MY ACCOUNT
STORAGE LEVELS
WATER DATA
ANNOUNCED ALLOCATIONS
NEWS
The 2025 Sunwater Photography Competition is now open!
What do you enjoy most about Sunwater’s lakes, dams and weirs? Share your best photos of your favourite spots, moments, or activities with us and be in with a chance to see them featured in our 2026 Sunwater Calendar and win some great prizes.
The winner will receive a $500 gift card, and 12 runners-up will each receive a $250 gift card.
The competition is open to anyone who lives, works or studies in Queensland. You don’t need to be a professional photographer – you just need to capture an image featuring:
- our infrastructure in all its glory (dams, weirs, lakes, barrages, pipelines, channels, pump stations)
- the enjoyment of land or water-based recreation at our dams, weirs and lakes
- serene sunsets, stormy skies or glorious sunshine over our lakes.
Photos submitted for the competition do not need to be recent – you may already have snapped the winning shot! If you entered last year though, please remember that your previous entries are ineligible for this year’s competition.
Entries close at 11.59pm AEST on Monday 30 June 2025.
Safety tips
Being safe on, in and around the water is key to having a good time. Along with your photo submission, we ask you to share your tip for a fun and safe day out. We will include the best of these in our 2026 calendar to remind others how easy safety can be.
Some examples are:
- I check the boat flare is still in within its use-by-date before I head off
- I check the water for underwater logs and rocks before I let the kids go in
- I make sure the kids wear life jackets even though they’re strong swimmers.
Entry Form
Competition rules and eligibility requirements
- Participants must be over 18 and a Queensland resident.
- Each submission must be accompanied by a safety tip for enjoying the water.
- Submitted images must be of a Sunwater asset. Acceptable assets include dams, weirs, barrages, channels, off-stream storages, pipelines and pumps.
- Submissions must be digital and have the device’s geolocation services turned on.
- Submissions must be in landscape format.
- Submissions must be:
- at least 24 megabytres (MB) or 300 dots per inch (DPI)
- a JPG file.
- Eligible equipment includes smartphones, digital cameras and drones.
- Eligible photographs do not need to have been taken recently. Older images are eligible providing they are original and meet other eligibility requirements.
- Participants can enter the competition as many times as they like, provided all other eligibility requirements are met. A maximum of three photos can be uploaded per entry.
View full Terms and Conditions.
Competition dates
Entries open at 12.01am AEST on Sunday 30 March 2025, and close at 11.59pm AEST on Monday 30 June 2025.
Judging will commence on Monday 7 July 2025. All winners will be notified by phone or email by Friday 11 July 2025. If winners cannot be contacted by Friday 18 July 2025, their entry will be deemed invalid, and another winner will be selected in their place.
Prizes
The best image will win pride of place on the calendar’s cover, as well as a $500 gift card for a retailer in the community closest to the asset they photographed, wherever possible.
Twelve runners-up will win a $250 gift card to spend in the community closest to the asset they photographed, wherever possible, and have their photo featured in the 2026 Sunwater calendar.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Who can enter?
The competition is open to all Queensland residents over 18.
Are there rules for retouching and editing?
Submitted images should be original and minimally edited. AI images will not be accepted.
Do I need to be a professional photographer to enter?
No. Some of our most beautiful scenic images have been captured by amateur photographers on smartphones.
What sort of images and content are suitable to enter?
Scenic images of Sunwater assets – perhaps it’s a sunrise or sunset over the dam, a boat departing from a boat ramp, or dark storm clouds hovering over the spillway. It could be a family barbeque by the lake, fishing with the kids or mates out on the jet ski. Whatever it is, we want to see Sunwater’s assets through the eyes of the community members who use them, so get creative and show us what you love about our dams and lakes.
What is an example of a suitable safety tip?
Tell us what you do to make sure you get home safely after a day at the dam. This might be a tip about prepping for your visit, such as “I check my life jackets for wear and tear every time I pack the boat”, or it could be as simple as “I check for logs and rocks under the water’s surface before I let my kids swim”. There are no right or wrong answers; we just want to share your safety advice with other water enthusiasts.
How many photos may I submit? Can I submit several entries?
Yes! There is no limit to how many times you enter, provided each entry includes a unique image and safety tip.
Do I have to provide any other information?
Images must have been captured with your geolocation services turned on. This allows Sunwater staff to use the GPS coordinates to confirm the image is of a Sunwater asset.
I’m having a problem uploading my images using the website. Can I email my entry in?
Images need to be at least 300 DPI at actual size. This will ensure an image print at A4 size will be high quality. Alternatively, just ensure your images are at least 24 MB and in JPG format.
If your image format and size meet the above requirements and you are still having issues uploading it via the website, you may submit your application form (download from the competition webpage), safety tip and image to community@sunwater.com.au. Please note, you will only be able to attach a single image in each email due to inbox limitations.
Do I retain the copyright on my images?
If your image is chosen to be published to promote the competition, you will be acknowledged as the photographer throughout the term of the competition. Publication of the winning images will also acknowledge the original photographers.
By entering the competition, you transfer copyright of the image to Sunwater for future marketing purposes. We may choose not to acknowledge you as the original photographer in these instances.
Do my photos need to have been taken during the competition period?
The age of the image is not important. You can submit images you took of a Sunwater asset any number of years ago provided it meets other eligibility criteria.
How does the judging process work?
The winning 13 images will be chosen by a panel of three judges from across Sunwater. Employees involved in the competition planning will not be involved in the judging process.
When will the winners be announced?
Winners will be personally notified before they are announced on Sunwater’s Facebook, Instagram and website by 31 July 2025.
If I win, how will I receive my prize?
The winner will receive a $500 gift card, and 12 runners-up will receive a $250 gift card each.
Winners will be given a choice of up to four local businesses (at staff discretion). Sunwater will purchase a gift card on behalf of winners and email (where possible) or post it directly to them. The gift cards cannot be exchanged for cash and cannot be redeemed for alcohol products or gambling services.
Where will the winning images be showcased?
The winning images will be printed in the 2026 Sunwater calendar, which will be distributed at community events throughout Queensland as part of Sunwater’s annual public safety campaign. Winners will also be posted a copy of the calendar.
Where can I read the rules in detail?
I still have more questions. Who can I talk to?
Please email us at community@sunwater.com.au and we’ll respond as soon as we can.