The National Schools Debating Championship (NSDC) is the most prestigious high school debating tournament in Australia, and one of the most prestigious debating tournaments in the world. The Championships have been held annually since 1971 and the hosts rotate between states and territories. The championships also double as the selection process for the Australian Schools Debating Team, which compete at the World Schools Debating Championship. NSDC 2027 is set to take place in Perth.
Format NSDC uses the World Schools Debating Championship format, which is a variation of Australian-Asia Debating and Parliamentary Debate formats. It is a 3v3 format, consisting of three 8-minute speeches, and a 4-minute reply speech from each side. Points of information can be asked between the first and seventh minute of any speech besides the reply speeches. Each state’s and territory’s affiliate body sends one team of high school students; 4 speakers and several more reserve speakers (number at the discretion of the affiliate), for a total of 8 teams.
The competition starts with 7 preliminary rounds in a single round-robin. The top four teams then progress to the outrounds, with a double elimination for 1st and 2nd and single elimination for 3rd and 4th. The 1st and 2nd team compete in the major semifinals, whilst the 3rd and 4th team compete in the minor semifinals. The winner of the major semifinal would proceed to the grand final, whilst the loser of the major semifinals and winner of the minor semifinal would compete against each other in the preliminary finals. The winner of the preliminary finals would then compete against the winner of the major semifinals in the grandfinals.
Each debate in the preliminary rounds is judged by 3 adjudicators. The major and minor semi finals also have 3 adjudicators; there is 5 adjudicators for the preliminary final and 7 adjudicators for the grand final.
Past champions +Past Champion StatesYearHost cityChampionsStudents2026BrisbaneQueenslandElissa Sio, Liam McLeod, Leonard Cavallaro, Grace Zhao2025SydneyNSWMaya Garg, Harry Tong, Kitty He, Summer Chen2024Adelaide VictoriaAlice Liberman, Bianca Chung, Jenny Gong, Nicholas Bogdan2023MelbourneSouth AustraliaDevika Mukherjee, Max Thomas, Phoebe Chalmers, Thomas Henchliffe2022CanberraQueenslandZoë Fraser, Thomas Musgrave, Thomas Nunn-Rutledge, Harry Rae2021HobartVictoriaHamish Bruce, Max Fan, Erin Kim, Livia Tropea2020[Online]NSWBrendon Chen, Jinyoung Kim, Ally Pitt, Bennett Roebuck-Krautz2019DarwinNSWLaura Charlton, Ally Pitt, James Price, Anna-Sophia Zahar2018PerthNSWAlex De Araujo, Indigo Crosweller, Sophie Shead, Daniel Yim2017Brisbane NSWElla Finlay, Isabella Monardo, Elinor Stephenson, Daniel Yim2016Sydney Queensland Callum Dargavel, Tristan Hurree, Isabel Nolan, Xavier Redmond2015AdelaideNSWEden Blair, Imogen Harper, Thomas Shortridge, Sam Wolfe2014MelbourneNSWImogen Harper, Sophie Large, Seb Rees, James Stratton2013CanberraNSWGabriel Bowes-Whitton, Fiona Lin, Harry Rogers, James Stratton2012HobartVictoriaTyrone Connell, John Hajek, Annie Williamson, Ronald Zhang2011PerthNSWEmma Johnson, Bo Seo, Harry Stratton, Evie Woodford
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