APRA Board revokes 2009 Ted Albert Award given to Denis Handlin

The descent of Denis Handlin continues with the news that the APRA Board has revoked his 2009 Ted Albert Award. 

The APRA Board unanimously decided to revoke the award, which was presented to Handlin at the APRA Music Awards back in 2009.

“APRA AMCOS is committed to fostering a music industry that upholds a high level of professional respect and conduct, and does not condone any form of bullying,” they shared in a statement about the decision.

“Every single participant in our music industry has a responsibility to act safely and respect others. We recognise and accept there’s still much work to do in this space. We are committed to making the decisions that need to be made and to working with the broader industry so that we can collectively bring about this shift in culture.”

After the Four Corners investigative report debuted last Monday, October 11th, calls intensified for Denis Handlin to be stripped of his many medals. In the week since then, he’s been stripped of several other high-profile awards.

On Friday, October 15th, ARIA announced that it had revoked the prestigious Icon Award given to the longtime Sony Music Australia and New Zealand leader in 2014.

Before this on Tuesday, October 12th, QMusic officially revoked the Honorary Award presented to Handlin at last year’s Queensland Music Awards.

“Last night’s Four Corners investigative report laid bare the undeniable fact that the culture under Denis Handlin’s leadership at Sony came at significant human cost,” QMusic CEO Kris Stewart said. “Toxic workplaces, be they in the office, boardroom, on stage or behind, have no future in Australian music.

We cannot, and should not accept nor celebrate this kind of culture. The future of music must be one that is safe, supportive, and equitable for all.”

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This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.