| AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role | |
| Image Upright: | 0.7 |
| Presenter: | Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) |
| Country: | Australia |
| Year: | 1971 |
| Holder: | Sophie Wilde, Talk to Me (2023) |
| Website: | http://www.aacta.org |
The AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements in film and television".[1]
The award is presented annually at the AACTA Awards, which hands out accolades for achievements in feature films, television, documentaries, and short films.[2] From 1971 to 2010, the category was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI), the academy's parent organisation, at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (known as the AFI Awards).[3] When the AFI launched the AACTA in 2011, it changed the annual ceremony to the AACTA Awards, with the current award being a continuum of the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
From 1971 to 1975, it was presented as a special award, and was accompanied with a cash prize, before it became a competitive award from 1976 onward.[4] [5] Judy Davis is the most nominated and winning actress in this category, with nine nominations, including six wins, most recently for her role in Nitram (2021).
Candidates for this award must be female, and cannot be nominated for the same role in the supporting actress category.[6]
In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the same year. The actress in bold and in dark blue background have received a special award; those in bold and in yellow background have won a regular competitive award. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning actress first and then the other nominees.[7] [8]
| Year | Actor | Film | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 (13th) | Monica Maughan | A City's Child | Woman |
| 1972 (14th) | Jacki Weaver | Stork | Anna |
| 1973 (15th) | Judy Morris | Libido: The Child | Sybil |
| 1974–75 (16th and 17th) | Julie Dawson | Who Killed Jenny Langby? | Jenny Langby |
| 1976 (18th) | Helen Morse | Caddie | Caddie Marsh |
| Briony Behets | The Trespassers | Penny | |
| Helen Morse | Picnic at Hanging Rock | Mlle. de Poitiers | |
| Judy Morris | The Trespassers | Dee | |
| 1977 (19th) | Pat Bishop | Don's Party | Jenny |
| Jeanie Drynan | Don's Party | Kath Henderson | |
| Sara Kestelman | Break of Day | Alice | |
| Robyn Nevin | The Fourth Wish | Connie | |
| 1978 (20th) | Angela Punch McGregor | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith | Gilda Marshall |
| Geraldine Fitzgerald | The Mango Tree | Grandma Carr | |
| Wendy Hughes | Newsfront | Amy Mackenzie | |
| Kim Krejus | Mouth to Mouth | Carrie | |
| 1979 (21st) | Michele Fawdon | Cathy's Child | Cathy |
| Ruth Cracknell | The Night the Prowler | Doris Bannister | |
| Judy Davis | My Brilliant Career | Sybylla Melvyn | |
| Sigrid Thornton | Snapshot | Madeline |
| Year | Actor | Film | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 (52nd) | Jacki Weaver | Animal Kingdom | Janine "Smurf" Cody |
| Abbie Cornish | Bright Star | Fanny Brawne | |
| Morgana Davies | The Tree | Simone | |
| Charlotte Gainsbourg | Dawn |
| Year | Actor | Film | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 (10th) | Eliza Scanlen | Babyteeth | Milla Finlay |
| Tilda Cobham-Hervey | I Am Woman | Helen Reddy | |
| Laura Gordon | Undertow | Claire | |
| Elisabeth Moss | The Invisible Man | Cecilia Kass | |
| Lupita Nyong'o | Little Monsters | Miss Audrey Caroline | |
| 2021 (11th) | Judy Davis | Nitram | Nitram's mother |
| Rose Byrne | Bea McGregor | ||
| Noni Hazlehurst | June Again | June | |
| Genevieve O'Reilly | The Dry | Gretchen | |
| Naomi Watts | Penguin Bloom | Sam Bloom | |
| 2022 (12th) | Leah Purcell | The Drover's Wife | Molly Johnson |
| Aisha Dee | Sissy | Cecilia/Sissy | |
| Julia Savage | Blaze | Blaze | |
| Tilda Swinton | Three Thousand Years of Longing | Alithea | |
| Jackie van Beek | Nude Tuesday | Laura | |
| 2024 (13th) | Sophie Wilde | Talk to Me | Mia |
| Shantae Barnes-Cowan | Sweet As | Murra | |
| Cate Blanchett | The New Boy | Sister Eileen | |
| Zar Amir Ebrahimi | Shayda | Shayda | |
| Julia Garner | The Royal Hotel | Hanna | |
| Sarah Snook | Run Rabbit Run | Sarah | |
A: From 1958–2010, the awards were held during the year of the film's release. However, the 1974–1975 awards were held in 1975 for films released in 1974 and 1975, and the first AACTA Awards were held in 2012 for films released in 2011.[10] [11]