# ARIA Award for Best Independent Release

The ARIA Music Award for Best Independent Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an organisation whose aim is "to advance the interests of the Australian record industry."

## Winners and nominees

In the following table, the winner is highlighted in a separate colour, and in boldface; the nominees are those that are not highlighted or in boldface. Winners are only provided where reliable sources do not mention of nominees.
| Year | Winner(s) | Album/Single title |
| 1989 (3rd) |
| 1989 (3rd) | TISM | "Apathy" |
| 1989 (3rd) | Eric Bogle | Something of Value |
| 1989 (3rd) | Flederman | Flederman |
| 1989 (3rd) | Larry Sitsky | Contemporary Australian Piano |
| 1989 (3rd) | The Spliffs | "Sixteen" |
| 1990 (4th) |
| 1990 (4th) | Wild Pumpkins at Midnight | This Machine Is Made of People |
| 1990 (4th) | Dubrovniks | Dubrovnik Blues |
| 1990 (4th) | Girl Monstar | "Surfing on a Wave"/"He's Hell" |
| 1990 (4th) | Sirocco | Port of Call |
| 1990 (4th) | Various Artists | Rockin' Bethlehem |
| 1991 (5th) |
| 1991 (5th) | The Killjoys | Ruby |
| 1991 (5th) | Blue Ruin | I'm Gonna Smile |
| 1991 (5th) | Girl Monstar | "Joe Cool" |
| 1991 (5th) | Roaring Jack | Through the Smoke of Innocence |
| 1991 (5th) | Various Artists | Rockin Bethlehem: The Second Coming |
| 1992 (6th) |
| 1992 (6th) | Not Drowning, Waving | Proof |
| 1992 (6th) | The Aints | Ascension |
| 1992 (6th) | Def FX | Water |
| 1992 (6th) | Ed Kuepper | Honey Steel's Gold |
| 1992 (6th) | Underground Lovers | Underground Lovers |
| 1993 (7th) |
| 1993 (7th) | Ed Kuepper | Black Ticket Day |
| 1993 (7th) | The Jackson Code | Strange Cargo |
| 1993 (7th) | Def FX | Blink (EP) |
| 1993 (7th) | Melanie Oxley and Chris Abrahams | Welcome to Violet |
| 1993 (7th) | TISM | Beasts of Suburban |
| 1994 (8th) |
| 1994 (8th) | Ed Kuepper | Serene Machine |
| 1994 (8th) | The Jackson Code | Dragging the River |
| 1994 (8th) | Juice | Movin' On |
| 1994 (8th) | Dave Steel | Cross My Palm |
| 1994 (8th) | Brenda Webb | "Little Black Girl" |
| 1995 (9th) |
| 1995 (9th) | TISM | Machiavelli and the Four Seasons |
| 1995 (9th) | Def FX | Ritual Eternal |
| 1995 (9th) | Ed Kuepper | Character Assassination |
| 1995 (9th) | Magic Dirt | Life Was Better |
| 1995 (9th) | Single Gun Theory | Flow, River of My Soul |
| 1996 (10th) |
| 1996 (10th) | You Am I | Hourly, Daily |
| 1996 (10th) | Custard | Wisenheimer |
| 1996 (10th) | Ed Kuepper | The Exotic Mail Order Moods of Ed Kuepper |
| 1996 (10th) | TISM | "Greg! The Stop Sign!!" |
| 1996 (10th) | Underground Lovers | Rushall Station |
| 1997 (11th) |
| 1997 (11th) | Savage Garden | Savage Garden |
| 1997 (11th) | Deadstar | "Don't it Get You Down" |
| 1997 (11th) | Dirty Three | Horse Stories |
| 1997 (11th) | Ed Kuepper | Frontierland |
| 1997 (11th) | Even | Less Is More |
| 1998 (12th) |
| 1998 (12th) | The Whitlams | Eternal Nightcap |
| 1998 (12th) | The Blackeyed Susans | Spin the Bottle |
| 1998 (12th) | Karma County | Olana |
| 1998 (12th) | The Living End | "Second Solution / Prisoner of Society" |
| 1998 (12th) | TISM | www.tism.wanker.com |
| 1999 (13th) |
| 1999 (13th) | Josh Abrahams | Sweet Distorted Holiday |
| 1999 (13th) | Crawlspace | "Away" |
| 1999 (13th) | Diana Ah Naid | "Oh No (Curbside Lullaby)" |
| 1999 (13th) | Pauline Pantsdown | "I Don't Like It" |
| 1999 (13th) | Pre-Shrunk | "Triple A Side" |
| 2000 (14th) |
| 2000 (14th) | S2S | "Sister" |
| 2000 (14th) | Diana Ah Naid | I Don't Thing I'm Pregnant |
| 2000 (14th) | iOTA | The Hip Bone Connection |
| 2000 (14th) | Skulker | Too Fat for Tahiti |
| 2000 (14th) | Stella One Eleven | "Only Good for Conversation" |
| 2001 (15th) |
| 2001 (15th) | John Butler Trio | Three |
| 2001 (15th) | Allan Browne's New Rascals | East St Kilda Toodleoo |
| 2001 (15th) | Nitocris | Manic |
| 2001 (15th) | Pre-Shrunk | Digital Sunrise |
| 2001 (15th) | Stella One Eleven | In Your Hands |
| 2002 (16th) |
| 2002 (16th) | 1200 Techniques | "Karma (What Goes Around)" |
| 2002 (16th) | Icecream Hands | "Rain Hail Shine" |
| 2002 (16th) | Killing Heidi | Heavensent |
| 2002 (16th) | Lisa Miller | Car Tape |
| 2002 (16th) | The Waifs | "London Still" |
| 2003 (17th) |
| 2003 (17th) | The Waifs | Up All Night |
| 2003 (17th) | 1200 Techniques | "Eye of the Storm" |
| 2003 (17th) | Diesel | Hear |
| 2003 (17th) | John Butler Trio | Living |
| 2003 (17th) | The Mess Hall | Feeling Sideways |
| 2004 (18th) |
| 2004 (18th) | John Butler Trio | Sunrise Over Sea |
| 2004 (18th) | Butterfingers | Breakfast at Fatboys |
| 2004 (18th) | Jebediah | Braxton Hicks |
| 2004 (18th) | The Waifs | "Bridal Train" |
| 2004 (18th) | Dan Kelly and the Alpha Males | Sing the Tabloid Blues |
| 2005 (19th) |
| 2005 (19th) | Ben Lee | Awake Is the New Sleep |
| 2005 (19th) | Architecture in Helsinki | In Case We Die |
| 2005 (19th) | Joel Turner and the Modern Day Poets | Joel Turner and the Modern Day Poets |
| 2005 (19th) | Lior | Autumn Flow |
| 2005 (19th) | The Waifs | A Brief History... |
| 2006 (20th) |
| 2006 (20th) | Hilltop Hoods | The Hard Road |
| 2006 (20th) | Ben Lee | "We're All in This Together" |
| 2006 (20th) | Gotye | Like Drawing Blood |
| 2006 (20th) | The John Butler Trio | Live at St. Gallen |
| 2006 (20th) | Lior | Doorways of My Mind |
| 2007 (21st) |
| 2007 (21st) | The John Butler Trio | Grand National |
| 2007 (21st) | Gotye | Mixed Blood |
| 2007 (21st) | Hilltop Hoods | The Hard Road: Restrung |
| 2007 (21st) | Sneaky Sound System | Sneaky Sound System |
| 2007 (21st) | Wolf & Cub | Vessels |
| 2008 (22nd) |
| 2008 (22nd) | Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu | Gurrumul |
| 2008 (22nd) | Ben Lee | Ripe |
| 2008 (22nd) | British India | Thieves |
| 2008 (22nd) | Lior | Corner of an Endless Road |
| 2008 (22nd) | Midnight Juggernauts | Dystopia |
| 2009 (23rd) |
| 2009 (23rd) | Bertie Blackman | Secrets and Lies |
| 2009 (23rd) | C. W. Stoneking | Jungle Blues |
| 2009 (23rd) | Dappled Cities | Zounds |
| 2009 (23rd) | Sneaky Sound System | 2 |
| 2009 (23rd) | The Drones | Havilah |
| 2010 (24th) |
| 2010 (24th) | Sia | We Are Born |
| 2010 (24th) | Art vs. Science | Magic Fountain |
| 2010 (24th) | Dan Sultan | Get Out While You Can |
| 2010 (24th) | Eddy Current Suppression Ring | Rush to Relax |
| 2010 (24th) | John Butler Trio | April Uprising |
| 2011 (25th) |
| 2011 (25th) | Art vs. Science | The Experiment |
| 2011 (25th) | Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu | Rrakala |
| 2011 (25th) | John Butler Trio | Live at Red Rocks |
| 2011 (25th) | Tex Perkins & the Dark Horses | Tex Perkins & the Dark Horses |
| 2011 (25th) | The Jezabels | "Dark Storm" |
| 2012 (26th) |
| 2012 (26th) | The Jezabels | Prisoner |
| 2012 (26th) | Dappled Cities | Lake Air |
| 2012 (26th) | Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp | Songs of the Southern Skies |
| 2012 (26th) | San Cisco | Awkward |
| 2012 (26th) | The Bamboos | Medicine Man |
| 2013 (27th) |
| 2013 (27th) | Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds | Push the Sky Away |
| 2013 (27th) | Big Scary | Not Art |
| 2013 (27th) | San Cisco | San Cisco |
| 2013 (27th) | Sheppard | "Let Me Down Easy" |
| 2013 (27th) | The Drones | I See Seaweed |
| 2014 (28th) |
| 2014 (28th) | Chet Faker | Built on Glass |
| 2014 (28th) | Dan Sultan | Blackbird |
| 2014 (28th) | Sheppard | Bombs Away |
| 2014 (28th) | Vance Joy | "Mess Is Mine" |
| 2014 (28th) | Violent Soho | "Saramona Said" |
| 2015 (29th) |
| 2015 (29th) | Courtney Barnett | Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit |
| 2015 (29th) | Hermitude | Dark Night Sweet Light |
| 2015 (29th) | Jarryd James | "Do You Remember" |
| 2015 (29th) | Paul Kelly | The Merri Soul Sessions |
| 2015 (29th) | Vance Joy | Dream Your Life Away |
| 2016 (30th) |
| 2016 (30th) | Flume | Skin |
| 2016 (30th) | Jarryd James | Thirty One |
| 2016 (30th) | King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard | Nonagon Infinity |
| 2016 (30th) | Sia | This Is Acting |
| 2016 (30th) | Violent Soho | WACO |
| 2017 (31st) |
| 2017 (31st) | A.B. Original | Reclaim Australia |
| 2017 (31st) | Dan Sultan | Killer |
| 2017 (31st) | Sia | "The Greatest" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) |
| 2017 (31st) | Tash Sultana | Notion |
| 2017 (31st) | Vance Joy | "Lay It on Me" |
| 2018 (32nd) |
| 2018 (32nd) | Gurrumul | Djarimirri (Child of the Rainbow) |
| 2018 (32nd) | Angus & Julia Stone | Snow |
| 2018 (32nd) | Courtney Barnett | Tell Me How You Really Feel |
| 2018 (32nd) | DMA's | For Now |
| 2018 (32nd) | Pnau | "Go Bang" |
| 2019 (33rd) |
| 2019 (33rd) | Tones and I | The Kids Are Coming |
| 2019 (33rd) | Angie McMahon | Salt |
| 2019 (33rd) | G Flip | About Us |
| 2019 (33rd) | Julia Jacklin | Crushing |
| 2019 (33rd) | The Teskey Brothers | Run Home Slow |
| 2020 (34th) |
| 2020 (34th) | Sampa the Great | The Return |
| 2020 (34th) | Archie Roach | Tell Me Why |
| 2020 (34th) | DMA's | The Glow |
| 2020 (34th) | Lime Cordiale | 14 Steps to a Better You |
| 2020 (34th) | Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Ghosteen |
| 2021 (35th) |
| 2021 (35th) | Genesis Owusu | Smiling with No Teeth |
| 2021 (35th) | Archie Roach | The Songs of Charcoal Lane |
| 2021 (35th) | Ball Park Music | Ball Park Music |
| 2021 (35th) | Emma Donovan & The Pushbacks | Crossover |
| 2021 (35th) | Vance Joy | "Missing Piece" |
| 2022 (36th) |
| 2022 (36th) | Archie Roach | "One Song" |
| 2022 (36th) | Ball Park Music | Weirder & Weirder |
| 2022 (36th) | Courtney Barnett | Things Take Time, Take Time |
| 2022 (36th) | Genesis Owusu | "GTFO" |
| 2022 (36th) | Julia Jacklin | Pre Pleasure |
| 2023 (37th) |
| 2023 (37th) | Genesis Owusu | Struggler |
| 2023 (37th) | Cub Sport | Jesus at the Gay Bar |
| 2023 (37th) | Dan Sultan | Dan Sultan |
| 2023 (37th) | G Flip | Drummer |
| 2023 (37th) | Kylie Minogue | "Padam Padam" |
| 2024 (38th) |
| 2024 (38th) | Angie McMahon | Light, Dark, Light Again |
| 2024 (38th) | Emily Wurramara | Nara |
| 2024 (38th) | Kylie Minogue | Tension |
| 2024 (38th) | Miss Kaninna | "Blak Britney" |
| 2024 (38th) | Royel Otis | Pratts & Pain |