The Australian
Big Brother Awards

The Awards are a means of publicising privacy deeds and mis-deeds. They usually involve a media event, humour, popular participation and audio visual support.

The Awards for mis-deeds are popularly referred to as ‘Orwells’, after George Orwell, the author of 1984, in which the notion of Big Brother was invented.

The two positive Awards are called the ‘Winstons’ or the ‘Smiths’, in reference to the long-suffering hero of 1984.

Award winners are presented with an Award Certificate.

Consolidated List
of All Previous Winners

The 2011 Winners

ORWELLS

• Most Invasive Technology – Winner and Runner-Up
  • Body Scanners – Nomination Form, and Response
  • Google’s StreetView and Wifi – Nomination Form
• Worst Agency – Won Jointly
  • Qld Drivers Licence – Nomination Form, and Response
  • Vic Transport Ticketing Authority – Nomination Form, and Response
• Worst Corporation – Winner and Runners-Up
  • Facebook – Nomination Form
  • Biometrics Institute – Nomination Form
  • Chasers Nightclub, Melbourne – Nomination Form, and Response
• The Boot-in-Mouth Award – Winner
  • Eric Schmidt (immediate past CEO of Google) – Nomination Form

WINSTON

• Lifetime Achievement Award – Winner
  • Nigel Waters – Nomination Form

Previous Australian Events

BBAs Around the World

The events are associated with London-based Privacy International. Here is the BBA International Homepage. The first BBA was held in London, England, on October 26, 1998, with an audience of around 250 civil rights activists, privacy advocates, academics and media. The inaugural US awards were staged in Washington DC on April 7, 1999, with around 500 people at the event, and extensive media reporting. The first Australian BBA was held in 2003.

Over 100 events have been held in about 20 countries, including (in alphabetical order) Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Generally, BBA events are held at a national level, with judges and nominees drawn from the relevant country.

Note: The first BBA was held in 1998, whereas the first broadcast of the TV show of the same name was in The Netherlands in 1999. The first Australian BBA was held in 2003, two years after the TV show was launched in Australia.