SBS announces shortlisted brands and agencies for 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge

Four brands and their creative agencies have been shortlisted for the 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge. The finalists will now proceed to formal pitching before a winner is decided.

 

The four shortlisted brands and their creative agencies are:

Brand: Mobile Muster
Agency: Enigma

Brand: Vehicle Emissions Star Rating
Agency: Focus Creative

Brand: Australian Museum
Agency: Howatson + Company

Brand: Recycle All
Agency: Sandbox Media

Now in its second year, the SBS Media Sustainability Challenge is an initiative offering brands and agencies $500,000 in free advertising inventory for the best TV creative normalising sustainable behaviour and highlighting better environmental consumer practices.

The winning ad will also receive consulting services through Sustainable Screens Australia to help ensure it meets best practice for sustainable production.

A judging panel of industry experts whittled down the contenders from across Australia, traversing several different industries.

Says Kate Young, National Manager CulturalConnect at SBS and part of the five-member jury: “We want to congratulate our shortlisted brands – as with last year we were impressed with the level of creativity and consideration put into their submissions and how they showcased how their brand or product is normalising sustainable consumer behaviours.”

The judging jury is made up of: Adam Liaw, host of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw and Co-Chair of Sustainable Screens Australia; Arum Nixon, Australia Chapter Lead at Ad Net Zero; Abigail Thomas, Head of Sustainability at SBS; Kate Young, National Manager, SBS CulturalConnect; and Angus Gordon, Head of Creative & Production Services, SBS CulturalConnect.

In 2026, the challenge has been updated to ask brands to focus on one of three areas:

NATURE – How your brand protects and restores the natural environment.
CARBON – How your brand reduces carbon emissions.
WASTE – How your brand minimises waste through sustainable practices or innovations.

Says Young: “We were so impressed with how this year’s entrants adapted their entries to meet the new criteria and address the areas of nature, carbon and waste. It is a clear demonstration of how brands are thinking about these topics in their business practices and ensuring they are communicating this to consumers.”

The winner will be announced later in the year.

The national broadcaster also used April 22 – which is Earth Day – to launch its second annual Sustainability Report.

Commenting on the release of the 2026 Sustainability Report, Abigail Thomas, Head of Sustainability at SBS, says: “This is the second year where we have released a detailed Sustainability Report which explains our sustainability journey, outlines our progress towards our ambitious Net Zero target, and also captures our early work on a Nature and Biodiversity strategy for SBS.”

The Sustainability Report includes validation approval from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) – the global standards body on science-aligned net zero targets – on its updated near-term emissions reduction target.This ensures SBS’s decarbonisation approach remains aligned to the latest science.

The SBS Sustainability Report 2026 can be downloaded here.

 

Register for FREE HERE and receive the Campaign Brief Daily Bulletin and/or the global Best Ads Best of the Week Bulletin.              Subscribe to Campaign Brief Magazine.

#More Creative News   #No paywalls   #No annual membership fees

Subscribe to Portfolio & Reel for current listings of Australian and NZ ad agency and production company leadership and key personnel