Advertising Council Australia (ACA) has announced the finalists in the 2026 Young Lions Australia Competition, recognising the emerging industry talent now in contention to represent Australia at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
This year, hundreds of competitors across media, digital, film, PR and marketing categories responded to a brief from Project Planet for its Build a Ballot platform — a free, non-partisan online tool designed to help Australians understand their values, explore policy alignment and plan their vote ahead of an election.
Working to intense timelines, teams had just four days to develop and submit their responses. From there, entries were judged anonymously by more than 200 industry leaders, before five executive juries selected the finalists.
Hannah Sturrock, National Head of Engagement at Advertising Council Australia, said: “Young Lions is intentionally demanding. Teams have just a few days to respond to a real brief, and the finalists must then present that thinking live to the Executive Jury.
“It’s a great test of how people think under pressure. The judges aren’t just looking for a strong idea, but for teams who can clearly articulate their thinking and show they have the composure and resilience to represent Australia at Cannes.”
2026 finalists
Media – presented by Jury Chair Aimee Buchanan, CEO, WPP Media ANZ, & Chair, Media Federation of Australia
Sponsored by Nine.
Ashu Matai and Joe Douglas, Initiative
Olivia Hawkes, Wavemaker, and Sophie Stone, This Is Flow
Tayla Orr, Nine, and Lizzie Nan Tie, Starcom
Marketing – presented by Jury Chair Mim Haysom, Executive General Manager Brand & Customer Experience, Suncorp Group & Board Director, AANA.
Isabelle Lee and Yasmin Chagas, Carsales
Liliana Neame and Marion Arque, L’Oreal
Henry Van Laeren, Google, and James Oxford, Reckitt
Digital – presented by Jury Chair Emma Robbins, Chief Creative Officer, M+C Saatchi Group. Sponsored by Meta.
Noa Shenker and Michael Orfanos, TBWA\Melbourne
Alicia Spyropoulos and Zoe d’Orey, The Taboo Group
Tyla Rose, ABEL, and Margaux Dalgleish
Film – presented by Jury Chair Ant Melder, Co-Founder and Creative Partner, Cocogun.
Louis Royle and Sophie Verheul, TBWA\Sydney
Joe Wilkie, Moonsail, and Cathal Mongey, Juicebox
Lachlan Collie and Paris Elwood, Dentsu Creative
PR – presented by Jury Chair Simone Gupta, Co-Founder, Supermassive
Jake Jamieson and Ruby Clarke, Poem Group
Jamie Wyatt, Marketforce WA, and AJ McLaughlin, Thinkerbell
Yin Yin Wu, Roc Cloudy, and Phoebe Kee, The PR Group
Winners will be revealed on 27 March following a live judging event in Sydney. The five winning teams will travel to France to compete at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June.
Young Lions Australia is proudly sponsored by Meta and Nine and supported by AANA, MFA and IAB Australia.