APRA Awards (Australia)
The APRA Music Awards in Australia are annual awards to celebrate excellence in contemporary music, which honour the skills of member composers, songwriters, and publishers who have achieved outstanding success in sales and airplay performance.
Several award ceremonies are run in Australia by the Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society. In addition to the APRA Music Awards, APRA AMCOS, in association with the Australian Music Centre, presents awards for classical music, jazz and improvised music, experimental music and sound art, known as the Art Music Awards. It also runs, in association with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers, the Screen Music Awards, to acknowledge excellence in the field of screen composition.
APRA Music Awards (Australia)
The APRA Music Awards were established in 1982 to honour songwriters and music composers for their efforts. The award categories are:Gold Awards
From 1982 to 1990, the best songs were given the Gold Award, which was also called the Special Award. In the mid-1980s Platinum Awards were given to significant works from previous years.| Year | Songwriter | Artist | Winning work | Award |
| 1982 | Graeham Goble | Little River Band | "Reminiscing" | Gold Award |
| 1982 | Graham Russell | Air Supply | "Lost in Love" | Gold Award |
| 1982 | Glenn Shorrock | Little River Band | "Cool Change" | Gold Award |
| 1982 | Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott | AC/DC | "Highway To Hell" | Gold Award |
| 1983 | ||||
| 1984 | Graham Russell | Air Supply | "The One That You Love" | Special Award |
| 1984 | Colin Hay | Men at Work | "Who Can It Be Now?" | Special Award |
| 1984 | Brian May | Mad Max film score | Special Award | |
| 1985 | Colin Hay, Ron Strykert | Men at Work | "Down Under" | Special Award |
| 1985 | John Antill | "Corroboree" | Special Award | |
| 1985 | Graeham Goble | Little River Band | "The Other Guy" | Special Award |
| 1985 | Reece Kirk | Crystal Gayle | "Our Love Is on the Faultline" | Special Award |
| 1986 | Eric Bogle | Eric Bogle | "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" | Gold Award |
| 1987 | Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Brian Johnson | AC/DC | "Back In Black" | Gold Award |
| 1987 | Mark Knopfler | Dire Straits | Brothers in Arms | Gold Award |
| 1988 | Jack O'Hagan | "Along the Road to Gundagai" | Platinum Award | |
| 1988 | Gordon Parsons | Slim Dusty | "Pub With No Beer" | Platinum Award |
| 1988 | Rolf Harris | Rolf Harris | "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" | Platinum Award |
| 1988 | Dorothy Dodd | "Granada" | Platinum Award | |
| 1988 | Marie Cowan, Banjo Paterson | "Waltzing Matilda" | Platinum Award | |
| 1988 | Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence | INXS | "What You Need" | Gold Award |
| 1988 | Peter Best | Crocodile Dundee film score | Gold Award | |
| 1989 | John Antill | "Corroboree" | Platinum Award | |
| 1989 | Harry Vanda & George Young | In recognition of the outstanding popularity of their collective works throughout the world | Platinum Award | |
| 1989 | Neil Finn | Crowded House | "Don't Dream It's Over" | Gold Award |
| 1989 | Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence | INXS | "Need You Tonight" | Gold Award |
| 1989 | Hal David | In recognition of the outstanding popularity of his many works in Australia and New Zealand | Gold Award | |
| 1989–1990 | Peter Garrett, Rob Hirst, James Moginie | Midnight Oil | "Beds Are Burning" | Gold Award |
| 1990 | Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence | INXS | "Devil Inside" | Gold Award |
| 1990 | Andrew Farriss, Michael Hutchence | INXS | "New Sensation" | Gold Award |
Song of the Year
Song of the Year is decided by the votes of APRA members. All eligible songs must be written by an APRA member and released in the preceding calendar year for consideration. The Song of the Year award is considered one of the most prestigious of the APRA Music Awards.| Year | Songwriter | Artist | Song |
| 1991 | Bakamana Yunipingu, Stuart Kellaway, Gurrumul Yunipingu, Milkayggu Mununggurr, Cal Williams, Paul Kelly | Yothu Yindi | "Treaty" |
| 1992 | Rick Price, Heather Field | Rick Price | "Heaven Knows" |
| 1993 | Neil Finn and Tim Finn | Crowded House | "Four Seasons in One Day" |
| 1994 | Neil Finn | Crowded House | "Distant Sun" |
| 1995 | Neil Murray | Christine Anu | "My Island Home" |
| 1996 | Tina Arena, Robert Parde, Heather Field | Tina Arena | "Wasn’t It Good" |
| 1997 | |||
| 1998 | Dean Manning | Leonardo's Bride | "Even When I’m Sleeping" |
| 1999 | James Roche | Bachelor Girl | "Buses and Trains" |
| 2000 | Jonathan Coghill, John Collins, Ian Haug, Darren Middleton, Bernard Fanning | Powderfinger | "Passenger" |
| 2001 | Bernard Fanning | Powderfinger | "My Happiness" |
| 2002 | Alex Lloyd | Alex Lloyd | "Amazing" |
| 2003 | Kasey Chambers | Kasey Chambers | "Not Pretty Enough" |
| 2004 | John Butler | John Butler Trio | "Zebra" |
| 2005 | Missy Higgins and Kevin Griffin | Missy Higgins | "Scar" |
| 2006 | Ben Lee and McGowan Southworth | Ben Lee | "Catch My Disease" |
| 2007 | Glenn Richards | Augie March | "One Crowded Hour" |
| 2008 | Daniel Johns and Julian Hamilton | Silverchair | "Straight Lines" |
| 2009 | Chris Cheney | The Living End | "White Noise" |
| 2010 | Dougy Mandagi and Lorenzo Sillitto | The Temper Trap | "Sweet Disposition" |
| 2011 | Angus Stone, Julia Stone | Angus & Julia Stone | "Big Jet Plane" |
| 2012 | Wally de Backer, Luiz Bonfa | Gotye feat Kimbra | "Somebody That I Used To Know" |
| 2013 | Kevin Parker | Tame Impala | "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" |
| 2014 | James Keogh | Vance Joy | "Riptide" |
| 2015 | Sia Furler, Jesse Shatkin | Sia | "Chandelier" |
| 2016 | Kevin Parker | Tame Impala | "Let It Happen" |
| 2017 | D.D Dumbo a.k.a. Oliver Perry | D.D Dumbo | "Satan" |
| 2018 | Paul Kelly, Billy Miller | Paul Kelly | "Firewood and Candles" |
| 2019 | Amy Billings | Amy Shark | "I Said Hi" |
| 2020 |
Songwriter of the Year
Songwriter of the Year is voted by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors rewarding the songwriter who has recorded the most impressive body of work in the previous year.| Year | Songwriter |
| 1991 | Phil Buckle |
| 1992 | Neil Finn and Tim Finn |
| 1993 | Greg Arnold |
| 1994 | Neil Finn |
| 1995 | Daniel Johns and Benjamin Gillies |
| 1996 | Nick Cave |
| 1997 | |
| 1998 | Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones |
| 1999 | Paul Kelly |
| 2000 | Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones |
| 2001 | Ella Hooper and Jesse Hooper |
| 2002 | Kasey Chambers |
| 2003 | Daniel Johns |
| 2004 | Powderfinger |
| 2005 | Jet |
| 2006 | Bernard Fanning |
| 2007 | Andrew Stockdale, Myles Heskett and Chris Ross |
| 2008 | Daniel Johns |
| 2009 | Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton |
| 2010 | Angus Young and Malcolm Young |
| 2011 | Angus Stone and Julia Stone |
| 2012 | Gotye |
| 2013 | Sia |
| 2014 | Sia |
| 2015 | Sia |
| 2016 | Courtney Barnett |
| 2017 | Harley Streten Flume |
| 2018 | Adam Briggs p.k.a. Briggs and Daniel Rankine p.k.a. Trials |
| 2019 | Sarah Aarons |
| 2020 |
The Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
The Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music' is decided by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors for a lifetime contribution. The Award is named after Ted Albert whose company Albert Productions put out records by The Easybeats, AC/DC and John Paul Young.| Year | Winner |
| 1991 | Allan Hely |
| 1992 | John Sturman |
| 1993 | Peter Sculthorpe |
| 1994 | Ian Meldrum |
| 1995 | Harry Vanda and George Young |
| 1996 | Ron Tudor |
| 1997 | |
| 1998 | Michael Gudinski |
| 1999 | Slim Dusty |
| 2000 | Triple J |
| 2001 | Charles Fischer |
| 2002 | Barry Chapman |
| 2003 | Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott |
| 2004 | Don Burrows |
| 2005 | Michael Chugg |
| 2006 | Bill Armstrong |
| 2007 | Michael McMartin |
| 2008 | Roger Davies |
| 2009 | Denis Handlin |
| 2010 | Jimmy Little |
| 2011 | Paul Kelly |
| 2012 | Mary Lopez |
| 2013 | The Seekers |
| 2014 | Lindy Morrison |
| 2015 | Fifa Riccobono |
| 2016 | Cold Chisel |
| 2017 | Archie Roach |
| 2018 | Midnight Oil |
| 2019 | Rob Potts |
| 2020 |
Breakthrough Songwriter Award
Breakthrough Songwriter Award is decided by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors for an emerging songwriter or groups of writers. The award category was first introduced by APRA in 2002.| Year | Winner |
| 2002 | Jennifer Waite and Grant Wallis |
| 2002 | Sia |
| 2003 | Craig Nicholls |
| 2004 | Delta Goodrem |
| 2005 | Missy Higgins |
| 2006 | Myles Heskett, Christopher Ross and Andrew Stockdale |
| 2007 | Glenn Richards |
| 2008 | Sally Seltmann |
| 2009 | Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu |
| 2010 | Nick Littlemore, Jonathan Sloan, Luke Steele |
| 2011 | Megan Washington |
| 2012 | Killian Gavin, Jonathon Hart, Timothy Hart, David Hosking, Jacob Tarasenko |
| 2013 | Matthew Colwell, Kaelyn Behr |
| 2014 | Louis Schoorl |
| 2015 | Michael Clifford, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin |
| 2016 | Alex Hope |
| 2017 | Troye Sivan a.k.a. Troye Sivan Mellet |
| 2018 | Sarah Aarons |
| 2019 | Dean Lewis |
| 2020 |
Awards for Most Performed Works
There are a number of awards given for most performed work based on a statistical analysis of APRA's database. These awards include "Most Performed Australian Work of the Year", "Most Performed Australian Work Overseas", "Most Performed Foreign Work", "Most Performed Jazz Work", "Most Performed Country Work" and "Most Performed Dance Work".Art Music Awards (with AMC)
In 2001, APRA joined forces with the Australian Music Centre to present awards for Australian classical music, known as Classic Awards. The AMC had been presenting annual awards for classical music since 1988, apart from a 1993–1995 hiatus due to funding cuts. The participation of APRA helped to secure the future of the awards, which are the only Australian awards for contemporary Australian classical music. This award has been won by well-known composers including Brenton Broadstock, Brett Dean, Ross Edwards, Georges Lentz, Liza Lim, Richard Mills, and Peter Sculthorpe. After another hiatus in 2010, the event returned as the Art Music Awards the following year, restructured and with two new categories.The awards now cover classical, jazz and improvised music, experimental music and sound art, recognising achievement in composition, performance, education and presentation.. eleven national awards as well as awards for each state and territory are available. There is also a discretionary award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music.
The winners of the 2019 Art Music Awards were announced at the Great Hall of the University of Sydney on Monday 19 August.
Screen Music Awards (with AGSC)
The annual Screen Music Awards were first presented in 2002 by APRA and AMCOS in conjunction with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers. The ceremony, held in November, acknowledges excellence and innovation in the field of screen composition, and as of 2019 covers 13 categories.- ;2002 Awards
- ;2003 Awards
- ;2004 Awards
- ;2005 Awards
- ;2006 Awards
- ;2007 Awards
- ;2008 Awards
- ;2009 Awards
- ;2010 Awards
- ;2011 Awards
- ;2012 Awards
Other awards
Emily Burrows Award
The Emily Burrows Award was instituted in 2001 in memory of Emily Burrows, a former APRA AMCOS membership representative and compliance officer. It is awarded to a South Australian artist or band annually with a $5,000 prize, to further their development and career. Electric Fields won it in 2016, with previous winners including Hilltop Hoods and The Beards.In 2019 the prize was awarded at the South Australian Music Awards for the first time, with Dead Roo winning the Award.