How do the Awards work?
Entries:
Entries in the 53rd Country Music Awards of Australia are for material released during the current eligibility period. This eligibility period is for recordings commercially released 1 October through to 30 September each year, unless otherwise advised.
Entry in the Awards will open at 9am on Thursday 27 August 2026, and will close at 5pm on Thursday 1st October 2026. Entries are accepted for country music audio and video recordings by artists or songwriters who are citizens or permanent residents of Australia or New Zealand. Artists entering in these Awards are required to be current financial members of the CMAA (apply HERE).
Judging:
There is a three-phase judging system: first phase is our Integrity Round (five categories: Alt Country Album of the Year, Traditional Country Album of the Year, Contemporary Country Album of the Year, Bush Ballad of the Year, and Bluegrass Recording of the Year), and this round determines whether the entry complies with the criteria in each of those categories. We have expert panels to determine eligibility in each of these categories. If an entry is considered by a majority of our specialist Integrity Panel Judges for that category to not fall within the guidelines and criteria, the artist is contacted and provided with the opportunity to either select another category in which to transfer to, or withdraw that entry.
Our VIP Round of judging is the second phase. Our VIP Judges are carefully selected from the industry including artists, record companies, media, broadcasters, and other industry professionals. Our VIP Judges determine the top five (5) Finalists in each category.
The top 5 Finalists in each category are announced in November 2026 (further information to be advised).
The final round of judging is undertaken by current financial CMAA Professional Members and the VIP judging panel, who vote to determine the winners in each of the voted categories.
Over 700+ separate pieces of recorded product and over 180 individual nominations generally feature in each year’s Awards.
The winners are announced at the gala Toyota Golden Guitar Awards presentation in Tamworth in January 2027.
If you’re considering entering in the 55th Country Music Awards of Australia, you will be required to read and accept all terms and conditions contained in our Awards Handbook (coming soon, though you are welcome to download last year's edition s a reference).
If you have any questions relating to rules, eligibility, or how to enter in these Awards please do not hesitate to contact us via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or call 0491 108 657 during business hours.
We much prefer to answer your questions than have to contact you to advise that your entry is not eligible!
DOWNLOAD LAST YEAR'S AWARDS HANDBOOK - FOR REFERENCE ONLY!!
The CMAA are partnered with Award Force, the industry leading online awards management system to provide our nomination and judging Award process that delivers the best, most advanced, thorough, secure and reliable Award experience available, anywhere in the world!