| Wins: | 59 |
| Nominations: | 192 |
| Image1: | Catherine Martin (Australian designer).jpg |
| Caption: | Catherine Martin has won four Academy Awards, more than any other Australian. She has received nine nominations in the Best Picture, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design categories. |
| 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.
, 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.
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.
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.
| Academy Award for Best International Feature Film | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 (89th) | Martin Butler Bentley Dean | Tanna | First Australian film to make the final round nominations in this category. | [14] | ||
| Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 (15th) | Ken G. Hall | Kokoda Front Line! | First Australian to win and be nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film and first to win an Academy Award in any category. | [15] | ||
| 1980 (53rd) | David Bradbury | Front Line | [16] | |||
| 1983 (56th) | Robin Anderson Bob Connolly | First Contact | [17] | |||
| 1986 (59th) | David Bradbury | Chile: Hasta Cuando? | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. | |||
| 2007 (80th) | Eva Orner | Taxi to the Dark Side | Shared with Alex Gibney. | [18] | ||
| Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 (20th) | Australian News & Information Bureau | School in the Mailbox | [19] | ||
| 1979 (52nd) | Phillip Borsos | Nails | |||
| Academy Award for Best Animated Feature | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 (79th) | George Miller | Happy Feet | First Australian to win and be nominated for Best Animated Feature. | [20] | ||
| Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 (50th) | Suzanne Baker | Leisure | First Australian to win and be nominated for Best Animated Short Film and first Australian woman to win an Academy Award in any category. | [21] | |
| 2003 (76th) | Adam Elliot | Harvie Krumpet | Elliot has since donated his Oscar to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). | [22] | |
| 2004 (77th) | Sejong Park Andrew Gregory | Birthday Boy | [23] | ||
| 2005 (78th) | Anthony Lucas | The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello | [24] | ||
| 2010 (83rd) | Shaun Tan | The Lost Thing | Shared with Andrew Ruhemann. | [25] | |
| 2022 (95th) | Lachlan Pendragon | An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It | [26] | ||
| Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 (79th) | Peter Templeman Stuart Parkyn | The Saviour | First Australians to be nominated for Best Live Action Short Film. | |||
| 2008 (81st) | Tamara Anghie | New Boy | Nominated with Steph Green. | [27] | ||
| 2010 (83rd) | Luke Doolan Drew Bailey | Miracle Fish | ||||
| 2017 (90th) | Derin Seale Josh Lawson | The Eleven O'Clock | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Actor | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 (44th) | Peter Finch | Sunday Bloody Sunday | First English-Australian to be nominated for Best Actor. | [28] | ||
| 1976 (49th) | Network | First English-Australian to win for Best Actor and first with multiple nominations in this category. First ever posthumous winner in any acting category.[29] | [30] | |||
| 1996 (69th) | Geoffrey Rush | Shine | First Australian male actor to be nominated across acting categories (Best Supporting Actor for Shakespeare in Love). | [31] | ||
| 1999 (72nd) | Russell Crowe | The Insider | Crowe moved from his native New Zealand when he was four years old and currently resides in Australia.[32] | [33] | ||
| 2000 (73rd) | Gladiator | First Australian with nominations in consecutive years in this category. | [34] | |||
| Geoffrey Rush | Quills | |||||
| 2001 (74th) | Russell Crowe | A Beautiful Mind | [35] | |||
| 2005 (78th) | Heath Ledger | Brokeback Mountain | [36] | |||
| 2012 (85th) | Hugh Jackman | Les Misérables | [37] | |||
| Academy Award for Best Actress | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1932/33 (6th) | May Robson | Lady for a Day | First Australian to be nominated for Best Actress and first to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category. | [38] | |
| 1984 (57th) | Judy Davis | A Passage to India | First Australian to be nominated across acting categories (Best Supporting Actress for Husbands and Wives). | [39] | |
| 1998 (71st) | Cate Blanchett | Elizabeth | [40] | ||
| 2001 (74th) | Nicole Kidman | Moulin Rouge! | Kidman was born in the United States, moved to Australia at age 3. | [41] | |
| 2002 (75th) | The Hours | First Australian to win for Best Actress and first with multiple nominations in this category, and in consecutive years. | [42] | ||
| 2003 (76th) | Keisha Castle-Hughes | Whale Rider | Australian born, New Zealand actress. | [43] | |
| Naomi Watts | 21 Grams | British born, Australian actress. | |||
| 2007 (80th) | Cate Blanchett | First Australian and the first woman to be nominated for portraying the same character in different films (Queen Elizabeth I of England).[44] First Australian to be nominated for multiple acting Oscars in the same year (Best Supporting Actress for I'm Not There). | |||
| 2010 (83rd) | Nicole Kidman | Rabbit Hole | |||
| 2012 (85th) | Naomi Watts | The Impossible | [45] | ||
| 2013 (86th) | Cate Blanchett | Blue Jasmine | First Australian to win across acting categories (Best Supporting Actress for The Aviator). | [46] | |
| 2015 (88th) | Carol | [47] | |||
| 2017 (90th) | Margot Robbie | I, Tonya | [48] | ||
| 2021 (94th) | Nicole Kidman | Being the Ricardos | [49] | ||
| 2022 (95th) | Cate Blanchett | Tár | [50] | ||
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 (71st) | Geoffrey Rush | Shakespeare in Love | First Australian to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. First Australian male actor to be nominated across acting categories (Best Actor for Shine). | |||
| 2008 (81st) | Heath Ledger | The Dark Knight | First Australian to win for Best Supporting Actor and first ever posthumous winner in supporting acting category. | [51] | ||
| 2010 (83rd) | Geoffrey Rush | The King's Speech | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. | |||
| 2021 (94th) | Kodi Smit-McPhee | The Power of the Dog | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 (13th) | Judith Anderson | Rebecca | First Australian to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress. | [52] | ||
| 1963 (36th) | Diane Cilento | Tom Jones | [53] | |||
| 1992 (65th) | Judy Davis | Husbands and Wives | First Australian to be nominated across acting categories (Best Actress for A Passage to India). | [54] | ||
| 1998 (71st) | Rachel Griffiths | Hilary and Jackie | ||||
| 1999 (72nd) | Toni Collette | The Sixth Sense | ||||
| 2004 (77th) | Cate Blanchett | The Aviator | First Australian to win for Best Supporting Actress. First Australian to win across acting categories (Best Actress for Blue Jasmine) First actor to win an Oscar for portraying a real Oscar winner (Katharine Hepburn).[55] | [56] | ||
| 2006 (79th) | Notes on a Scandal | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. | [57] | |||
| 2007 (80th) | I'm Not There | First Australian to be nominated for multiple acting Oscars in the same year (Best Actress for ).[58] [59] | [60] | |||
| 2010 (83rd) | Jacki Weaver | Animal Kingdom | ||||
| 2012 (85th) | Silver Linings Playbook | [61] | ||||
| 2016 (89th) | Nicole Kidman | Lion | Kidman was born in the United States, moved to Australia at age 3. | [62] | ||
| 2019 (92nd) | Margot Robbie | Bombshell | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Cinematography | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 (23rd) | Robert Krasker | The Third Man | First Australian to win and be nominated for Best Cinematography, Black and White. | [63] | ||
| 1985 (58th) | John Seale | Witness | [64] | |||
| 1988 (61st) | Rain Man | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. | [65] | |||
| 1990 (63rd) | Dean Semler | Dances with Wolves | [66] | |||
| 1996 (69th) | John Seale | The English Patient | [67] | |||
| 2001 (74th) | Andrew Lesnie | |||||
| Donald McAlpine | Moulin Rouge! | |||||
| 2002 (75th) | Dion Beebe | Chicago | Beebe was born in Australia but moved to South Africa at the age of 4. | |||
| 2003 (76th) | Russell Boyd | |||||
| John Seale | Cold Mountain | |||||
| 2005 (78th) | Dion Beebe | Memoirs of a Geisha | ||||
| 2015 (88th) | John Seale | |||||
| 2016 (89th) | Greig Fraser | Lion | ||||
| 2021 (94th) | Dune | |||||
| Ari Wegner | The Power of the Dog | |||||
| 2022 (95th) | Mandy Walker | Elvis | [68] | |||
| Academy Award for Best Director | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 (15th) | John Farrow | Wake Island | First Australian to be nominated for Best Director. Farrow ceased to be an Australian citizen in 1947 when he adopted US citizenship. | [76] | |
| 1983 (56th) | Bruce Beresford | Tender Mercies | [77] | ||
| 1985 (58th) | Peter Weir | Witness | [78] | ||
| 1989 (62nd) | Dead Poets Society | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. | [79] | ||
| 1993 (66th) | Jane Campion | The Piano | Campion was born in New Zealand but resides in Australia. | [80] | |
| 1995 (68th) | Chris Noonan | Babe | [81] | ||
| Mel Gibson | Braveheart | First Australian to win for Best Director. Gibson was born in the United States, moved to Australia at age 12. | |||
| 1996 (69th) | Scott Hicks | Shine | Hicks was born in Uganda, moved to Australia at age 14. | ||
| 1998 (71st) | Peter Weir | The Truman Show | |||
| 2003 (76th) | |||||
| 2010 (83rd) | Tom Hooper | The King's Speech | Hooper is British-Australian. | [82] | |
| 2015 (88th) | George Miller | ||||
| 2016 (89th) | Mel Gibson | Hacksaw Ridge | |||
| 2021 (94th) | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog | First woman with multiple nominations in this category. Campion was born in New Zealand but resides in Australia. | ||
| Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 (68th) | Paul Pattison | Braveheart | First Australian to win and be nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Shared with Lois Burwell and Peter Frampton. | |||
| 2005 (78th) | Dave Elsey Nikki Gooley | |||||
| 2010 (83rd) | Dave Elsey | The Wolfman | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. Shared with Rick Baker. | |||
| 2012 (85th) | Rick Findlater | Shared with Peter King and Tami Lane. | ||||
| 2015 (88th) | Lesley Vanderwalt Elka Wardega Damian Martin | Vanderwalt is a New Zealand-born Australian.[87] | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Original Score | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 (47th) | Douglas Gamley | The Little Prince | First Australian to be nominated for Best Music, Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation. Shared with Angela Morley, Frederick Loewe, and Alan Jay Lerner. | ||
| 1996 (69th) | David Hirschfelder | Shine | Best Music, Original Dramatic Score. First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. | ||
| 1998 (71st) | Elizabeth | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Original Song | |||||||
| Year | Name | Song | Film | Result | Notes | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 (51st) | John Farrar | "Hopelessly Devoted to You" | Grease | First Australian to be nominated for Best Original Song. | |||
| 1981 (54th) | Peter Allen | "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" | Arthur | First Australian to win for Best Original Song. Shared with Burt Bacharach, Christopher Cross, and Carole Bayer Sager. | [88] | ||
| Academy Award for Best Production Design | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 (40th) | John Truscott | Camelot | First Australian to win and be nominated for Best Production Design. Shared with Edward Carrere and John W. Brown. | [89] | |
| 1969 (42nd) | Ken Muggleston | Oliver! | Shared with Vernon Dixon. | [90] | |
| 1992 (65th) | Luciana Arrighi | Howards End | Arrighi is an Italian who was born in Brazil and raised in Australia. Shared with Ian Whittaker. | [91] | |
| 1993 (66th) | The Remains of the Day | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category, and in consecutive years. Shared with Ian Whittaker | |||
| 1995 (68th) | Roger Ford Kerrie Brown | Babe | |||
| 1996 (69th) | Romeo + Juliet | Shared with Brigitte Broch. | |||
| 1999 (72nd) | Luciana Arrighi | Anna and the King | Shared with Ian Whittaker. | ||
| 2001 (74th) | Catherine Martin | Moulin Rouge! | Shared with Brigitte Broch. | ||
| 2008 (81st) | Michael Carlin | The Duchess | |||
| 2013 (86th) | Catherine Martin Beverley Dunn | The Great Gatsby | Martin was the first Australian with multiple wins in this category. Martin hold the record for most wins by an Australian in any category, with four. | ||
| 2015 (88th) | Colin Gibson Lisa Thompson | ||||
| 2018 (91st) | Fiona Crombie | The Favourite | Shared with Alice Felton. | ||
| 2022 (95th) | Catherine Martin Beverly Dunn | Elvis | Shared with Karen Murphy. | ||
| Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 (71st) | Paul Brincat | The Thin Red Line | Shared with Andy Nelson and Anna Behlmer | |||
| 1999 (72nd) | David Lee | The Matrix | Shared with John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, and David E. Campbell | |||
| 2001 (74th) | Roger Savage Guntis Sics | Moulin Rouge! | Shared with Andy Nelson and Anna Behlmer. | |||
| Gethin Creagh | Creagh was born in New Zealand but is considered Australian.[92] Shared with Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, and Hammond Peek. | |||||
| 2014 (87th) | David Lee | Unbroken | First Australian with multiple nominations in this category. Shared with Jon Taylor and Frank A. Montaño. | |||
| 2015 (88th) | Ben Osmo | Shared with Chris Jenkins and Gregg Rudloff. | ||||
| 2016 (89th) | Andy Wright Robert Mackenzie Peter Grace | Hacksaw Ridge | Shared with Kevin O'Connell. | |||
| Best Sound | ||||||
| 2021 (94th) | Robert Mackenzie Tara Webb | The Power of the Dog | Shared with Richard Flynn. | |||
| 2022 (95th) | David Lee | Elvis | Shared with Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson, and Michael Keller. | |||
| Academy Award for Best Sound Editing | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 (88th) | David White | Shared with Mark Mangini. | ||||
| 2016 (89th) | Robert Mackenzie Andy Wright | Hacksaw Ridge | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay) | ||||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 (29th) | John Farrow | Around the World in Eighty Days | Born in Australia but had ceased to be an Australian citizen in 1947 when he adopted US citizenship. Shared with S. J. Perelman and James Poe. | [93] | ||
| 1980 (53rd) | Jonathan Hardy David Stevens Bruce Beresford | Breaker Morant | Hardy was born in New Zealand; Stevens in Israel. | [94] | ||
| 1995 (68th) | George Miller Chris Noonan | Babe | ||||
| 2016 (89th) | Luke Davies | Lion | ||||
| 2021 (94th) | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog | Campion was born in New Zealand but resides in Australia. | |||
| 2023 (96th) | Tony McNamara | Poor Things | ||||
| Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Status | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 (30th) | Ivan Goff | Man of a Thousand Faces | Shared with Ralph Wheelwright, Robert Wright Campbell and Ben Roberts. | [95] | |
| 1986 (59th) | John Cornell Paul Hogan Ken Shadie | Crocodile Dundee | [96] | ||
| 1990 (63rd) | Peter Weir | Green Card | [97] | ||
| 1992 (65th) | Nick Enright George Miller | Lorenzo's Oil | [98] | ||
| 1993 (66th) | Jane Campion | The Piano | Campion was born in New Zealand but resides in Australia.[99] | [100] | |
| 1996 (69th) | Scott Hicks Jan Sardi | Shine | Hicks was born in Uganda but moved to Australia at age 14.[101] | ||
| 2018 (91st) | Tony McNamara | The Favourite | Shared with Deborah Davis. | ||
| Academy Honorary Award | ||||||
| Year | Name | Field | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 (95th) | Peter Weir | Director | "a director of consummate skill and artistry whose work reminds us of the power of film to reveal the full range of human experience" | [102] | ||
| Academy Scientific and Technical Award | ||||||
| Year | Name | Field | Status | Notes | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 (70th) | Jim Frazier | Photography | Frazier was awarded for the concept. His fellow recipients Iain Neil, Rick Gelbard were involved in the design and development of the Panavision/Frazier Lens System for motion picture photography. | [103] | ||
| 1998 (71st) | Gary Tregaskis | Computer software | Gary Tregaskis, for the primary design; Dominique Boisvert, Phillip Panzini, Andre LeBlanc for the development and implementation of the Flame and Inferno software. | [104] | ||
| 2001 (74th) | Bruce Tulloch Norman Jackson Andrew Brent John Lancken | Development of Digital Audio Dubbing equipment (Fairlight DaD) for film audio dubbing and mixing. | Bruce Tulloch and Norman Jackson developed a technology used by film dubbing engineers to mix film soundtracks. Emilijo Mihatov was Product Manager, Andrew Brent was technical support and John Lancken was market development. The product was manufactured by Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd, Sydney Australia. | |||
| 2003 (76th) | Michael Carlos Andrew Cannon Christopher Alfred | Digital audio editing for motion picture post-production | Michael Carlos, Andrew Cannon, and Christopher Alfred developed the technology at Fairlight ESP Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia. | [105] | ||
| 2010 (83rd) | Tony Clark Alan Rogers Neil Wilson Rory McGregor | Software design and continued development of cineSync, a tool for remote collaboration and review of visual effects | [106] | |||
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.