# Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work

The Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA), an employers' organisation which serves as the peak body in the live entertainment and performing arts industries in Australia. The accolade is handed out at the annual Helpmann Awards, which celebrates achievements in musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre in Australia.
The award is presented to the author, composer, book writer or lyricist of the production.
As of 2022, the 2019 event was the last one held, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.

## Winners and nominees

| Year | Title | Nominee(s) | Genre |
| 2001 (1st) |
| 2001 (1st) | Skin | Stephen Page | Ballet or Dance |
| 2001 (1st) | The Boy From Oz | Nick Enright | Musicals |
| 2001 (1st) | Life After George | Hannie Rayson | Theatre |
| 2001 (1st) | The Theft of Sita | Nigel Jamieson | |
| 2002 (2nd) |
| 2002 (2nd) | Batavia | Richard Mills and Peter Goldsworthy | Opera |
| 2002 (2nd) | Corroboree | Stephen Page | Ballet or Dance |
| 2002 (2nd) | Mavis Goes to Timor | Angela Chaplin, Katherine Thomson and Kavisha Mazzella | Theatre |
| 2002 (2nd) | A Man with Five Children | Nick Enright | Theatre |
| 2003 (3rd) |
| 2003 (3rd) | Walkabout | Stephen Page and Frances Rings | Ballet or Dance |
| 2003 (3rd) | Bill and Mary | Bille Brown | Theatre |
| 2003 (3rd) | Love in the Age of Therapy | Paul Grabowsky and Joanna Murray-Smith | Opera |
| 2003 (3rd) | Oboe Concerto for Diana Doherty | Ross Edwards | Classical Music |
| 2004 (4th) |
| 2004 (4th) | Inheritance | Hannie Rayson | Theatre |
| 2004 (4th) | Phobia | Douglas Horton and Gerry Brophy | |
| 2004 (4th) | Myth, Propaganda and Disaster in Nazi Germany and Contemporary America - A Drama in 30 Scenes | Stephen Sewell | Theatre |
| 2004 (4th) | Held | Garry Stewart, ADT Dancers and Lois Greenfield | Ballet or Dance |
| 2005 (5th) |
| 2005 (5th) | The Sapphires | Tony Briggs | Theatre |
| 2005 (5th) | Madeline Lee | John Haddock with Michael Campbell | Opera |
| 2005 (5th) | Eating Ice Cream With Your Eyes Closed | David Brown | Theatre |
| 2005 (5th) | Through the Wire | Ros Horin | Theatre |
| 2006 (6th) |
| 2006 (6th) | Devolution | Garry Stewart | Ballet or Dance |
| 2006 (6th) | On the Case | Debra Batton and Mark Murphy | Physical or Visual Theatre |
| 2006 (6th) | Small Metal Objects | Bruce Gladwin, Simon Laherty, Sonia Teuben, Genevieve Morris and Jim Russel | Theatre |
| 2006 (6th) | Sydney Symphony Contemporary Music Festival: Mysterium Cosmographicum | Michael Smetanin | Classical Music |
| 2007 (7th) |
| 2007 (7th) | The Lost Echo | Barrie Kosky and Tom Wright | Theatre |
| 2007 (7th) | The Adventures of Snugglepot & Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom | Alan John and John Clarke with Doug MacLeod | Musicals / Presentation for Children |
| 2007 (7th) | Structure and Sadness | Lucy Guerin | Ballet or Dance |
| 2007 (7th) | Honour Bound | Nigel Jamieson | Visual or Physical Theatre |
| 2007 (7th) | The Love of the Nightingale | Richard Mills and Timberlake Wertenbaker | Opera |
| 2007 (7th) | Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott | Musicals |
| 2008 (8th) |
| 2008 (8th) | Toy Symphony | Michael Gow | Theatre |
| 2008 (8th) | Parramatta Girls | Alana Valentine | Theatre |
| 2008 (8th) | Glow | Gideon Obarzanek | Ballet or Dance |
| 2008 (8th) | When the Rain Stops Falling | Andrew Bovell | Theatre |
| 2009 (9th) |
| 2009 (9th) | Shane Warne: The Musical | Eddie Perfect | Musicals |
| 2009 (9th) | Just Macbeth! | Andy Griffiths | Theatre / Presentation for Children |
| 2009 (9th) | FOOD COURT | Back to Back Theatre with The Necks | Theatre |
| 2009 (9th) | Metro Street | Matthew Robinson | Musicals |
| 2010 (10th) |
| 2010 (10th) | Smoke and Mirrors | Sydney Festival, Spiegeltent International, Craig Ilott and iOTA | Cabaret |
| 2010 (10th) | Miracle | BalletLab and Phillip Adams | Ballet or Dance |
| 2010 (10th) | Bliss | Brett Dean and Amanda Holden | Opera |
| 2010 (10th) | Dirtsong | The Black Arm Band with Steven Richardson and Alexis Wright | |
| 2011 (11th) |
| 2011 (11th) | Tim Minchin Vs Sydney Symphony | Tim Minchin and Sydney Symphony | Comedy |
| 2011 (11th) | Finucane and Smith's Carnival of Mysteries | Finucane and Smith | Cabaret |
| 2011 (11th) | Silent Disco | Lachlan Philpott | Theatre |
| 2011 (11th) | Moth | Declan Greene | Theatre |
| 2011 (11th) | Where the Heart Is | Expressions Dance Company and Queensland Performing Arts Centre | Ballet or Dance |
| 2011 (11th) | Songs from the Middle | Eddie Perfect | |
| 2012 (12th) |
| 2012 (12th) | Angela's Kitchen | Paul Capsis, Julian Meyrick and Hilary Bell | Theatre |
| 2012 (12th) | Kursk: An Oratorio Requiem | David Chisholm | Classical Music |
| 2012 (12th) | Ganesh Versus the Third Reich | Mark Deans, Marcia Ferguson, Bruce Gladwin, Nicki Holland, Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, Kate Sulan, Brian Tilley and David Woods | Theatre |
| 2012 (12th) | Symphonia Eluvium | Elena Kats-Chernin | Classical Music |
| 2012 (12th) | Songs for Nobodies | Joanna Murray-Smith | Theatre |
| 2013 (13th) |
| 2013 (13th) | The Secret River | Kate Grenville. Adapted for the stage by Andrew Bovell | Theatre |
| 2013 (13th) | Midnight Son | Gordon Kerry and Louis Nowra | Opera |
| 2013 (13th) | The Happiest Refugee | Anh Do | |
| 2013 (13th) | King Kong | Craig Lucas (book), Marius de Vries (original music), Michael Mitnick and Richard Thomas (additional lyrics), featuring Songs and Original Compositions by 3D, Guy Garvey, Sarah McLachlan, Justice and The Avalanches | Musicals |
| 2013 (13th) | Medea | Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks | Theatre |
| 2013 (13th) | School Dance | Matthew Whittet | Theatre |
| 2014 (14th) |
| 2014 (14th) | Pinocchio | Rosemary Myers with Julianne O'Brien | Musicals / Presentation for Children |
| 2014 (14th) | Wulamanayuwi & the Seven Pamanui | Jason De Santis & Eamon Flack | Theatre / Presentation for Children |
| 2014 (14th) | The Shadow King | Tom E. Lewis and Michael Kantor | Theatre |
| 2014 (14th) | Black Diggers | Tom Wright | Theatre |
| 2015 (15th) |
| 2015 (15th) | The Rabbits | Kate Miller-Heidke (composer), Lally Katz (librettist) and Iain Grandage (musical arrangements and additional music) | Opera / Presentation for Children |
| 2015 (15th) | Little Bird | Nicki Bloom (writer and co-lyricist), Quentin Grant (composer and co-lyricist) and Cameron Goodall (composer and co-lyricist) | |
| 2015 (15th) | What Rhymes with Cars and Girls | Aidan Fennessy (writer) and Tim Rogers (music and lyrics) | Theatre |
| 2015 (15th) | Marlin | Damien Millar | Theatre / Presentation for Children |
| 2015 (15th) | Switzerland | Joanna Murray-Smith | Theatre |
| 2015 (15th) | Endings | Tamara Saulwick & Peter Knight | |
| 2016 (16th) |
| 2016 (16th) | Ladies in Black | Carolyn Burns and Tim Finn with Simon Phillips | Musicals |
| 2016 (16th) | Prize Fighter | Future D. Fidel | Theatre |
| 2016 (16th) | Bambert's Book of Lost Stories | Dan Giovannoni and Luke Kerridge | Theatre / Presentation for Children |
| 2016 (16th) | The Gallipoli Symphony | Christopher Latham, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Gareth Farr, Richard Nunns, Graeme Koehne AO, Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE, Elena Kats-Chernin, Kamran Ince, Ross Harris, Andrew Schultz, Ross Edwards and Demir Demirkan | Classical Music |
| 2016 (16th) | lore | Frances Rings, Deborah Brown and Waangenga Blanco | Dance |
| 2016 (16th) | Picnic at Hanging Rock | Tom Wright | Theatre |
| 2017 (17th) |
| 2017 (17th) | The Drover's Wife | Leah Purcell | Theatre |
| 2017 (17th) | Hot Brown Honey | Busty Beatz and Lisa Fa’alafi | Cabaret |
| 2017 (17th) | The Wider Earth | David Morton | Theatre |
| 2017 (17th) | Jasper Jones | Kate Mulvany | Theatre |
| 2017 (17th) | Backbone | Darcy Grant, Elliot Zoerner, Shenton Gregory, Geoff Cobham, Jacob Randell, Jascha Boyce, Simon McClure, Lachlan Binns, Mieke Lizotte, Lewie West, Martin Schreiber, Joanne Curry, Lachlan Harper, Jackson Manson, Triton Tunis-Mitchell and Lewis Rankin | Visual or Physical Theatre |
| 2017 (17th) | Girl Asleep | Matthew Whittet | Theatre |
| 2018 (18th) |
| 2018 (18th) | Bennelong | Stephen Page | Ballet or Dance |
| 2018 (18th) | Hamlet | Brett Dean and Matthew Jocelyn | Opera |
| 2018 (18th) | Muriel's Wedding The Musical | PJ Hogan, Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall | Musicals |
| 2018 (18th) | Black is the New White | Nakkiah Lui | Theatre |
| 2018 (18th) | Laser Beak Man | Nicholas Paine, David Morton, Tim Sharp and Sam Cromack | Theatre |
| 2018 (18th) | Lano & Woodley — Fly | Colin Lane and Frank Woodley | Comedy |
| 2019 (19th) |
| 2019 (19th) | Counting and Cracking | S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack | Theatre |
| 2019 (19th) | Spinifex Gum | Felix Riebl | Contemporary Music |
| 2019 (19th) | Barbara and the Camp Dogs | Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine | Musicals |
| 2019 (19th) | Blackie Blackie Brown: The Traditional Owner of Death | Nakkiah Lui | Theatre |
| 2019 (19th) | The Harp in the South: Part One and Part Two | Kate Mulvany | Theatre |
| 2019 (19th) | Lé Nør (The Rain) | The Last Great Hunt and Artistic Collaborators | Theatre |