Antony Partos, Josh Hogan and Ned Beckley each have four nominations, while the field spans television, film, games, advertising, documentaries and children’s programming.
by Paul Cashmere
Antony Partos, Josh Hogan and Ned Beckley lead the nominations for the 2026 Screen Music Awards with four each, setting up a broad contest across television, film, games, documentaries and children’s programming when the awards are presented at Brisbane’s Fortitude Music Hall on Wednesday 28 October.
Partos has nominations for Edge of Life, The Artful Dodger and Christy, with the latter earning recognition in both Best Soundtrack Album and Feature Film Score of the Year. His four nominations continue a strong awards presence for a composer whose screen credits include The Slap, Jasper Jones and Mystery Road.
Hogan and Beckley’s four nominations are concentrated around the ABC animated series Tales from Outer Suburbia. Their work is recognised for Best Music for Children’s Programming, Best Opening Title Television Theme, Best Soundtrack Album and Best Original Song Composed for the Screen, the latter shared with Joni Hogan.
The song category adds another distinctive Australian screen music connection, with William Barton nominated for “The Spirit Shall Return” from Mystery Road: Origin. Caitlin Yeo is also nominated for “We Got Away With It” from He Had It Coming, while Steve Toulmin and the Caper Crew team complete the category.
The nominations also extend beyond traditional film and television scoring. Best Music for a Video Game or Other Interactive Media includes Christopher Larkin’s music for Hollow Knight: Silksong, Cedar Jones’ score for Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen, Belinda Coomes’ Malys and the work of Josh Abrahams and Jonathan Tron on Mixtape.
The inclusion of Hollow Knight: Silksong places one of Australia’s most recognised game composers, Christopher Larkin, alongside a new generation of screen and interactive composers. Larkin’s earlier work on the Hollow Knight universe helped establish the musical identity of Team Cherry’s game series, making the sequel nomination one of the more direct catalogue connections in this year’s field.
Adam Gock, Dinesh Wicks and Mitch Stewart each receive three nominations across the Most Performed Screen Composer categories and Best Music for Unscripted or Reality Television Series. Their television credits include MasterChef, My Kitchen Rules and Travel Guides, while Million Dollar Secret is nominated in the unscripted category.
Other multiple nominees include Adrian Leung, Bryony Marks, Caitlin Yeo, Cassie To, Emma Greenhill and Steve Toulmin.
The Emerging Screen Composer of the Year category brings together Andreas Dominguez, Emma Greenhill, Finn Clarke and Genevieve Patrick. Dominguez and Patrick are first-time nominees, while Clarke enters the category after winning Best Soundtrack Album in 2025.
The 2026 awards are part of APRA’s year-long centenary celebrations, marking 100 years of the organisation’s role in Australian songwriting and composition. The awards are presented by APRA AMCOS and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers.
The competitive categories are determined either by panels of Australian screen composers or statistical analysis. Most Performed Screen Composer awards are based on performance activity, while Emerging Screen Composer of the Year and the Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award are selected by the APRA Board.
The recipient of the 2026 Distinguished Services to the Australian Screen Award will be announced on Tuesday 13 October.
The ceremony will be hosted by Rob Collins, with Claudia Karvan OAM and Ayesha Madon as guest presenters. Erkki Veltheim will serve as Music Director and lead the live musical component of the evening.
2026 Screen Music Awards Nominees
Best Music for an Advertisement
Lego – Project Vehicles – Benjamin Lam
Sarah & Sebastian – Ondine – Mara Schwerdtfeger
Telstra – Tame Your Tech – Scott Langley
Voice of Resistance – Fred Leone, Mariah Alone, Dion Brownfield, Caleb Tasker, Skye Thomas, Corey Webster, Dallas Woods
Best Music for Children’s Programming
Caper Crew – Steve Toulmin
Kiki Can Fly (Zoo, Special Edition) – David Skinner
Tales from Outer Suburbia (Episode 10) – Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan
The Pout-Pout Fish – Ack Kinmonth
Best Music for a Documentary
Edge of Life – Antony Partos
Reported Missing (Season 5 Episode 1) – Adrian Leung
Sentient – Helena Czajka
Whistle – Haydn Walker
Best Music for a Short Film
Filthy – Chiara Costanza
Spiders on My Lashline – Freya
Trading Cards – Nicholas Gardiner
The Worm – Callum O’Reilly
Best Music for a Television Comedy
Dog Park (Episode 1) – Bryony Marks
He Had It Coming (Episode 7) – Caitlin Yeo
Sunny Nights (Episode 1) – Matteo Zingales
The Witchy Girls (Episode 6) – Peter Corrigan, Georgina Darvidis and Matthew Sheers
Best Music for a Television Drama
Playing Gracie Darling (Episode 5) – Jan Skubiszewski
Reckless (Episode 4) – Cassie To and Emma Greenhill
The Artful Dodger (Season 2, Episode 3) – Antony Partos
The Family Next Door (Episode 1) – Bryony Marks
Best Music for Unscripted or Reality Television Series
Beyond Bali with Lara Lee – Amara Primero and Melany Thompson
Million Dollar Secret (Season 2) – Adam Gock, Dinesh Wicks, David Bruggemann, Rory Chenoweth, Lydia Davies, Brontë Horder, Adam Sofo, Mitch Stewart and Cassie To
Muster Dogs (Season 4) – Mark Walmsley
Tucci in Italy (Season 2) – Richard Pike
Best Music for a Video Game or Other Interactive Media
Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen – Cedar Jones
Hollow Knight: Silksong – Christopher Larkin
Malys – Belinda Coomes
Mixtape – Josh Abrahams and Jonathan Tron
Best Opening Title Television Theme
Flower and Flour – Hylton Mowday
Reported Missing – Adrian Leung
Revealed: Death Cap Murders – Simon Walbrook
Tales from Outer Suburbia – Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan
Best Original Song Composed for the Screen
“Nothing Stays the Same” from Tales from Outer Suburbia – Ned Beckley, Joni Hogan and Josh Hogan
“Nug Luck” from Caper Crew – Steve Toulmin
“The Spirit Shall Return” from Mystery Road: Origin – William Barton
“We Got Away With It” from He Had It Coming – Caitlin Yeo
Best Soundtrack Album
Christy – Antony Partos
Deadloch (Season 2) – Amanda Brown
Tales from Outer Suburbia – Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan
Together – Cornel Wilczek and Alex Olijnyk
Feature Film Score of the Year
Addition – Piers Burbrook de Vere and Rose Mackenzie-Peterson
Christy – Antony Partos
Monument – Kenneth Lampl
War Machine – Dmitri Golovko
Emerging Screen Composer of the Year
Andreas Dominguez
Emma Greenhill
Finn Clarke
Genevieve Patrick
Most Performed Screen Composer, Australia
Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks – MasterChef, My Kitchen Rules, Travel Guides
Damian De Boos-Smith – Better Homes & Gardens, Return to Paradise, The Block
Jay Stewart – Better Homes & Gardens, It’s Academic, The Block
Mitch Stewart – MasterChef, My Kitchen Rules, Travel Guides
Most Performed Screen Composer, Overseas
Adam Gock and Dinesh Wicks – Con Girl, Lego Masters, Married at First Sight
Anthony Ammar – Love on the Spectrum, Married at First Sight, MasterChef
Joff Bush – Bluey, The Strange Chores
Mitch Stewart – Con Girl, Lego Masters, Married at First Sight
The 2026 Screen Music Awards will take place from 5.30pm on Wednesday 28 October at Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane.
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