Amyl and The Sniffers cleaned up at the 2026 APRA Music Awards, taking home three gongs at a star-studded centenary celebration.
Amyl and The Sniffers were the undisputed stars of the evening, picking up the peer-voted APRA Song of the Year and Most Performed Rock Work for Jerkin’, plus the board-appointed Songwriter of the Year.
That makes it two Song of the Year wins back-to-back for the Melbourne four-piece, who took out the same award in 2025 for U Should Not Be Doing That.
Held at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion, the 2026 APRA Music Awards marked 100 years of APRA in style, honouring some of Australia’s biggest songwriting talent across 18 awards. It was a night of firsts, with a remarkable number of debut winners stepping up to collect their first-ever APRA trophy.
Amyl and The Sniffers lead 2026 APRA Music Awards
- Amyl and The Sniffers | Song of the Year, Most Performed Rock Work and Songwriter of the Year (Jerkin’)
- Guy Sebastian, Ned Houston and Robby De Sa | Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Pop Work (Maybe)
- Sia | Most Performed Australian Work Overseas (Unstoppable)
- Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music) | Most Performed Alternative Work (Please Don’t Move to Melbourne)
- INXS | Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music
- Full list here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
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Guy Sebastian and co-writers Ned Houston and Robby De Sa scored a double with Most Performed Australian Work and Most Performed Pop Work for their hit Maybe. It’s a first win for Houston, and a fourth for both Sebastian and De Sa.
Sia continued her extraordinary run at the awards, claiming Most Performed Australian Work Overseas for the third year running with Unstoppable, cementing her status as APRA’s most-awarded writer member of all time with 14 awards.
Sarah Aarons picked up the International Recognition Award, a nod to her remarkable run of writing credits for global acts including BTS, Flume, Gracie Abrams, ROSÉ and Tame Impala. It’s her sixth APRA Award, following a Songwriter of the Year win back in 2019.
Emily Wurramara was awarded Emerging Songwriter of the Year, the other board-appointed honour, recognising her incredible body of work over the past year.
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Most Performed
Over in the statistically determined Most Performed categories, debut winners were everywhere.
Ball Park Music’s Sam Cromack took Most Performed Alternative Work for Please Don’t Move to Melbourne. Adam Ventoura and Daniel March won Most Performed Blues & Roots Work for Karen Lee Andrew’s Survival, and Rachael Fahim, another first-timer, claimed Most Performed Country Work for Who You Are, co-written with Keenan Te, Liam Quinn, Shawn Mayer and Vlado Saric.
Stuart Crichton and international co-writers Clementine Douglas, Ruth Cunningham and Sonny Fodera took Most Performed Dance/Electronic Work for Fodera’s Tell Me, while Ocean Grove’s RAINDROP, courtesy of debut winners Brent “Twiggy” Hunter, Luke Holmes and Sam Bassal, won Most Performed Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Work.
Hip hop drill group ONEFOUR’s writers Hoi Tang, Jerome Misa and Salec Su’a, alongside co-writers Nemiah Simms and Robin Turrini, picked up Most Performed Hip Hop/Rap Work for Spinnin featuring Nemzzz. First-time winner Pania Hika and co-writers Chelsea Warner, Jake Amy and Sam Varghese rounded things out with Most Performed R&B/Soul Work for Pity Party.
INXS received the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music, presented by longtime friend and APRA Chair Jenny Morris. Punk powerhouse Ecca Vandal followed with a fresh take on their iconic Just Keep Walking.
Beyond the awards, the centenary celebrations made for a genuinely special night of live music.
Christine Anu, Ngulmiya and Rob Ruha opened proceedings, Paul Kelly performed Vanda and Young’s Walking in the Rain, and The Presets delivered an electro reimagining of Power and the Passion with a guest appearance by Peter Garrett, in tribute to the late Midnight Oil drummer Rob Hirst.
BARKAA, BOY SODA, Playlunch, Way Dynamic and Sarah Blasko each put their own spin on the top five Song of the Year nominees, with some seriously memorable results.
Julia Zemiro hosted the night, with guest presenters Bernard Fanning, Jessica Mauboy, Mark Coles Smith and Stella Donnelly, and music curated by François Tétaz.
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