“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