New South Wales Premier's History Awards
The NSW Premier's History Awards honour distinguished achievement in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media by Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia.
History
The State Government of New South Wales, Australia established the Premier's History Awards in 1997, which were devised by members of the History Council of NSW including Max Kelly, Paul Ashton and Shirley Fitzgerald. In 2005 the name of the awards was changed to NSW Premier's History Awards. The awards are presented annually in early September and are managed by the State Library of NSW, in association with Create NSW.Categories
The following awards, each of $15,000 are offered:- Australian History Prize for a major published book or e-book on Australian history.
- General History Prize for a major published book or e-book on international history.
- NSW Community and Regional History Prize for a published book or e-book that makes a significant contribution to the understanding of community. institutional, urban or regional history in New South Wales.
- Young People's History Prize for a published book or e-book, film, television or radio program, CD-ROM, DVD, or website – fiction or non-fiction – that increases the understanding and appreciation of history by children and young adults.
- Digital History Prize for an Australian historian's interpretation of an historical subject using non-print media.
- Anzac Memorial Trustees Military History Prize for a work on the history of Australian veterans.
The Australian History Prize
In 2014, an Australian Military History Prize was announced. Mike Carlton was the winner of this sub-category for his book First Victory.| Year | Author | Title | Publisher |
| 2025 | Darren Rix and Craig Cormick | Warra Warra Wai | Scribner Australia |
| 2024 | Alecia Simmonds | Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law | La Trobe University Press, with Black Inc |
| 2023 | Alan Atkinson | Elizabeth and John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm | NewSouth Publishing |
| 2022 | Alexis Bergantz | French Connection: Australia’s Cosmopolitan Ambitions | NewSouth Publishing |
| 2021 | Grace Karskens | People of the River: Lost Worlds of Early Australia | Allen & Unwin |
| 2020 | James Dunk | Bedlam at Botany Bay | NewSouth Publishing |
| 2019 | Meredith Lake | The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History | NewSouth Books |
| 2018 | Christina Twomey | The Battle Within: POWs in Postwar Australia | NewSouth Publishing |
| 2017 | Mark McKenna | From the Edge: Australia’s Lost Histories | Melbourne University Publishing |
| 2016 | Stuart Macintyre | Australia’s Boldest Experiment: War and Reconstruction in the 1940s | NewSouth Books |
| 2015 | Alan Atkinson | The Europeans in Australia | UNSW Press |
| 2014 | Joan Beaumont | Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War | Allen & Unwin |
| 2013 | Janet Butler | Kitty's War: The remarkable wartime experiences of Kit McNaughton | University of Queensland Press |
| 2012 | Russell McGregor | Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal People and the Australian Nation | Aboriginal Studies Press |
| 2011 | Penny Russell | Savage or Civilised?: Manners in Colonial Australia | UNSW Press |
| 2010 | Bain Attwood | Possession: Batman's Treaty and the Matter of History | Melbourne University Publishing |
| 2009 | Robin Gerster | Travels in Atomic Sunshine: Australia and the Occupation of Japan | Scribe |
| 2008 | Paul Ham | Vietnam: The Australian War | HarperCollins |
| 2007 | Libby Robin | How a Continent Created a Nation | UNSW Press |
| 2006 | Richard Broome | Aboriginal Victorians: a History Since 1800 | Allen & Unwin |
| 2005 | Eileen Chanin and Steven Miller, with an introductory essay by Judith Pugh | Degenerates and Perverts: The 1939 Herald Exhibition of French and British Contemporary Art | Miegunyah Press at Melbourne University Publishing |
| 2004 | Stuart Macintyre and Anna Clark | The History Wars | Melbourne University Publishing |
| 2003 | James Bowen and Margarita Bowen | The Great Barrier Reef: History, Science, Heritage | Melbourne University Publishing |
| 2002 | Nadia Wheatley | The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift | HarperCollinsPublishers |
| 2001 | Tim Bonyhady | The Colonial Earth | Miegunyah Press at Melbourne University Publishing |
| 2000 | Peter Spearrit | Sydney's Century: A History | UNSW Press |
| 1999 | K.S. Inglis | Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian Landscape | Melbourne University Publishing |
| 1998 | Anne Whitehead | Paradise Mislaid: In Search of the Australian Tribe of Paraguay | University of Queensland Press |
| 1997 | Heather Goodall | Invasion to Embassy: Land in Aboriginal Politics in NSW, 1770–1972 | Allen & Unwin |
Digital History Prize
| Year | Creator | Title | Publisher |
| 2025 | Larissa Behrendt, Michaela Perske and Clare Wright | One Mind, One Heart | Pursekey Productions |
| 2024 | Allen Clarke, Jacob Hickey, Darren Dale and Belinda Mravicic | The Dark Emu Story | Blackfella Films |
| 2023 | Rachel Perkins, Darren Dale, Jacob Hickey and Don Watson | The Australian Wars, Episode 1 | Blackfella Films |
| 2022 | Katherine Biber, Loretta Parsley | The Last Outlaws | Impact Studios, the University of Technology Sydney |
| 2021 | Laurence Billiet | Freeman | General Strike and Matchbox Pictures |
| 2020 | Noëlle Janaczewska, Ros Bluett and Russell Stapleton | Experiment Street — the true history of a city lane | ABC Radio National: The History Listen |
| 2019 | Guardian Australia | The Killing Times | Guardian Australia and the University of Newcastle Colonial Massacres Research Team |
| 2018 | Warwick Thornton and Brendan Fletcher | We Don't Need a Map | Barefoot Communications |
| 2017 | Adam Clulow | The Amboyna Conspiracy Trial | Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media |
| 2016 | Victoria Midwinter Pitt and Alan Erson | Afghanistan: Inside Australia’s War | Essential Media & Entertainment |
| 2015 | Dan Goldberg and Margie Bryant | Brilliant Creatures | Mint Pictures & Serendipity Productions |
| 2014 | Michelle Arrow, Catherine Freyne and Timothy Nicastri | Public Intimacies: The 1974 Royal Commission on Human Relationships | ABC Radio National Hindsight |
| 2013 | Scott Hill and Jacqui Newling | The Cook and the Curator: Eat Your History | Sydney Living Museums |
| 2012 | Catherine Freyne and Phillip Ulman | Tit for Tat: The Story of Sandra Wilson | Hindsight, ABC Radio National |
| 2011 | Sonia Bible | Recipe for Murder | Stray Dog Pictures Pty Ltd for Jumping Dog Productions |
| 2009 | Rachel Landers and Dylan Bowen | A Northern Town | Pony Films |
| 2008 | Paul Rudd, Matthew Thomason, Wain Fimeri and Anthony Wright | Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery | Film Australia, Cook Films, Ferns Productions, South Pacific Films, December Films, ABC |
| 2007 | John Hughes | The Archive Project: The Realist Film Unit in Cold War Australia | Early Works – ABC TV |
| 2006 | Rolf de Heer | Ten Canoes | Vertigo Productions/Adelaide Festival of Arts |
| 2005 | Trevor Graham | Hula Girls | |
| 2004 | Tom Murray in collaboration with the Dhuruputjpi and Yilpara communities | Dhakiyarr vs the King | Film Australia |
| 2003 | Marée Delofski | The Trouble With Merle | Film Australia in association with SeeView Pictures |
| 2002 | Anita Heiss and Terri McCormack | Barani: Sydney's Aboriginal History | City of Sydney Web Team and History Program in conjunction with CyberDreaming, 2002 |
| 2001 | Michael Cummins | Thomson of Arnhem Land | Film Australia in association with John Moore, Martin Thiele and Michael McMahon |
| 2000 | Martin Thomas | This is Jimmy Barker | ABC Radio Audio Arts |
| 1999 | Michelle Rayner | Passes and Pathways | ABC Radio National |
| 1998 | Trevor Graham | Mabo: Life of an Island Man | Film Australia |
| 1997 | Bill Bunbury | Unfinished Business, episodes 1–6 Hindsight, | ABC Radio |
Anzac Memorial Trustees Military History Prize
Sponsored by the Anzac Memorial Trustees, this prize was first awarded in 2023.| Year | Author | Title | Publisher |
| 2025 | Patricia Collins | Rock and Tempest: Surviving Cyclone Tracy and its aftermath | Hachette Australia |
| 2024 | Kristen Alexander | Kriegies: The Australian Airmen of Stalag Luft III | Kristen Alexander |
| 2023 | June Factor | Soldiers and Aliens: Men in the Australian Army’s employment companies during World War II | Melbourne University Publishing |
Former Categories
State Records – John and Patricia Ward History Prize
This prize was first awarded in 2002 to encourage the use of archives in the writing of history. The State Record established the prize in recognition of the contribution to history and archives of NSW by John and Patricia Ward.| Year | Author | Title | Publisher |
| 2008 | Christina Twomey | Australia's Forgotten Prisoners: Civilians Interned by the Japanese in World War Two | Cambridge University Press |
| 2007 | Klaus Neumann | In the Interest of National Security: Civilian Internment in Australia | National Archives of Australia |
| 2006 | Gwenda Tavan | The Long, Slow Death of White Australia | Scribe Publications Pty Ltd |
| 2005 | Tony Roberts | Frontier Justice: a history of the Gulf Country to 1900 | UQP |
| 2004 | Bain Attwood | Rights for Aborigines | Allen & Unwin |
| 2003 | David Kent and Norma Townsend | The Convicts of the Eleanor: Protest in Rural England; New Lives in Australia | The Merlin Press Ltd. and Pluto Press Australia |
| 2002 | Thom Blake | A Dumping Ground: A History of the Cherbourg Settlement | UQP |
The Centenary of Federation Prize, 2001
The centenary award was created as a one-off presentation, the prize being sponsored by the NSW Centenary of Federation Committee. This award was for a "major work" relating to the Australian Federation period focussing on the political, social and cultural issues of Australia at that time.Winner
| Author | Title | Publisher |
| Geoffrey Bolton | Edmund Barton | Allen & Unwin |
Shortlisted
| Author | Title | Publisher |
| Peter Botsman | The Great Constitutional Swindle: a citizen's view of the Australian Constitution | Pluto Press, Australia |
| Helen Irving | The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation | Cambridge University Press |