The Iremonger Award for Writing on Public Issues is an annual Australian literary award that was established in 2003 by Australian publisher Allen & Unwin to commemorate publisher and author John Iremonger and "foster the sort of ideas that he was so good at cultivating". The award is made "for works of political, social and cultural commentary with contemporary Australian relevance" and offers a prize of $10,000 as well as guaranteed publication, royalties and editorial support.

The judges for the first award, made in 2004, included Anne Manne

Anne Manne

Anne Manne is an Australian journalist and social philosopher.Her 2005 book Motherhood: How should we care for our children? was short-listed in 2006 for Australian journalism's Walkley Award.She is married to Australian academic Robert Manne....

 and David Marr

David Marr (journalist)

David Ewan Marr is an Australian journalist, author, and progressive political and social commentator. His areas of expertise include the law, Australian politics, censorship, the media and the arts...

. The award has three judges, one from Allen & Unwin and two independent judges who “know what’s happening at the moment and have a unique perspective”.

John Iremonger

John Iremonger, who died of cancer in August 2002, worked in the publishing industry in Australia for 35 years. He started the independent publishing company, Hale and Iremonger, in 1977, with Greens

Greens New South Wales

The Greens New South Wales is the state Greens party in New South Wales. It is a member party of the Australian Greens. The Greens NSW have one member in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly , five members in the New South Wales Legislative Council...

 MP, Sylvia Hale

Sylvia Hale

Sylvia Phyllis Hale is a social justice, community and environmental campaigner, and a former Australian politician. She was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 2003 to 2010 for the Greens....

, but left the partnership in 1980 to join Allen & Unwin when its publishing director Patrick Gallagher offered him a job. Iremonger's career at Allen & Unwin lasted 22 years, which included a four-year break to run Melbourne University Press. He was also founding editor of the ANU

Australian National University

The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

Historical Journal.

“He had an enormous impact on Australian publishing. He had a deeply inquiring mind, a strong sense of what was right and wrong and a deep human compassion.”

Winners

• 2004: Australian Heartlands: Making Space for Hope in the Suburbs by Brendan Gleeson
• 2005: Inside Spin by Bob Burton
• 2006: The End of Charity by Nic Frances with Maryrose Cuskelly
• 2007: Once Were Radicals by Irfan Yusuf
• 2008: A Sorry State of Affairs by Stephen Gray