Deadlines

Entries Open: 30 March 2026

Entries Close: 30 September 2026

Title Pages to Judges: Wednesday 07 October 2026

Scans of Exhibits required by: 14 October 2026

Exhibits available online for Judges: From Sunday 01 November 2026

Judging concluded: Sunday 22 November 2026

Results available: Monday 30 November 2026

Feedback to Exhibitors: Week commencing Mon 7 December 2026.

On Line until 28 February 2027

Frames Available: 500

Exhibition Website :https://apfvirtual.com

Organisation

The Australian Virtual Philatelic Exhibition 2026 is an online National Philatelic Exhibition organised by the Australian Philatelic Federation (APF). These regulations are based on the APF Regulations for Australian Philatelic Exhibitions.

For all enquiries email:  apfvirtual@gmail.com

Results from AUSVIPEX2026 are recognized within Australia. They will not be recognized for the purposes of maintaining Australian judges’ accreditation.

Conditions of Participation

Participation in the Exhibition is open to all exhibitors worldwide.  They do not need to be a member of an affiliated organisation. The exhibitor must be the bona-fide owner of the exhibit.

Entry forms and exhibits must be written in English. There is also a separate Literature Details form which must be completed for digital literature entries in addition to the standard entry form.

Exhibits and digital literature entries must be written in English. The Jury is not bi-lingual. By exception, in limited circumstances it may be possible for the jury to judge non-English exhibits but prior approval must be requested including the title page for the exhibit before submitting your entry.

Exhibits must be of 2-8 frames based on 16 sheets (approximately 28-29 cm x 23 cm each) per frame. There is no One Frame class available. Page size is not critical but entries must be in the format of frames each comprising 16 single sheets or the equivalent in double pages or square pages, or a combination of single, double or square pages corresponding to a ‘frame’ in a physical exhibition.

Exhibits may come from any of the FIP or APF competitive classes, except for the One-Frame Class. Only electronic (or digital) Literature Class entries will be accepted. Exhibits will be classified and judged in their respective FIP class or Australian National Class. Judging is based on the regulations of their respective classes and these Guidelines. Each entry must be entered in the correct class.  Non-competitive entries will be by invitation of the Committee only. 

Entries can be either scans of exhibits prepared and mounted on paper or exhibits prepared using scans of philatelic items with the pages prepared on a computer.  If the latter, the nature of preparation must be declared. The items scanned must be owned by the exhibitor and the scans must not be embellished in any way.

All entries will be displayed on the Exhibition website and available for public viewing.

Plan of the exhibit

All exhibits should have an introductory page or plan to indicate what is being shown and give guidance to the viewer, including areas of special interest.

Classification of Exhibits

Competitive classes

1 Traditional

2 Postal History

[a] Postal History

[b] Marcophily

[c] Historical, Social and Special Studies

3 Postal Stationery

4 Aerophilately

5 Astrophilately

6 Revenues

7 Thematic Philately

8 Youth (Age at 1 January 2026)

[a] Age up to 15 [b] Age 16-18 [c] Age 19-21

9 Open Philately

10 Maximaphily

11 Picture Postcards

12 Electronic Literature (including websites, electronic books, catalogues and journals)

13 Modern Philately (from about the last 20 years)

[a] Traditional

[b] Postal History

[c] Postal Stationery

14 Topical

15 Polar Philately

16 First Day Covers

[a] First Day Covers

[b] Souvenir Covers & Postmarks

[c] Thematic / Topical

17 Cinderellas

18 Frugal

19 Special Studies

20 Invited Exhibits

Non-competitive Exhibits (by invitation only)

There is no One Frame Class available.

Electronic Literature (including websites, electronic books, catalogues and journals): Any book, catalogue, journal, series of magazines or newsletters published electronically after 1 January 2024 may be entered. Websites can be any current website. Entries must be in English unless prior approval is obtained in which case the Committee can request English translation of selected pages. Entries will be judged in accordance with the scoring categories and considerations of digital media as given in Special Regulations for the Evaluation of Philatelic Literature Exhibits at FIP Exhibitions https://www.f-i-p.ch/wp-content/uploads/Literature-SREVs-and-Guidelines-8-August-2022-1.pdf

Youth entries will be judged in three age groups with the number of frames in brackets: up to 15 (1-3), 16-18 (2-4) and 19-21 (3-5) years of age. The age of youth exhibitors is that attained at 1 January 2026.

Applications

Applications from exhibitors will only be accepted on the official on-line entry form available on the Exhibition website by 30 September 2026 and written in English. By exception, the Jury may accept non-English entries but prior approval is required including the title page. The entry form is available here:  https://apfvirtual.com/entry-form-ausvipex-2026/

A draft of the title page of the exhibit MUST accompany each entry form. It may also be emailed to apfvirtual@gmail.com

By submitting an entry form you agree to abide by this prospectus and by the regulations of the APF Ltd. You also consent to your entry details and results being added to the APF Exhibition database. The APF Privacy Statement is available here https://apf.org.au/privacy-statement/

The entrant shall provide a description for the catalogue comprising not less than 20 and not more than 50 words, written in English, when submitting their entry.  The Committee reserves the right to alter any description for the catalogue. 

The Committee reserves the right to limit or reject entries at its sole discretion. 

Lodging Exhibits

Entries will be in the form of scanned Exhibition pages in JPEG format at 300DPI and will be displayed on a public website owned by the APF. Entries are due by 30 September 2026 and all scans must be submitted by 14 October 2026. Entries which are in accordance with the rules in this Prospectus will be accepted automatically up to the overall limit of the number of frames.

Instructions for lodging exhibits and naming files are attached to this prospectus and can also be found at HOW TO ENTER (RULES & REGULATIONS) – APF VIRTUAL

Entry fees (Australian Dollars)

The frame fee of $A20 per frame (multi-frame exhibits) or $A25 (Electronic Literature entries) must accompany the entry form.

Payments

Australian Payments

Direct deposit to:

APF Limited – Westpac, Gosford Branch

BSB 032-523

Account 154283

Include surname and AUSVIPEX 2026 in description

By cheque to the Treasurer, APF,

C/- SAPC, PO Box 10159,
Gouger Street, Adelaide SA 5000

AUD cheques on an Australian bank only

International Payments:

Bank: Westpac Banking Corporation, Gosford Branch, 113 Mann Street, Gosford NSW 2250, Australia.
SWIFT code: WPACAU2S (or if 11 characters required: WPACAU2SXXX) Account No: 032523 154283 

Australian Philatelic Federation

Address: C/- SAPC, PO Box 10159, Gouger Street, Adelaide SA 5000

Include surname and AUSVIPEX 2026 in description

PayPal Using the email treasurer@apf.org.au with exhibitor paying PayPal fees.

Foreign currency cheques cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

Privacy

Images of exhibits will be displayed on a public website. The Exhibition Committee cannot prevent copying or downloading of exhibit images.

Exhibition Entry and Awards data will be entered in the APF Exhibition database. The APF Privacy Statement is available here https://apf.org.au/privacy-statement/

Exclusions

The Jury shall penalise exhibits containing forgeries or reproductions not so described or exhibits showing scans of material which have been embellished or which are not the physical property of the exhibitor.  The Jury reserves the right to seek confirmation of ownership of material. Exhibitors are reminded that the rules of the APF stipulate that once the Organising Committee accepts an application form, it is the responsibility of the exhibitor to produce the exhibit.  Failure to give notice or produce the entry is subject to penalty by the APF and in either case the entry fees will not be returned.

Jury:

The members of the Jury will be approved by the APF and will include both Australian National and FIP/FIAP accredited judges.  The decisions of the Jury are final and cannot be contested.  Judging will be done by viewing the Exhibit scans and carried out in accordance with the FIP and APF Special Regulations for Evaluation of Competitive Exhibits and the special regulations for AUSVIPEX 2026. 

Feedback

A judge’s feedback of exhibits will be provided for exhibitors using video conferencing using the Zoom app. Exhibitors will need a modern computer with built-in or web cam, microphone and speakers to participate in Zoom on-line discussions. Most modern desktop and laptop computers, iPad and tablets will be able to use Zoom. Exhibitors will not need to download the Zoom app. Alternative arrangements using telephone may be available.

Written Feedback will also be provided for each entry.

Judging Criteria:

The judging criteria that will be used by the Jury will be those of the APF for National Exhibitions https://apf.org.au/classes/

Awards and Certificates

The Organising Committee will place for disposal by the Jury a number of Special Awards according to the points achieved:

55-59 Bronze 60-64 Silver Bronze 65-69 Silver 70-74 Large Silver 75-79 Vermeil 80-84 Large Vermeil 85-89 Gold 90-100 Large Gold.

All exhibitors will receive an electronic certificate. 

Recognition of exhibition regulations:

By signing the application form, the exhibitor is bound by these Regulations for the Australian Virtual Philatelic Exhibition (AUSVIPEX2026).

Amendment of Regulations

The APF reserves the right to amend these Regulations.

Instructions for naming and lodging your scan files:

*File format and naming for scans:
As per the current prospectus, scans should be at 300 DPI, with each page consecutively numbered according to the frame and page number. The naming format is:
Initial.Surname.ShortTitle.FrameNo.PageNo.jpg
Example: P.Allan.TasmanianFreeMail.fr1.p1.jpg 

* File transfer arrangements:
We will use Google Drive and WeTransfer for file submissions. WeTransfer is a free file transfer service at https://wetransfer.com . You will need a Google account to use Google Drive. Your files will probably be too large to be sent by email. Please send your files to the email address apfvirtual@gmail.com

5 March 2026