List of Australian Academy Award winners and nominees

This list details Australians working in the film industry who have been nominated for, or won, Academy Awards (also known as Oscars). These awards honored outstanding achievements in theatrically released motion pictures and were first presented by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in 1929. As of 2016, a total of 55 awards from 192 nominations had been won by Australians. Additionally, four special awards for scientific and engineering achievements have been given.

Art director and costume designer Catherine Martin has won four awards from nine nominations, making her the most decorated Australian. She was nominated for Best Picture, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design, winning the latter two categories. Cate Blanchett is the most nominated individual on this list with eight nominations, which resulted in two wins: for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, making her the only Australian to win both acting categories. Peter Weir has received five competitive nominations in the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay categories without a win; however, he was awarded the Academy Honorary Award in 2022.

May Robson was the first Australian-born person to be nominated for an Academy Award. She received a Best Actress nomination for Lady for a Day in 1933. In 1942, Ken G. Hall became the first Australian to win an Oscar for his documentary Kokoda Front Line! in the Best Documentary category. Suzanne Baker was the first Australian woman to win an Oscar after winning Best Animated Short for Leisure in 1977. Peter Finch was the first Australian to win an acting Oscar and the first performer ever to be awarded posthumously, winning Best Actor for his performance in 1976 for Network. Fellow Australian Heath Ledger became only the second posthumous acting winner when his performance in The Dark Knight earned him Best Supporting Actor in 2008, about 32 years later. Cate Blanchett was the first Australian actor to win more than once in acting categories. Out of the six total Australian performers who have won acting Oscars, only Blanchett, Ledger and Geoffrey Rush were born in Australia; with Finch, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe being born outside of Australia, in England, the United States and New Zealand, respectively, and raised in Australia.

Australians have been nominated at least once in all categories. The Oscar for Best Costume Design has been the most successful category for Australians with seven wins from 17 nominations. The Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Score, and the Best Documentary (Short Subject) are the only categories in this list where Australians have been nominated without winning.

Nominees and winners

In the following tables, the years correspond to the year in which the films were released; the Academy Award ceremony is held the following year.

Production

Best Picture

Best International Feature Film

Note: The Academy Award in this category is awarded to countries, not individuals. This list contains directors of nominated films, who typically accept the award on behalf of their country.

Best Documentary Feature Film

Best Documentary Short Film

Best Animated Feature

Best Animated Short Film

Best Live Action Short Film

Performance

Best Actor

Best Actress

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Craft

Best Cinematography

Best Costume Design

Best Director

Best Film Editing

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Best Music, Original Score

Best Music, Original Song

Best Production Design

Best Sound Mixing

Best Sound Editing

Best Visual Effects

Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay

Best Writing, Original Screenplay

Non-competitive awards

Academy Honorary Award

Scientific and Engineering

See also

• Cinema of Australia
• List of Australian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

• The official website of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS)

Further reading

• Academy Awards® Nominations and Awards for Australian projects and people at Screen Australia
• O stands for Oscar and also for Oz at The Age

1. List of British Academy Award nominees and winners
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