ORCHID JUDGING SYSTEM

The Australian Orchid Council Inc., formed in 1960, coordinates and administers a national judging system of orchids in this country.  The judging system is managed by the Registrar General of Judging, through a Deputy Registrar in each state or territory.  The Deputy Registrar, in turn, coordinates the panel or panels of nationally accredited judges within his/her state.  The panels are located throughout each state.  Queensland and New South Wales have a large number of orchid societies/clubs, and growers, hence have a greater number of judges and judging panels.

A number of judging methods have been employed over the years and standards have been, and continue to be, constantly reviewed to allow for new developments.  Since January 1999, all orchids are judged by general appreciation rather than the former regimented system of points for certain features of the bloom.  A panel of at least five fully accredited judges is required to make an award.  The panel then passes the application, photos etc on to the Australian Orchid Council's Registrar General via the state Deputy. Awards are now shown thus:  FCC/AOC (year).

The following are the AOC Award categories:

FCC First Class Certificate 85 points or more of possible 100
AM Award of Merit 80 to 85 points
HCC Highly Commended Certificate 75 to 80 points
AD Award of Distinction awarded for distinctive attributes e.g. colour
CBM Certificate of Botanical Merit  
ACE Award of Cultural Excellence 85 points or more of possible 100
ACM Award of Cultural Cultural Merit 80 to 85 points
ACC Award of Cultural Commendation 75 to 80 points 
ASR Award of Special Recognition  

Each year, the various panels nominate their choice for the AOC Awards of the Year in four categories from those orchids awarded in the previous calendar year.  The categories are:

AOC Orchid Hybrid of the Year
AOC Species Orchid of the Year
AOC Award of Distinction of the Year
AOC Culture Award of the Year

Copies of award images of these are circulated to each panel for voting.  The finalists are published in Orchids Australia magazine in August.  The winners are announced at the Annual General Meeting of the AOC, usually in September or October. Winners of awards since 1966 may be viewed on this site.  View now

Growers who wish to have their plants judged for any AOC award should make the neces­sary contact with their Regional Registrar of Judges (Contact info.). Each region (currently based on states) has its own Regional Registrar, and in the larger states, there are to be found several Sub-Regional Registrars who deputize for the Regional Registrar. All award applications are sent to the Registrar General via the Regional Registrar for processing.
It is possible for a grower to present a plant for an award, and to present the same plant at a later date for consideration for a higher award.

                               Last updated 11 October 2011

AWARD WINNERS

 
Den-Avril's-Gold_195px.jpg - 0 Bytes
Dendrobium Avril's Gold 'Kerry's Delight' AD/AOC 2000 (QLD)      No. 2559

 View lastest awards

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 View awards showcase

  View award details

 Orchids of the year

 Cymbidium award list

 Dendrobium award list

 Masdevallia award list

 Paphiopedilum awards

 Phalaenopsis awards 

 Sarcochilus awards

 Orchid Awards - Why do they Affect You? [read .. ]

 Read article on Award Photography here

 Regional Judging Panels see here

 

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