The Media Federation of Australia (MFA) has announced a revamp of the NGEN Award category of the MFA Awards. The NGEN Award is targeted at media professionals with less than five years' experience, offering them the opportunity to develop their capabilities and make a positive impact by responding to a real brief to solve a charity client communication challenge. This year's charity is Dress for Success NSW & ACT, with a campaign objective of increasing client numbers across all of the organisation’s services.

The changes to the NGEN Award include a Strategy & NGEN Award Kick-Off Webinar, a live presentation to judges on the NGEN Award Day, and feedback from judges to shortlisted entrants. Winning entries have the potential to become actual campaigns, as demonstrated by 2022 winners Ben Breden and Olivia Coxon from Initiative, who turned their entry into a fundraising campaign for youth mental health charity batyr.

"Entering the NGEN Award and then getting to bring our idea to life in the real world was an amazing experience. Beyond it being a chance to meaningfully support the worthy cause of youth mental health, we were exposed to a far broader experience than our usual day-to-day. We worked on everything from strategy, to planning, to implementation and more. It definitely accelerated our knowledge and skills, and our understanding of how agencies and clients work together. Don’t miss your chance to enter!" said Ben Breden.

Melanie Aslanidis, Head of NGEN, also encouraged young professionals to seize this opportunity. "The NGEN Award really is a fantastic opportunity for professional development for NGENers at all stages of their career, and a perfect demonstration of our industry’s We Are The Changers purpose. I encourage all NGENers to download the brief and view the Strategy & NGEN Award Kick-Off webinar to upskill their strategic and creative capabilities and supercharge their careers."

NGEN Award entrants must be registered members of NGEN with less than five years’ experience and currently working for a media communications agency or media owner. Key dates for the NGEN Award include: Entries open on 25 June, Kick-Off Webinar on 26 June, Entries close on 26 July, NGEN Award Day on 22 August, and MFA Awards winners announced on 19 September.

The 2024 MFA Awards sponsors include Seven Network, Meta, Outdoor Media Association, SBS, Ad Standards, Foxtel Media, Google, News Corp, and OzTAM. The MFA is a non-profit organisation established in 1997, representing over 90% of all media billings placed by media agencies in Australia.