchase awards night tickets.
Is there an entry fee?+
No. It is free to nominate and submit an entry for every open category, and no membership or ticket purchase is required to be shortlisted or to win. Awards night tickets are sold separately. Purchase awards night tickets.
How do I get into the awards?+
Every journey begins with a nomination. You can nominate yourself, or someone else can nominate you. Once the nomination is accepted, the nominee completes the submission.
Can I nominate myself?+
Yes. Self-nomination carries exactly the same weight as being nominated by someone else.
Who can enter?+
Individuals and businesses operating in the Australian or New Zealand property industry, subject to category-specific eligibility.
Can I enter multiple categories?+
Yes - most entrants submit in 1-3 categories. Each category needs its own nomination and its own submission.
Can I save a draft?+
Yes. Entries can be drafted, edited and saved as many times as you like until you submit.
How is judging done?+
RET uses AI-assisted judging to apply each category's published criteria consistently across every submission, with a written rationale per criterion. Awards administrators review the assessment before finalists or winners are confirmed. Nothing is published automatically.
What do the judges actually reward?+
Substance, demonstrated results, specificity, evidence and verifiability. A specific, dated, evidenced claim scores; a polished adjective does not. Your submission is king.
Am I penalised for using AI to help write my entry?+
No. AI-assisted writing is neither rewarded nor penalised, and we make no claim to reliably detect it. Use whatever tools help you write clearly - what is assessed is whether your claims are specific, substantiated and verifiable.
Are my claims checked?+
A claim is not accepted as proven just because you make it. Material claims may be checked against your submitted evidence and against independent, publicly available sources - social media, third-party publications, industry awards, public registers and reporting. Where a claim cannot be corroborated it is recorded as supported by the submission or unable to verify rather than treated as proven, and you may be asked to substantiate it. In short: tell us what you did, and be ready to prove it.
Does partnering, advertising or buying tickets help my chances?+
Commercial relationships with Real Estate Today have no influence on judging outcomes. Partnerships, advertising or ticket purchases do not affect an entrant's score or chances of becoming a finalist or winner.
What are the key dates?+
Submissions open Thursday 1 October 2026 and close Monday 9 November 2026. Finalists are announced Thursday 26 November 2026. Awards night is Thursday 4 March 2027 at Cruise Bar, Circular Quay, Sydney.
Do I have to buy a ticket to become a finalist?+
No. Becoming a finalist does not require buying a ticket. Tickets are only for attending the event.
How much can the AI assessment actually see?+
The AI assessor reads your submission text plus the names and descriptions of your uploaded evidence. It does not open evidence files and has no web access - which is exactly why the evidence you attach matters so much. Awards administrators then review submissions and evidence directly, and may check material claims against independent, publicly available sources before any outcome is confirmed.
When will I know if I'm a finalist?+
Finalists are published on Thursday 26 November 2026 and notified by email.
What happens if I win?+
Winners receive digital badges, certificates, trophies at the gala, and dedicated coverage.
Who owns my submission?+
You retain ownership. By entering you grant the RET Awards a licence to publish extracts for awards purposes.
How we keep judging fair
Your submission is king. The entry you write, and the evidence you attach, is what is judged.
- It is free to nominate and submit an entry. Awards night attendance requires a ticket; no membership is required. Purchase awards night tickets.
- You can start an entry yourself, or be nominated by someone else. Both routes lead to the same submission and are judged identically.
- Judging is AI-assisted so the published criteria are applied consistently to every submission, with awards administrators reviewing results before anything is finalised.
- AI-assisted writing is neither rewarded nor penalised. What matters is substance, demonstrated results, specificity, evidence and verifiability.
- Material claims may be checked against submitted evidence and independent sources where available.
- Commercial relationships, partnerships, advertising, membership and ticket purchases have no influence on scores or finalist and winner selection. Tickets are only for attending the event and are not required to become a finalist.