“Hello & welcome to Australian music history” – Everything that went down at the AWMAs
An event years in the making and decades overdue, last night some of Australia’s finest musical minds gathered at the Brisbane Powerhouse last night to watch an awards ceremony where all 15 awards were taken home by women – the Australian Woman In Music Awards has finally arrived.
The ceremony kicked off with a lively performance before our effervescent emcee’s Christine Anu and Katie Noonan taking the stage with the latter introducing the awards with a simple, “Hello and welcome to Australian music history.”
It was an entrancing moment which echoed the wonderful music the audience experienced throughout the night from the like Gordi, Ancestress, and a particularly affecting cover of I Am Woman, to help induct Helen Reddy into the AWMA Honor Roll.
While we were there to see talented women receive the recognition that women in music have so long deserved what we got was a whole lot more.
Heartfelt speeches from members of Government like the first Indigenous woman elected to the Queensland Parliament Leeanne Enoch, who praised the awards and Queensland Government for fronting up the $140,000 to support them.
The unofficial theme of the evening was mothers as almost every award recipient went on to thank the woman that gave them life. Some new mothers themselves, Ngaiire apologised when collecting her Artistic Excellence Award as “It’s my first night out after becoming a new mum and I’m running on three hours sleep.”
To close out the ceremony was a moment of great nostalgia as legendary Sydney rock back Do Re Mi reunited for the first time in 30 years, fronted by the incomparable Deborah Conway, to perform their seminal hit Man Overboard.
As the final burst of pyrotechnics heralded the end of the awards, the atmosphere was one like not experienced before. Triumph, community, solidarity and elation. The inaugural Women In Music Awards has truly added something invaluable to the Aussie music scene – a place for women off all types to be heard.
Here’s to next years awards.
View a full list of AWMA winners below.
APRA AMCOS Songwriter Award
Sarah Blasko
Gordi
Ngaiire
Shebah Music Leadership Award
Linda Bosidis
Susan Haymann
Jen Cloher
SSI Diversity In Music Award
Mission Songs Project
Rachel Maria Cox
Signal Creative
AWMA Studio Production Award
Anna Laverty
Becki Whitten
Kath Naunton
Canon Australia Music Photography Award
Lisa Businovski
Tashi Hall
Wendy McDougall
Spotify Creative Leadership Award
Katie Noonan
Roz Pappalardo
Zoe Hauptmann
Cicada International Breakthrough Award
Amy Shark
Camp Cope
Stella Donnelly
Twitter Australia Artistic Excellent Award
Dallas Frasca
Gordi
Ngaiire
Canon Australia Film-maker Award
Claudia Sangiorgi Dalimore
Gemma Lee
Ruth Morris
AWMA Live Production Award
Kait Hall
Robyn Jelleff
Lynette Britten
The Calile Hotel Musical Excellence Award
Fern Belling
Nerida Tyson-Chew
Lydia Davis
QUT Creative Industries Faculty Educator Award
Dr Anita Collins
Elizabeth Sellary
Louise Denson
CAAMA Auriel Andrew Memorial Award
Deborah Cheetam AO
Jessie Lloyd
Shellie Morris
Gina Williams
Tiddy