Submissions Are Now Open for triple j’s Unearthed High 2026

Previous winners include Teenage Joans, The Rions and Japanese Wallpaper.

triple j breakfast hosts Concetta and Luka have announced Unearthed High is back earlier than normal, giving up and coming aritsts more time to write, record and upload their music for the chance to be crowned the Unearthed High 2026 winner.

Australia’s biggest high school musical competition has been giving young artists a leg up for close to two decades, with some of the country’s most exciting artists, including Ninajirachi, The Kid LAROI and Genesis Owusu, having benefited from entering the competition.

So how do you enter? It’s pretty simple. Upload your best song(s) to your triple j Unearthed profile and then tick the “enter Unearthed High” box, which you'll find when you make your profile or by clicking “Edit Profile” when you're on your artist profile.

Submissions close Monday, 14 August. Head to abc.net.au/unearthed for all the details.

This year also sees the reintroduction of the Indigenous Initiative Winner, who, along with the Unearthed High 2026 Winner, will score a songwriting session with one of Australia’s leading artists (G Flip, The Rions, Genesis Owusu, Kinder), with flights and accommodation included, plus hands‑on industry support designed to help kickstart their career.

The Indigenous Initiative winner will also have their next single mixed by Grammy Award-winning engineer Eric J Dubowski (Dua Lipa, Flume, Tame Impala), and receive a mentorship with Nooky (3%, host of triple j’s Blak Out), plus triple j radio play.

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Unearthed High Frequency is also back, airing Thursday from 4pm on Unearthed Radio. The show will be hosted by REDD, an Unearthed High finalist who has gone on to sign major record deals and collaborate with some huge names, and will showcase the best new entries each week.

Unearthed High officially launches this week, with members of the team collaborating with Australian youth music organisation The Push. They are bringing workshops and live performances from Teen Jesus and The Jean Teasers and Baker Boy to schools across the county.

Enter Unearthed High by uploading your song(s) to triple j Unearthed and tick the box confirming you’re an Unearthed High artist.

Find out more about triple j Unearthed High via abc.net.au.