SBS names shortlisted brands for 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge

National broadcaster also releases its second annual Sustainability Report to coincide with Earth Day

Four brands have been shortlisted for the 2026 SBS Media Sustainability Challenge – Australian Museum, Mobile Muster, Recycle All, and Vehicle Emissions Star Ratings will now proceed to formal pitching before a winner is decided.

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.

The shortlisted brands including their creative agencies are:

• Enigma with their entry for Mobile Muster
• Focus Creative with their entry for Vehicle Emissions Star Rating
• Howatson + Company with their entries for Australian Museum
• Sandbox Media with their entry for Recycle All

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

“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,” said Kate Young, National Manager CulturalConnect at SBS and part of the five-member jury.

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.

“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,” said Young.

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, said: “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.