Competitions

The ACTDU coordinates six annual competitions open to all school students in Years 5 to 12. Our competitions are a great forum for students to explore their public speaking and problem solving skills. We aim to foster a positive, encouraging and exciting environment for students. All debates are adjudicated by an ACTDU accredited adjudicator, and students will have the opportunity to seek feedback from the adjudicator after every debate. 

Semester 1

6 preliminary rounds
​The Semester 1 competitions run from March to June and typically include 6 preliminary rounds and 3 final rounds. These competitions include the Junior Open (Years 6-8), Senior Open (Years 9-10) and Advanced Open (Years 11-12).

Semester 2

5 preliminary rounds
The Semester 2 competitions run from August to October and typically include 5 preliminary rounds and 1 final rounds. These competitions include the Junior Online (Years 5-8), Senior Online (Years 9-10) and Advanced Online (Years 11-12).

Pricing

These competitions require a registration fee to enter, in order to ensure we can run our events to the highest standard, and provide the best experience to students. These fees cover the cost of adjudicators, duty officers, any administration costs and also creation and provision of resources such as our current coaching program. If this fee poses a barrier to your students' ability to participate, please indicate this on the registration form. The ACTDU is able to offer a limited number of full or partial waivers and other resources to disadvantaged schools.

Semester 1 2021 Competition Dates
Please note that these dates are subject to change - please visit our calendar page for more up to date information

​Junior Open 2021 (Years 5-8)
Round 1: 1 March
Round 2: 15 March
​Round 3: 22 March
Round 4: 29 March
Round 5:  19 April
Round 6: 3 May
Quarter Finals: 17 May
Semi Finals: 24 May
​Grand Final: 2 June

​Senior Open 2021 (Years 9-10)
Round 1: 3 March
Round 2: 10 March
​Round 3: 17 March 
Round 4: 24 March 
Round 5: 31 March
Round 6: 21 April
Quarter Finals: 12 May
Semi Finals: 19 May
​Grand Final: 2 June

Advanced Open 2021 (Years 11-12)
Round 1: 4 March
Round 2: 11 March
​Round 3: 18 March
Round 4: 25 March
Round 5: 1 April
Round 6: 22 April
Quarter Finals: 13 May
Semi Finals: 20 May
​Grand Final: 2 June

We're here to promote debating

The most important priority of ACTDU is increasing inclusivity and accessibility of debating. This is our main objective in running school debating competitions. If your school requires any assistance in establishing or maintaining a debating program, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are able to offer many forms of assistance including providing debating resources, helping your school hire a coach, creating promotional material, coming to speak to your students on assemblies, and any other action that will help your students access debating.