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AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad Key Information

This event started as a university-based US initiative in 1993. The  “Ethics Bowl” continues to be a popular competition today, culminating in the annual Intercollegiate  US Ethics Bowl. The Ethics Olympiad was created in 2013 for gifted High School students to promote the study of Philosophy in Australasia. It has a proven track record of providing educators with a creative vehicle for developing skills in communication, critical thinking and respectful discourse while dealing with important ethical issues. 

We ran the first Tertiary Ethics Olympiad in 2022. In 2023 we entered into an arrangement with the Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics (AAPAE) which effectively renamed the event and provided institutional support for the event into the future.

The fourth AAPAE Ethics Olympiad will be held via Zoom on the 8th of October 2026. (7th Oct in the US)  Undergraduate students are invited to represent their tertiary institution. Any tertiary institution can participate, but there is a maximum of two teams from each institution allowed to enter. During the day, all will be involved in a series of three heats where they will be scored according to set criteria that reward, clear, concise, respectful discourse around interesting ethical cases. Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded to the top three teams.  Please fill in the form at the bottom of this page to enter a team or teams.

Date & Time: Thursday, October 8th 2026 (7th in the US)

Start times:
• 8 am – Western Australia, Singapore & Hong Kong
• 10 am – Queensland
• 10.30 am – South Australia & Northern Territory
• 11 am – ACT, N.S.W, Tas & Victoria
• 1 pm – New Zealand
• 5 pm – West Coast US (8/10/2025)
• 8 pm – East Coast US  (8/10/2025)
Finish times:
• 12.30 pm – Western Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong
• 2.30 pm – Queensland
• 3 pm – South Australia and Northern Territory
• 3.30pm– ACT, N.S.W, Tas & Victoria
• 9.30pm– West Coast US (8/10/2025)
• 12.30pm– East Coast US  (8/10/2025)
Program for the Day:
Note: As we are all in different time zones we are not going to refer to times of the day.
– Welcome & Preparation – 20 minutes – Main Zoom Foyer
– Heat One – 1 ¼ hours Breakout Rooms
– Break – 15 minutes
– Heat Two – 1 ¼ hours Breakout Rooms
– Break – 10 minutes
– Announcements – 5 minutes
– Heat Three – 1 ¼ hours Breakout Room
– Finish Team Photos and Thankyous 
Registration Fee

Once registered we will send you the cases, training resource kits and an invoice. The registration fee is $50 (AUD) per student, $250 AUD per team. Universities can enter one or two teams. Please note there are a limited number of teams that can participate.
Format, Rules & Scoring
The heats use the same format as the Ethics Bowl in the US. The main difference is that all teams will be participating online in zoom breakout rooms. There will be a round-robin format with different teams from throughout Australasia participating against each other. Scores will be private on the day, but we will email the final results to each coach following the event. University-based philosophers from throughout the world judge the heats throughout the day.
Coaches Training Kit- Included in the kit will be the eight ethical cases, score sheets, criteria, format details and other useful information. Students kits will also be available.
Eligible participants
Teams must consist of students enrolled as Undergraduate students in a tertiary institution in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore or Hong Kong. Each team must include a team coach… who is usually a postgrad student at the same university.

2026 AAPAE Tertiary Ethics Olympiad Registration Form

Please include the coaches email address here.
Please provide a physical address for the invoice. As well as an invoice for the registration fee we will also send you a credit card link in case you want to pay with a credit card.
(Each team has a minimum of four students and a max of five students. Tertiary Institutions can enter a max of two teams)
Please note that we cannot invoice individual team members. The Early Bird rate is valid up until 21/5/26 (Please choose one of these options)
We will only use this to contact you on the day if there is a problem
If you already know the names of team members please include them here. Please include anyone related to this registration e.g Team Manager/Team members.