The winner of the 2016 Barbara Jefferis Award is Peggy Frew, for Hope Farm.
The Barbara Jefferis Award is offered for “the best novel written by an Australian author that depicts women and girls in a positive way or otherwise empowers the status of women and girls in society”.
As the ASA website says:
With prizes totalling $55,000, this important award represents one of the highest prize pools in the Australian literary landscape.
The 2016 shortlist included:
Sarah Hopkins: This Picture of You (Allen & Unwin)
Gail Jones: A Guide to Berlin (Vintage) (on my TBR)
Alice Pung: Laurinda (Black Inc.)
Claire Zorn: The Protected (University of Queensland Press)
Peggy Frew: Hope Farm (Scribe Publications) See my review.
Charlotte Wood: The Natural Way of Things (Allen & Unwin) See combined reviews.
The following novels were highly commended:
Vikki Wakefield: In Between Days (Text Publishing)
Mireille Juchau: The World Without Us (Bloomsbury) See my review.
You can read an interview with Peggy Frew at The Age.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Glad to see this book get some recognition. Charlotte Wood has, rightfully, picked up a swag of Awards this year but Peggy Frew’s novel has seemed to sit in the shadows when the prizemoney is handed out.
I had reviewed this as part of my Stella Prize reading.
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By: tonymess12 on October 25, 2016
at 6:48 pm
I was a bit surprised by the BJ shortlist, but still, I am pleased she’s won it.
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By: Lisa Hill on October 25, 2016
at 8:34 pm
Oh – good – I have this on my TBR list and this is a bit of a reminder to read it. I’m happy for Peggy Frew.
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By: debbierodgers @Exurbanis on October 26, 2016
at 2:38 am
It’s nice to see the prizes shared around, and I think that works when there’s no standout title that deserves to win everything.
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By: Lisa Hill on October 26, 2016
at 7:13 am
Hmmm… interesting… I read this when it was shortlisted for the Stella. It was an enjoyable read, but nothing particularly special, IMHO.
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By: kimbofo on October 26, 2016
at 9:28 am
Well, I thought so too, but the shortlist didn’t seem strong to me anyway. The only other one on the shortlist I had read was The Natural Way of Things, and, frankly I was surprised it made this shortlist because it seemed to me it was more about women as victims than showing them in a positive light.
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By: Lisa Hill on October 26, 2016
at 1:16 pm