Australia's most prestigious higher education awards are being launched on Monday by The Australian Financial Review to recognise the achievements of universities and other higher education providers and the benefits they provide to students. 
The awards are open to all higher education providers, public and private, and will recognise specific initiatives and strategies put in place by institutions in seven key areas. These are:
Learning experience, international education, employability, equity and opportunity, industry engagement, community engagement and facilities innovation. There will also be a lifetime achievement award to be given to an individual with more than 25 years experience who has made outstanding contribution to the Australian higher education sector.
The awards will be judged by a high-level panel comprising individuals who have served at the top levels of higher education in universities, business, private education providers, peak bodies and policymaking bodies.
Members of the judging panel are:
Denise Bradley: former University of SA vice-chancellor and chair of the 2008 review of Australian higher education. Leneen Forde: former Queensland governor and former Griffith University chancellor. Helen Garnett: former vice-chancellor of Charles Darwin University. Stuart Hamilton: former CEO of Open Universities Australia, former secretary of the Victorian Department of Education and Training, and former executive director of the university peak body which is now Universities Australia. Fred Hilmer: former vice-chancellor of UNSW Australia.
Adrian McComb: chief executive officer of the Council of Private Higher Education. Tony Pollock: former chief executive of IDP Education and former vice-president (international) of Monash University. Janice Reid: former vice-chancellor, University of Western Sydney. Alan Robson: former vice-chancellor, University of Western Australia. Bill Scales: former chancellor, Swinburne University of Technology and member of the review of higher education.
The judging panel will be chaired by The Australian Financial Review's education editor Tim Dodd.
In deciding the awards judges will pay particular attention to the impact of the initiatives, degree of innovation, value for money, and their sustainability and scalability.
More details about the awards, including a full list of judging criteria, are available at afrhigheredawards.com.au.
Entries (with the exception of the Lifetime Achievement Award) need to be made at institutional level and each higher education provider is limited to one entry in each category. However, anybody is able to nominate a person for the Lifetime Achievement Award without the need for institutional sign-off. All entries should be made online at afrhigheredawards.com.au.
Entries close at midnight on   September 27, 2015, and a shortlist of finalists will be announced in the Financial Review on   October 5, 2015.
The Lifetime Achievement Winner will be announced in the Financial Review on   October 12, 2015.
The other winners will be announced at an awards gala dinner to be held during the AFR Higher Education Reform Summit in Sydney on   October 27, 2015.