# Helpmann Award for Best Female Performer in an Opera

The Helpmann Award for Best Female Performer in an Opera is an award presented by Live Performance Australia (LPA) (the trade name for the Australian Entertainment Industry Association (AEIA)), 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.

## Winners and nominees

In the following list winners are listed first and marked in gold, in boldface, and the nominees are listed below with no highlight.
* Source:
| Year | Actor | Production | Character(s) |
| 2001 (1st) | Anke Höppner | Madama Butterfly | Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly) |
| 2001 (1st) | Clare Gormley | The Eighth Wonder | Alexandra Mason |
| 2001 (1st) | Yvonne Kenny | Capriccio | The Countess |
| 2001 (1st) | Regina Schörg | La traviata | Violetta Valéry |
| 2002 (2nd) | Lisa Gasteen | Tristan und Isolde | Isolde |
| 2002 (2nd) | Kate Ladner | The Marriage of Figaro | Countess Rosina Almaviva |
| 2002 (2nd) | Margaret Medlyn | Parsifal | Kundry |
| 2002 (2nd) | Elizabeth Whitehouse | Andrea Chénier | Maddalena de Coigny |
| 2003 (3rd) | Elizabeth Whitehouse | Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District | Katerina Lvovna Izmailova |
| 2003 (3rd) | Elizabeth Campbell | Il trovatore | Azucena |
| 2003 (3rd) | Joanna Cole | Lindy | Lindy Chamberlain |
| 2003 (3rd) | Elizabeth Connell | Ariadne auf Naxos | Ariadne |
| 2004 (4th) | Emma Matthews | Lulu | Lulu |
| 2004 (4th) | Kirsti Harms | Dead Man Walking | Sister Helen Prejean |
| 2004 (4th) | Nicole Youl | Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci | Santuzza |
| 2004 (4th) | Shu Cheen Yu | The Possessed | Judou |
| 2005 (5th) | Lisa Gasteen | The Ring Cycle | Brünnhilde |
| 2005 (5th) | Cheryl Barker | Tosca | Floria Tosca |
| 2005 (5th) | Bernadette Cullen | Il trovatore | Azucena |
| 2005 (5th) | Tiffany Speight | The Magic Flute | Pamina/Papagena |
| 2006 (6th) | Emma Matthews | Lakmé | Lakmé |
| 2006 (6th) | Elizabeth Connell | Nabucco | Abigaille |
| 2006 (6th) | Rachelle Durkin | Rinaldo | Almirena |
| 2006 (6th) | Emma Matthews | Romeo & Juliet | Juliet |
| 2007 (7th) | Emma Matthews | The Love of the Nightingale | Philomele |
| 2007 (7th) | Cheryl Barker | Rusalka | Rusalka |
| 2007 (7th) | Elvira Fatykhova | La traviata | Violetta Valéry |
| 2007 (7th) | Susan Bullock | Tristan und Isolde | Isolde |
| 2008 (8th) | Cheryl Barker | Arabella | Arabella |
| 2008 (8th) | Emma Matthews | Les Contes d'Hoffmann | Antonia, Giulietta, Olympia and Stella |
| 2008 (8th) | Kirsti Harms | Dead Man Walking | Sister Helen Prejean |
| 2008 (8th) | Elvira Fatykhova | Rigoletto | Gilda |
| 2009 (9th) | Tiffany Speight | The Coronation of Poppea | Poppea |
| 2009 (9th) | Rachelle Durkin | A Flowering Tree | Kumudha |
| 2009 (9th) | Susan Bullock | Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk | Katerina Lvovna Izmailova |
| 2009 (9th) | Cheryl Barker | The Makropoulos Secret | Elina Makropulos |
| 2010 (10th) | Emma Matthews | La sonnambula | Amina |
| 2010 (10th) | Susan Gritton | Peter Grimes | Ellen Orford |
| 2010 (10th) | Takesha Meshé Kizart | Tosca | Floria Tosca |
| 2010 (10th) | Lorina Gore | Bliss | Honey B |
| 2011 (11th) | Emma Matthews | Partenope | Partenope |
| 2011 (11th) | Rachelle Durkin | La sonnambula | Amina |
| 2011 (11th) | Rinat Shaham | Carmen | Carmen |
| 2011 (11th) | Patricia Racette | Madama Butterfly | Cio-Cio San |
| 2012 (12th) | Emma Matthews | La traviata | Violetta Valéry |
| 2012 (12th) | Rachelle Durkin | The Tales of Hoffmann | Antonia, Giulietta, Olympia and Stella |
| 2012 (12th) | Susan Foster | Turandot | Princess Turandot |
| 2012 (12th) | Eva Johansson | Elektra | Elektra |
| 2013 (13th) | Cheryl Barker | Salome | Salome |
| 2013 (13th) | Sara Macliver | L'Orfeo | Euridice |
| 2013 (13th) | Emma Matthews | Lucia di Lammermoor | Lucia |
| 2013 (13th) | Tamar Iveri | Un ballo in maschera | Amelia |
| 2014 (14th) | Christine Goerke | Elektra | Elektra |
| 2014 (14th) | Kathryn Lewek | Orlando | Angelica |
| 2014 (14th) | Emma Matthews | The Turk in Italy | Fiorilla |
| 2014 (14th) | Jessica Pratt | La traviata | Violetta |
| 2015 (15th) | Jennifer Rivera | Faramondo | Faramondo |
| 2015 (15th) | Nicole Car | Faust | Marguerite |
| 2015 (15th) | Caitlin Hulcup | Iphigénie en Tauride | Griselda |
| 2015 (15th) | Latonia Moore | Aida | Aida |
| 2016 (16th) | Nicole Car | Luisa Miller | Luisa Miller |
| 2016 (16th) | Latonia Moore | Don Carlos | Elisabeth de Valois |
| 2016 (16th) | Jessica Pratt | Lucia di Lammermoor | Lucia |
| 2016 (16th) | Ulrike Schneider | Agrippina | Agrippina |
| 2017 (17th) | Lise Lindstrom | The Ring Cycle | Brünnhilde |
| 2017 (17th) | Nicole Car | Così fan tutte | Fiordiligi |
| 2017 (17th) | Rachelle Durkin | Armida | Armida |
| 2017 (17th) | Antoinette Halloran | Tosca | Tosca |
| 2018 (18th) | Nicole Car | La Traviata | Violetta Valéry |
| 2018 (18th) | Taryn Fiebig | Triple Bill: Anacréon, Pigmalion and Erighetta e Don Chilone | The Priestess of Bacchus, The Statue and Erighetta |
| 2018 (18th) | Helen Sherman | Coronation of Poppea | Poppea |
| 2018 (18th) | Dimity Shepherd | Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets | Käthchen |
| 2019 (19th) | Lise Lindstrom | Salome | Salome |
| 2019 (19th) | Vivica Genaux | Artaserse | Mandane |
| 2019 (19th) | Lorina Gore | Wozzeck | Marie |
| 2019 (19th) | Jessica Pratt | Lucia di Lammermoor | Lucia |