# AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay

The AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), for an Australian screenplay "written directly and originally for the screen". Prior to the establishment of the Academy in 2011, the award was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI) at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (more commonly known as the AFI Awards). It was first handed out in 1978 when the award for Best Screenplay (which was first presented at the 1974-75 awards) was split into two categories: Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. The award has since been presented intermittently from 1978-1979, 1983-1987, 1989, 1993-2006, and then from 2008-present.

## Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the same year. The films and screenwriters in bold and in yellow background have won are the winners. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning screenplay first and then the other nominees.
| Year | Film | Screenwriter(s) |
| 1970s |||
| 1978 | Newsfront | Bob Ellis, Phillip Noyce |
| 1978 | The Last Wave | Tony Morphett, Petru Popescu, Peter Weir |
| 1978 | Mouth to Mouth | John Duigan |
| 1978 | Patrick | Everett De Roche |
| 1979 | In Search of Anna | Esben Storm |
| 1979 | Kostas | Linda Aronson |
| 1979 | Mad Max | James McCausland, George Miller |
| 1979 | Palm Beach | Albie Thoms |
| 1980s |||
| 1983 | Buddies | John Dingwall |
| 1983 | The Clinic | Greg Millin |
| 1983 | Man of Flowers | Paul Cox, Bob Ellis |
| 1983 | Phar Lap | David Williamson |
| 1984 | My First Wife | Paul Cox, Bob Ellis |
| 1984 | Fast Talking | Ken Cameron |
| 1984 | Silver City | Thomas Keneally, Sophia Turkiewicz |
| 1984 | Street Hero | Jan Sardi |
| 1985 | Fran | Glenda Hambly |
| 1985 | The Boy Who Had Everything | Stephen Wallace |
| 1985 | A Street to Die | Bill Bennett |
| 1985 | Unfinished Business | Bob Ellis |
| 1986 | Malcolm | David Parker |
| 1986 | The More Things Change... | Michael Brindley, Moya Wood |
| 1986 | Short Changed | Bob Merritt |
| 1986 | Young Einstein | David Roach, Yahoo Serious |
| 1987 | The Year My Voice Broke | John Duigan |
| 1987 | Belinda | Pamela Gibbons |
| 1987 | Ground Zero | Mac Gudgeon, Jan Sardi |
| 1987 | High Tide | Laura Jones |
| 1989 | Sweetie | Jane Campion, Gerard Lee |
| 1989 | Georgia | Mac Gudgeon |
| 1989 | Ghosts… of the Civil Dead | Gene Conkie, Evan English, John Hillcoat |
| 1989 | Island | Paul Cox |
| 1990s |||
| 1993 | The Piano | Jane Campion |
| 1993 | The Nostradamus Kid | Bob Ellis |
| 1993 | On My Own | Gill Dennis, John Frizzell, Antonio Tibaldi |
| 1993 | This Won't Hurt a Bit | Chris Kennedy |
| 1994 | Bad Boy Bubby | Rolf de Heer |
| 1994 | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert | Stephan Elliott |
| 1994 | Muriel's Wedding | P. J. Hogan |
| 1994 | The Roly Poly Man | Kym Goldsworthy |
| 1995 | Angel Baby | Michael Rymer |
| 1995 | All Men Are Liars | Gerard Lee |
| 1995 | Mushrooms | Alan Madden |
| 1995 | Vacant Possession | Margot Nash |
| 1996 | Shine | Jan Sardi |
| 1996 | Children of the Revolution | Peter Duncan |
| 1996 | Floating Life | Eddie L. C. Fong, Clara Law |
| 1996 | Love and Other Catastrophes | Helen Bandis, Yael Bergman, Emma-Kate Croghan |
| 1997 | The Castle | Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy, Rob Sitch |
| 1997 | Doing Time for Patsy Cline | Chris Kennedy |
| 1997 | Kiss or Kill | Bill Bennett |
| 1997 | Road to Nhill | Alison Tilson |
| 1998 | The Interview | Gordon Davie, Craig Monahan |
| 1998 | Amy | David Parker |
| 1998 | Dance Me to My Song | Rolf de Heer, Heather Rose, Frederick Stahl |
| 1998 | Dead Letter Office | Deb Cox |
| 1999 | Two Hands | Gregor Jordan |
| 1999 | Siam Sunset | Max Dann, Andrew Knight |
| 1999 | Soft Fruit | Christina Andreef |
| 1999 | Strange Fits of Passion | Elise McCredie |
| 2000s |||
| 2000 | Russian Doll | Stavros Kazantzidis, Allanah Zitserman |
| 2000 | Better Than Sex | Jonathan Teplitzky |
| 2000 | Me Myself I | Pip Karmel |
| 2000 | My Mother Frank | Mark Lamprell |
| 2001 | The Bank | Robert Connolly |
| 2001 | La Spagnola | Anna Maria Monticelli |
| 2001 | Mullet | David Caesar |
| 2001 | Yolngu Boy | Chris Anastassiades |
| 2002 | Walking on Water | Roger Monk |
| 2002 | Beneath Clouds | Ivan Sen |
| 2002 | The Man Who Sued God | John Clarke, Don Watson |
| 2002 | The Tracker | Rolf de Heer |
| 2003 | Japanese Story | Alison Tilson |
| 2003 | Crackerjack | Mick, Richard Molloy |
| 2003 | Gettin' Square | Chris Nyst |
| 2003 | Travelling Night | Kathryn Millard |
| 2004 | Somersault | Cate Shortland |
| 2004 | The Finished People | Khoa Do, Rodney Anderson, Joe Le, Jason McGoldrick |
| 2004 | Love's Brother | Jan Sardi |
| 2004 | Tom White | Daniel Keene |
| 2005 | Look Both Ways | Sarah Watt |
| 2005 | Little Fish | Jacquelin Perske |
| 2005 | The Proposition | Nick Cave |
| 2005 | Wolf Creek | Greg McLean |
| 2006 | Ten Canoes | Rolf de Heer |
| 2006 | 2:37 | Murali K. Thalluri |
| 2006 | Kenny | Shane, Clayton Jacobson |
| 2006 | Suburban Mayhem | Alice Bell |
| 2008 | The Black Balloon | Elissa Down, Jimmy Jack |
| 2008 | Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger | Cathy Randall |
| 2008 | The Jammed | Dee McLachlan |
| 2008 | The Square | Matthew Dabner, Joel Edgerton |
| 2009 | Samson and Delilah | Warwick Thornton |
| 2009 | Cedar Boys | Serhat Caradee |
| 2009 | Mary and Max | Adam Elliot |
| 2009 | My Year Without Sex | Sarah Watt |
| 2010s |||
| 2010 | Animal Kingdom | David Michôd |
| 2010 | Beneath Hill 60 | David Roach |
| 2010 | Bright Star | Jane Campion |
| 2010 | Daybreakers | The Spierig Brothers |
| AACTA Awards |||
| 2011 (1st) | Griff the Invisible | Leon Ford |
| 2011 (1st) | The Loved Ones | Sean Byrne |
| 2011 (1st) | Mad Bastards | Brendan Fletcher |
| 2011 (1st) | Red Hill | Patrick Hughes |
| 2012 (2nd) | Wish You Were Here | Kieran Darcy-Smith, Felicity Price |
| 2012 (2nd) | Burning Man | Jonathan Teplitzky |
| 2012 (2nd) | Mental | P. J. Hogan |
| 2012 (2nd) | Not Suitable for Children | Michael Lucas |
| 2013 (3rd) | The Rocket | Kim Mordaunt |
| 2013 (3rd) | 100 Bloody Acres | Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes |
| 2013 (3rd) | Drift | Morgan O'Neill |
| 2013 (3rd) | Mystery Road | Ivan Sen |
| 2014 (4th) | The Babadook | Jennifer Kent |
| 2014 (4th) | 52 Tuesdays | Matthew Cormack, Sophie Hyde |
| 2014 (4th) | Charlie's Country | David Gulpilil, Rolf de Heer |
| 2014 (4th) | The Water Diviner | Andrew Anastasios, Andrew Knight |
| 2015 (5th) | Paper Planes | Robert Connolly, Steve Worland |
| 2015 (5th) | Cut Snake | Blake Ayshford |
| 2015 (5th) | Kill Me Three Times | James McFarland |
| 2015 (5th) | Mad Max: Fury Road | Nico Lathouris, Brendan McCarthy, George Miller |
| 2016 (6th) | Hacksaw Ridge | Andrew Knight, Robert Schenkkan |
| 2016 (6th) | Down Under | Abe Forsythe |
| 2016 (6th) | Goldstone | Ivan Sen |
| 2016 (6th) | Pawno | Damian Hill |
| 2017 (7th) | Ali's Wedding | Andrew Knight, Osamah Sami |
| 2017 (7th) | The Butterfly Tree | Priscilla Cameron |
| 2017 (7th) | The Death and Life of Otto Bloom | Cris Jones |
| 2017 (7th) | Hounds of Love | Ben Young |
| 2018 (8th) |
| 2018 (8th) | Sweet Country | Steven McGregor, David Tranter |
| 2018 (8th) | 1% | Matt Nable |
| 2018 (8th) | Brothers' Nest | Jaime Browne |
| 2018 (8th) | Upgrade | Leigh Whannell |
| 2020s |||
| 2021 (11th) |
| 2021 (11th) | Nitram | Shaun Grant |
| 2021 (11th) | Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) | Monica Zanetti |
| 2021 (11th) | The Furnace | Roderick MacKay |
| 2021 (11th) | High Ground | Chris Anastassiades |
| 2021 (11th) | June Again | JJ Winlove |