Winners of the 2026 APRA Music Awards announced

The winners of the 2026 APRA Music Awards have been announced at a star-studded, centenary celebration event at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.

The night’s big winners were Amyl and The Sniffers who took home three awards - the coveted Peer-Voted APRA Song of the Year and Most Performed Rock Work for the playfully controversial “Jerkin’”, along with the acclaimed Songwriter of the Year award, appointed by the APRA Board. This marks the second consecutive year the Melbourne four-piece have won the highly contested Song of the Year after taking it home in 2025 for “U Should Not Be Doing That”.

Guy Sebastian and co-writers Ned Houston and Robby De Sa snapped up two accolades - Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Pop Work - for their hit “Maybe”. The win marks Houston’s first APRA Award, and the fourth time Sebastian and De Sa have each taken home a trophy.

One of Australia’s most successful musical exports, Sia, took out Most Performed Australian Work Overseas for the third consecutive year with her aptly titled hit “Unstoppable”, making her APRA’s most-awarded writer member of all time with a whopping 14 awards. 

International Recognition Award recipient Sarah Aarons - the songwriter behind some of the biggest global hits of recent years for artists including BTS, Flume, Gracie Abrams, ROSÉ and Tame Impala - was recognised for her remarkable success overseas. This is Aarons’ sixth APRA Award, following her Songwriter of the Year win in 2019.

The final Board-appointed award, Emerging Songwriter of the Year, was given to folk-pop songstress Emily Wurramara for her incredible body of work over the past year. 

Image: Emily Wurramara. Credit: Lucinda Goodwin.


In the statistically determined Most Performed categories, it was a night of firsts with a remarkable number of debut winners collecting their first APRA Music Award. One of those was Ball Park Music’s Sam Cromack, who took home Most Performed Alternative Work for the catchy earworm “Please Don’t Move to Melbourne”. Adam Ventoura and Daniel March won Most Performed Blues & Roots Work for Karen Lee Andrew’s powerful song “Survival” and another first-timer, Rachael Fahim, claimed the Most Performed Country Work for “Who You Are”, co-written with Keenan Te, Liam Quinn, Shawn Mayer and Vlado Saric.

In the Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work category, Stuart Crichton, alongside international co-writers Clementine Douglas, Ruth Cunningham and Sonny Fodera, took out the award for Fodera’s summer banger, “Tell Me”. At the other end of the musical spectrum, award debutants Brent “Twiggy” Hunter, Luke Holmes and Sam Bassal’s Ocean Grove hit “RAINDROP” won Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work.

Hip hop drill group ONEFOUR’s writers Hoi Tang, Jerome Misa, Salec Su’a with co-writers Nemiah Simms and Robin Turrini picked up Most Performed Hip Hop/Rap Work for their hit “Spinnin” featuring Nemzzz, and first-time winner Pania Hika with co-writers Chelsea Warner, Jake Amy and Sam Varghese won Most Performed R&B/Soul Work for “Pity Party”.

One of Australia’s most defining rock bands, INXS, were honoured with the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music by their long-time friend and APRA Chair, Jenny Morris MNZM OAM. The presentation was followed by an incredible performance by punk powerhouse Ecca Vandal, giving their iconic song “Just Keep Walking” a new twist for a new generation and longtime fans.

Image: INXS and Jenny Morris. Credit: Rick Clifford.


The awards were hosted by Julia Zemiro with guest presenters Bernard Fanning, Jessica Mauboy, Mark Coles Smith and Stella Donnelly, and music curated by François Tétaz. 

The evening was the most elaborate yet, featuring special performances for APRA’s centenary celebrations including an opening performance by Christine Anu, Ngulmiya and Rob Ruha; Paul Kelly's rendition of Vanda and Young’s “Walking in the Rain”; and The Presets’ electro-version of “Power and the Passion”, featuring a special guest appearance by Peter Garrett, in tribute to the late Midnight Oil drummer, Rob Hirst.

They bookended incredible re-imaginings of the top five Song of the Year tracks by some of the most exciting performers in Australia today. BARKAA kicked things off with a bang with her electrifying rendition of Amyl and The Sniffers’ “Jerkin’”, BOY SODA brought his sultry soul vibe to Tame Impala’s “Loser”, and seven-piece Playlunch gave Paul and Dan Kelly’s “Rita Wrote a Letter” a fun new flavour. Ninajirachi’s hit for a generation, “iPod Touch”, got a rework by multi-instrumentalist Way Dynamic, and one of last year’s biggest songs “Dancing2” by Keli Holiday (aka Adam Hyde) was performed by awards alum Sarah Blasko.

Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS, concludes: “The 2026 APRA Music Awards were a fitting way to celebrate not only 100 years of APRA, but today’s biggest and brightest stars. It’s a privilege to look back at 100 years of service to our members and the incredible breadth and diversity of Australian talent. As a nation we derive so much, socially, culturally and economically, from our music creators, it’s imperative that we recognise and celebrate that contribution.

“We thank the Australian Government and the NSW Government for their partnership in making this event possible. The presence of Federal Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke MP, and NSW Minister for Music, the Arts and Night Time Economy, John Graham MLC, reflect these governments’ understanding of the cultural and economic weight of what Australian songwriters contribute to this nation, and why that contribution deserves to be celebrated.”

The APRA Music Awards celebrate excellence in contemporary music, honouring songwriters and publishers who have achieved artistic excellence and outstanding success in their fields. 18 awards are presented across three distinct selection processes: Board Selected, Most Performed (based on statistical analysis) and Peer Voted.

Click here to see the full list of winners.

Image: The Presets and Peter Garrett. Credit: Rick Clifford.