Australian Women in Music Awards and ARIA Come Together to Celebrate Change

Australian Women in Music Awards (AWMA) and ARIA announced an exciting partnership this week.

The very first Executive Leader Game Changer Award will be presented at the 2023 Australian Women in Music Awards, which will take place at The Tivoli in Brisbane on Wednesday, September 27th.

The inaugural award has been created to celebrate music industry leaders who are creating significant and positive change in the pursuit of equality for women and non-binary people in the Australian music industry.

Nominations for the award are open now and close on Wednesday, April 26th.

The Executive Leader Game Changer Award will be judged by a specially-curated Juror Committee including co-author of the Raising Their Voices report Alex Shehadie, scientist and gender equality advocate Dr Darren Saunders, CEO of Settlement Services International Violet Roumeliotis AM, and member of the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce and President of the National Council of Women of Australia Chiou See Andersen.  

The Juror Committee will assess nominees based on their vision, integrity, and ethics, as well as their demonstrated ability to drive positive industry change.

“AWMA promotes women as vital, essential contributors to the future growth of the Australian music industry effectively raising the collective voice and demanding equitable access, safety and recognition. Our success is reflected in the 1200+ women who have been recognised for their extraordinary achievements since our inaugural event in 2018,” AWMA Founding Executive Producer and Program Director, Vicki Gordon, said.

“This welcome partnership with ARIA celebrates the courage, dedication and advocacy of those who use their influence to acknowledge the importance of gender equality and their power, to create real change in their lifetime.”

ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd is also excited about the new award. “We are very proud to partner with AWMA to present this award that acknowledges the incredible cultural change being driven from within our industry and hopefully inspires a great deal more,” she said. 

“The Raising Their Voices report shone a spotlight on gender and diversity inequality in Australian music, and the need for immediate change to create a safe and equal workplace for all. The positive news is that there is enormous appetite for change, and ARIA is committed to continue working closely with the industry to drive this.”

Nominations for the 2023 AWMAs opened last month here. Past winners include Tina Arena, Katie Noonan, Kate Ceberano, and Deborah Cheetham OAM.