The winners of the 2026 Australian Production Design Guild (APDG) Awards have been announced. The awards recognise the outstanding achievement of Australia’s designers across live performance, events, film and television.

William Barton and dancers of Sydney Dance Company in Stephen Page’s Unungkati Yantatja – one with the other. Photo © Daniel Boud

Veteran costume designer Jennifer Irwin won The Jennie Tate Costume Design for a Live Performance or Event Award for her work on Sydney Dance Company’s Unungkati Yantatja – One with the Other.

Lighting designer Paul Jackson has taken home the Vectorworks Australia Lighting Design for a Live Performance Award for his work on Malthouse Theatre’s Troy. This is Jackson’s sixth APDG Award.

Malthouse Theatre’s Troy. Photo supplied

Video designer Susie Henderson earned the award for Video and Visual Technology Design for a Live Performance or Event Award for her work on Legs on the Wall’s Endling, which premiered at Vivid Sydney in 2025.

The Multi-Discipline Design for a Live Performance or Event Award has been given to the team behind Chasing the Sun, an exhibition presented at the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.  Headed...