Twenty-five years and still going strong. The annual print award offers new and innovating experiences with the medium every year. What's new this year is the splitting of the first and second prizes which only validates the fact that the work is top notch.

The winners are all deserving. Equal firsts went to Bede Tungatalum, a Tiwi artist from the Northern Territory, for the stunning black and white linocut entitled Muntungkala, and the collaborative pair Chips Mackinolty and Therese Ritchie, also from the Northern Territory, for their haunting full colour digital print Rebuild East Timor 1999. Must have been a difficult choice as there are so many excellent examples to chose from - after what must have been a difficult cull.

I can't comment on the equal second prize works as one, Encyclopaedia Isoptera: An encyclopaedia of the Arts, Science, Literature and General Information about Termites, a bound digital print book by Western Australian Perdita Phillips was hermetically sealed in a perspex case so I couldn't see it well. Frustrating, as the title alone demanded more than a cursory inspection. Thankfully we can access the artist's concept on line (click here).

The companion second place winner, My Mother's, Mother's Mother - Rrose, by Marion Manifold from Victoria, is also difficult to 'see'. The nine digital prints are displayed on the wall in full view but reading the catalogue reveals they are intended to be placed in a lush screen printed velvet box. I'm sure correct presentation would have given the work an added level of subliminal suggestions. But then, if presented in their velvet box we may not be able to see the prints as they too would be under perspex or boldly labelled 'Do Not Touch'. What a shame.

However there are plenty of intriguing works to view with ease. Etching seems to be the technique of choice as it is employed in over 20 entries while the humble linocut equals the high tech digital procedure in numbers of exhibits. The etching of my choice seems to be that of the judges too, as it received a commendation. It is Geoffrey Ricardo's monumental effort The Urbane Heart which shows us the cathedral of the 21st century. This work is an excellent evocation of fundamentalist zealotry of consumerism - take the escalator to Paradise, or a 50% off sale - same difference.

I appreciate the linocut My Family by Melissa Dhadinku of the Northern Territory for its direct simplicity. And of the digital efforts only Seduce by Wendy Hutchison of Victoria catches the imagination. Other must sees include the intricate screen printed fabric by Kelsey-Ashe Marshall of Western Australia entitled Symbol & Meaning, Erosion & Surface, a personal favourite and the delightfully simple but colourful screen print Deranil & Labal 2 by Madigan Thomas, another Western Australian. I like this one for its colour, shapes and subject matter.

I was happy to see imagery overtaking pattern making and that more than a few make a strong political statement. Then there are the reference other artists - see if you can find an echo of Escher, a bit of Bosch, a ripple of Riley, a gesture to Gittoes.