TAFE Queensland takes out Australian Photographic Prize 2026 Educator of the Year
TAFE Queensland has been named Educator of the Year at the Australian Photographic Prize 2026, recognising the outstanding quality of work produced by its diploma students.
The national award is presented to the educational institution whose students achieve the strongest overall results in the competition.
The 2026 award is determined by the aggregate scores of each institution’s five highest-scoring student entries, with TAFE Queensland being named Photography Educator of the Year at the 2026 Australian Photographic Prize.
After finishing as runner-up in previous years, TAFE Queensland has taken out the top honour in 2026, with students achieving particularly strong results in the documentary photography category.
Diploma of Photography and Digital Imaging (CUA50925) graduates Brendan Skinner and Rachel Oliveri were behind the five highest-scoring TAFE Queensland images in this year’s competition, demonstrating the depth of talent being developed through the course.
Brendan achieved an outstanding result, taking second place in the Australian Documentary Photographer category, while Rachel also received strong recognition for her photographic work.
The Australian Photographic Prize is an annual international photography competition attracting thousands of entries from around the world.
This year, more than 50 national and international judges assessed work from photographers representing more than 25 countries.
Leading Vocational Teacher Photo Imaging Michelle Dursun said the award was a significant achievement for TAFE Queensland and reflected the quality of its students, teaching and learning environment.
Photo credit: Arianna Lamb
“This award is a wonderful recognition of the quality, creativity and commitment of our photography students.”
“To have our five highest-scoring images come from Brendan and Rachel is an outstanding achievement, and Brendan’s second-place result in the documentary category is a fantastic result,” Michelle said.
Photo credit: Anna Makinen
The award also highlights the strength of TAFE Queensland’s photography training, with students developing the technical skills, creative thinking and professional practices needed to pursue careers across the photographic and creative industries.
For Brendan, the recognition provides further validation of his work and the skills he has developed throughout his studies.
With TAFE Queensland’s students competing against photographers from across Australia and around the world, the Educator of the Year award is a significant achievement for the students and teaching team.