Innovation policy expert Dr Terry Cutler is chairing the judging panel, which is made up of leaders from the science community, industry and government.

Last year Queensland entrepreneur Terry Powell won the Backyard Innovation prize for the Impacts solar desalination and power plant.

The overall winner last year was Dr Michelle McIntosh and her team at Monash University, Melbourne. That entry was an inhalant form of oxytocin, a hormone that reduces haemorrhage after childbirth, which could save lives in developing countries.

The five professional categories, which are open to specialists such as scientists, engineers and technologists, are Environment, Agriculture and Food; Community Services: Health Education and Public Services; Minerals and Energy; Manufacturing, Construction and Infrastructure; and ICT.

Professional category winners get $5000 and the overall winner gets a further $25,000.

A sixth category, Backyard Innovation, is open to the public and has a $10,000 prize.

This year a Young Innovators category has been added that is open to students under the age of 21. It carries a $5000 cash prize.

Entries will be judged against the equally weighted critieria of:

• science or technological excellence and novelty
• potential impact
• sustainability and end user benefit
• adoption and take-up, including paths to market for early-stage development work.

The awards are open to individuals and teams and people can enter more than one project.

International collaborative projects are also eligible so long as the work was driven from Australia.