SONARR Awards - Winners 2026
The inaugural SONARR Awards was held last night in Sydney, hosted by Alexei Toliopoulos and bringing leading names from Australia’s audio industry together for a gala dinner celebrating the year’s best work. The debut set a new benchmark for how the industry is recognised: inclusive, detailed and creatively presented.
Opening the night, SONARR founder Pariya Taherzadeh said: “We started it because audio in this country needed a fresh look: a new way of seeing it, a new way of being heard, and quite literally, a new way of being recognised. All of that requires us to re-imagine, and we wanted everyone to be part of the re-imagining. Producers, composers, writers, event planners, creators from all walks of life. Podcast, radio, audiobook and voice-over, and all of them are built on the same two things: sound and narrative.”
The awards recognised not only well-known works and people, but also corners of the industry that rarely get a spotlight.
Winners from across the industry
Trophies were presented by representatives from AFTRS, Podnews, ABC, RØDE, Original Audio, Podcast Workers Australia, Bedou and the Australian Association of Voice Actors (AAVA), alongside independent creators including Farz Edraki and First Nations Gamilaroi, media personality Matty Mills.
The grand award of the night, SONARR of the Year, went to A Cyclone for Christmas by Caddie Brain, produced for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. SONARR also distributed a $10,000 prize pool, with $5,000 going to the top independent winner, A Cyclone for Christmas, and $5,000 to the top commercial winner, Rhys Gunter, who won the Producer Excellence Award.
Of the 33 awards presented, 22 went to independent creators and 11 to commercial productions. Marc Fennell won four awards: three for No One Saw It Coming with Marc Fennell (ABC Radio National) and the CALD Creator Award. We Used to be Journos (Ette Media) won two, and SBS Audio won two, including Network Excellence.
SONARR held the standard firmly. Some categories were presented with only one or two finalists, because few entries met the bar. One category, Marketing for Audio, received no entries. SONARR acknowledged this openly and invited the industry to submit work for the 2027 awards.
The evening was full of powerful speeches, alongside good food, conversation and networking.
A new fixture for the calendar
With the inaugural event complete, Australian audio now has an annual occasion to look forward to and to be recognised for a full year of work, to catch up with peers, and to celebrate the late-night edits and long hours behind the audio Australians listen to every day.
The SONARR Awards was supported by AFTRS, RODE, Original Audio and AAVA.
Full list of winners
SOUND pillar
- Sound Design and Atmosphere Award: A Cyclone for Christmas - Caddie Brain - Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Radio, Indie)
- Original Sonic Identity Award: Shortwave - Ian Moorhead - Darwin Festival and ABC Radio Darwin (Radio, Indie)
4.5 ★
NARRATIVE pillar
4.8 ★
Hosted by: Acast4.8 ★
Hosted by: Omny Studio4.6 ★
Hosted by: Libsyn
Hosted by: Acast4.9 ★
4.8 ★
Hosted by: Acast4.6 ★
Hosted by: Buzzsprout4.7 ★
Hosted by: Buzzsprout
Hosted by: StreamGuys
Hosted by: Podbean4.8 ★
Hosted by: Acast
4.8 ★
Hosted by: Omny Studio4.9 ★
VOICE pillar
- Indie Creator Award: Kyla Brettle (Podcast, Indie)
- First Nations Creator Award: Sajarn Stow (Radio, Indie)
- Female Creator Award: Julia Rangiheuea (Podcast, Indie)
- LGBTQA+ Creator Award: Laura Brierley Newton (Podcast, Indie)
- CALD Creator Award: Marc Fennell (Podcast, Indie)
- Student Creator Award: Felicity Weaver - AFTRS (Podcast, Indie)
- Host / Presenter Excellence Award: Ashlynne McGhee (Podcast, Indie)
- Producer Excellence Award: Rhys Gunter (Podcast, Commercial)
- Performance / Acting Excellence Award: Colin Cassidy (Voice-Over, Indie)
- Network Excellence Award: SBS Audio (Podcast and Radio, Commercial)
IMPACT pillar
- Innovation Award: The Dynamic Blood Supply Audio System - NOVA Entertainment and Original Audio - Red Cross Australia: Lifeblood (Radio, Commercial)
Hosted by: Acast
Hosted by: Acast4.9 ★
Vision pillar
- Events for Audio Award: DomeFest - Dome and Finely Tuned (Podcast, Indie)
Hosted by: Omny Studio
Hosted by: Spreaker
Top pillar winners
- SOUND: A Cyclone for Christmas - Caddie Brain - Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Radio, Indie)
- VOICE: Rhys Gunter (Podcast, Commercial)
- IMPACT: The Dynamic Blood Supply Audio System - NOVA Entertainment and Original Audio - Red Cross Australia: Lifeblood (Radio, Commercial)
Hosted by: Omny Studio4.6 ★
Cash Prize Winners ($5,000 each)
- Independent: A Cyclone for Christmas - Caddie Brain - Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Radio, Indie)
- Commercial: Rhys Gunter (Podcast, Commercial)
SONARR of the Year
- A Cyclone for Christmas - Caddie Brain - Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Radio, Indie)
The above list of podcasts is available as an OPML file for your podcast player
About Sonarr
SONARR Awards (Sound and Narrative) is Australia's dedicated awards initiative for excellence across the full audio landscape including Podcast, Radio, Audiobook, and Voice-over. SONARR champions independent voices, diverse storytelling, regional reach, and practitioner-led standards of excellence. Founded by award-winning executive producer and academic Pariya Taherzadeh and supported by AFTRS in its inaugural year, SONARR sets a new benchmark for recognising craft and artistry in categories that have never been recognised in the audio industry.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.