Thursday 19 February 2026 – The musical adaptation of My Brilliant Career, one of Australia’s most iconic stories, has taken home the richest annual playwriting award in the country, winning the prestigious $120,000 David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Writing for Australian Theatre at the Australian Writers’ Guild’s annual AWGIE Awards.
It was the second win on the night for writers Sheridan Harbridge, Dean Bryant and Mathew Frank, who also received the AWGIE Award for best script in Music Theatre.
The Correspondent, Peter Duncan’s powerful retelling of journalist Peter Greste’s story, won in the Feature Film – Adapted category, while Natalie Erika James’ horror feature Saccharinetriumphed in Feature Film – Original. Lorin Clarke’s exploration of her comedy-icon father’s life in Not Only Fred Dagg But Also John Clarke won the Documentary – Public Broadcast or Exhibition prize.
In the Stage – Original category, Angus Cerini was acknowledged for Into the Shimmering World, while Vanessa Bates was awarded the Stage – Adapted prize for her reimagining of fairytales’ most marginalised women in The Magic Hour.
For television, Samantha Strauss, Angela Betzien and Anya Beyersdorf picked up the Limited Series Award for Apple Cider Vinegar and Allan Clarke won Television Series for Episode 7 of Invisible Boys. Colin From Accounts was recognised with a second AWGIE Award, with Patrick Brammall winning Comedy – Situation or Narrative.
Five Australian Writers’ Guild members were honoured with Life Membership in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the Guild and the industry: Geoffrey Atherden, Anne Brooksbank, Michael Harvey, Shane Porteous and Roger Simpson.
Other AWGIE Award winners:
- The first ever AWGIE Award for Comedy – Stand-Up went to Bronwyn Kuss for Pillows xxxx,
- Nicolette Minster, Aleisha McCormack and Rhys Nicholson took home the AWGIE for Comedy – Sketch and Light Entertainment for The Weekly: ‘Rhysearch’,
- Samantha Cable won the Interactive Media & Gaming category with Copycat,
- Emma Gordon won Children’s Television – C Classification for Spooky Files: Season 2, ‘FOMO Sojo Casa House’,
- Charlotte Rose Hamlyn won the AWGIE for Kangaroo Beach: Season 3, ‘Hungry The Seagull’ in the Children’s Television – P Classification category,
- The Animation category went to Michael Greaney for DeadBeat Ends Meet: ‘Invasive (Quest)ions’,
- There were two winners in the Television – Serial category: Gary Sewell was awarded for Episode 6522 of Hollyoaks, while Fiona Kelly picked up the prize for Episode 8330 of Home and Away.
- Brendan Wan and Jeremy Teh with Aran Thangaratnam and Vivian Nguyen won the AWGIE for Short Film with Asian Male Lead, and
- The Web Series category went to Charlotte George and Miriam Glaser for Buried.
In the theatre and audio categories:
- Jeremy Nguyen with Hiroki Kobayashi and Hoa Pham won Theatre for Young Audiences for The Story of Chi,
- Community Theatre went to Lliane Clarke with Aunty Cheryl Penrith OAM and Voices of Women for Women of the Riverina,
- Greg Haddrick won Audio – Fiction for Central Intelligence, and
- Marc Fennell and Emma Weatherill won Audio – Non-Fiction for This Is Not A Game.
For the full list of AWGIE winners, click here. For the full list of AWGIE nominees, click here.
The 58th Annual AWGIE Awards are made possible with the generous support of our sponsors, in particular our Gold Sponsors: Screenrights, AWGACS, and NIDA.
To watch the full AWGIE Awards broadcast, click here.
ABOUT THE 58th ANNUAL AWGIE AWARDS
Since 1968, the Australian Writers’ Guild has presented the AWGIE Awards to recognise and reward the talents, triumphs and unique contributions of Australian screen and stage writers. The AWGIE Awards are the only Australian writers’ awards judged solely by writers, based on the written script – the writer’s intention rather than the finished product.
The David Williamson Prize for Excellence in Australian Theatre is the richest annual playwriting award in the country. The prize is worth $120,000, with $40,000 of the prize awarded to the playwright of the winning theatre script, and $80,000 of the prize going to the theatre company that commissioned and developed it for the stage with the express purpose of the prize money being used to commission, develop and program a new Australian work.
The 58th Annual AWGIE Awards are made possible with support from our Sponsors:
