AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay

The AACTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), for an Australian screenplay "based on material previously released or published".^[1] Prior to the establishment of the Academy in 2011, the award was presented by the Australian Film Institute (AFI) at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (more commonly known as the AFI Awards).^[2] It was first handed out in 1978 when the award for Best Screenplay (which was first presented at the 1974-75 awards) was split into two categories: Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. The award has since been presented intermittently from 1978 to 1979, 1983–1987, 1989, 1993–2003, 2005–2006, and then from 2008–present.^[2]

Best Adapted Screenplay AACTA Award
Country	Australia
Presented by	Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA)
First award	1978
Currently held by	Robert Connolly, Harry Cripps, The Dry (2021)
Website	http://www.aacta.org

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the same year. The films and screenwriters in bold and in yellow background have won are the winners. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning screenplay first and then the other nominees.^[3][4]

Contents
AFI Awards (1978-2010) AACTA Awards (2011-present)

  Winner marked in a separate colour

Year	Film	Screenwriter(s)	Source
1970s
1978	The Getting of Wisdom	Eleanor Witcombe	The novel of the same name by Henry Handel Richardson
	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith	Fred Schepisi	The novel of the same name by Thomas Keneally
	The Mango Tree	Michael Pate	The novel of the same name by Ronald McKie
	Weekend of Shadows	Peter Yeldham	The novel The Reckoning by Hugh Atkinson
1979	My Brilliant Career	Eleanor Witcombe	The novel of the same name by Miles Franklin
	Cathy's Child	Ken Quinnell	The novel A Piece of Paper by Dick Wordley
	The Last of the Knucklemen	Tim Burstall	The novel of the same name by John Power
	Money Movers	Bruce Beresford	The novel of the same name by Devon Minchin
1980s
1983	Careful, He Might Hear You	Michael Jenkins	The novel of the same name by Sumner Locke Elliott
	Now and Forever	Richard Cassidy	The novel of the same name by Danielle Steel
	The Wild Duck	Tutte Lemkow, Dido Merwin, Henri Safran and Peter Smalley	The play of the same name by Henrik Ibsen
	The Year of Living Dangerously	Christopher Koch, Peter Weir and David Williamson	The novel of the same name by Koch
1984	Annie's Coming Out	John Patterson and Chris Borthwick	The novel of the same name by Rosemary Crossley & Anne McDonald
	BMX Bandits	Patrick Edgeworth	A story by Russell Hagg
	Razorback	Everett De Roche	The novel of the same name by Peter Brennan
	Strikebound	Richard Lowenstein	The novel Dead Men Don't Dig Coal by Wendy Lowenstein
1985	Bliss	Peter Carey and Ray Lawrence	The novel of the same name by Carey
	An Indecent Obsession	Denise Morgan	The novel of the same name by Colleen McCullough
	The Coca-Cola Kid	Frank Moorhouse	The short stories The Americans, Baby & The Electrical Experience by Moorhouse
	Rebel	Michael Jenkins and Bob Herbert	The play No Names, No Pack Drill by Herbert
1986	The Fringe Dwellers	Bruce Beresford and Rhoisin Beresford	The novel of the same name by Peter Carey
	For Love Alone	Stephen Wallace	The novel of the same name by Christina Stead
	Kangaroo	Evan Jones	The novel of the same name by D. H. Lawrence
	Playing Beatie Bow	Peter Gawler	The novel of the same name by Ruth Park
1987	Travelling North	David Williamson	The play of the same name by Williamson
	The Place at the Coast	Hilary Furlong	The novel of the same name by Jane Hyde
	Slate, Wyn & Me	Don McLennan	The novel of the same name by Georgia Savage
	Vincent	Paul Cox	Based on the letters of Vincent van Gogh
1989	Evil Angels	Robert Caswell and Fred Schepisi	The novel of the same name by John Bryson
	Compo	Abe Pogos	The play of the same name by Pogos
	Dead Calm	Terry Hayes	The novel of the same name by Charles F. Williams
	Emerald City	David Williamson	The play of the same name by Williamson
1990s
1993	Blackfellas	James Ricketson	The novel of the same name by Archie Weller
	Black River	Kevin Lucas	The opera of the same name by Andrew & Julianne Schultz
	No Worries	David Holman	The play of the same name by Holman
	The Silver Brumby	John Tatoulis and Jon Stephens	The children's book series of the same name by Elyne Mitchell
1994	The Sum of Us	David Stevens	The play of the same name by Stevens
	Country Life	Michael Blakemore	The play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov
	Everynight ... Everynight	Ray Mooney and Alkinos Tsilimidos	The play of the same name by Mooney
	Traps	Robert Carter and Pauline Chan	The novel Dreamhouse by Kate Grenville
1995	Hotel Sorrento	Richard Franklin and Peter Fitzpatrick	The play of the same name by Hannie Rayson
	Dad and Dave: On Our Selection	George Whaley	Based on the characters created by Steele Rudd
	Sanctuary	David Williamson	The play of the same name by Williamson
	That Eye, the Sky	John Ruane and Jim Barton	The novel of the same name by Tim Winton.
1996	Cosi	Louis Nowra	The play of the same name by Nowra
	Dead Heart	Nick Parsons	The play of the same name by Parsons
	Life	John Brumpton and Lawrence Johnston	The play Containment by Brumpton
	What I Have Written	John A. Scott	The novel of the same name by Scott
1997	The Well	Laura Jones	The novel of the same name by Elizabeth Jolley
	Blackrock	Nick Enright	The play of the same name by Enright
	Love in Ambush	Carl Schultz	The novel Jarai by Loup Durand
1998	The Boys	Stephen Sewell	The play of the same name by Gordon Graham
	Head On	Andrew Bovell, Ana Kokkinos and Mira Robertson	The novel Loaded by Christos Tsiolkas
	Oscar and Lucinda	Laura Jones	The novel of the same name by Peter Carey
	Radiance	Louis Nowra	The play of the same name by Nowra
1999	Praise	Andrew McGahan	The novel of the same name by McGahan
2000s
2000	Looking for Alibrandi	Melina Marchetta	The novel of the same name by Marchetta
	Chopper	Andrew Dominik	The autobiographies of Mark "Chopper" Read
	The Magic Pudding	Harry Cripps, Greg Haddrick and Simon Hopkinson	The children's book of the same name by Norman Lindsay
2001	Lantana	Andrew Bovell	The play Speaking In Tongues by Bovell
	He Died with a Felafel in His Hand	Richard Lowenstein	The novel of the same name by John Birmingham
	The Monkey's Mask	Anne Kennedy	The novel of the same name by Dorothy Porter
	Silent Partner	Daniel Keene	The play of the same name by Keene
2002	Australian Rules	Paul Goldman and Phillip Gwynne	The novel Deadly, Unna? by Gwynne
	Molokai: The Story of Father Damien	John Briley	The biography of the same name by Hilde Eynikel
	Rabbit-Proof Fence	Christine Olsen	The non-fiction book Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara
	Swimming Upstream	Tony Fingleton	The memoir of the same name by Diane & Tony Fingleton
2003	The Rage in Placid Lake	Tony McNamara	The play The Cafe Latte Kid by McNamara
	Blurred	Stephen Davies and Kier Shorey	The play of the same name by Davis
	Ned Kelly	John Michael McDonagh	The novel Our Sunshine by Robert Drewe
	Teesh and Trude	Vanessa Lomma	The play of the same name by Wilson McCaskill
2005	Three Dollars	Robert Connolly and Elliot Perlman	The novel of the same name by Perlman
	Hating Alison Ashley	Christine Madafferi	The novel of the same name by Robin Klein
	The Illustrated Family Doctor	David Snell and Kriv Stenders	The novel of the same name by Robert Drewe
	The Widower	Lyndon Terracini	The poems Evening Alone at Bunyah, Noonday Axeman, The Widower in the Country, Cowyard Gates & The Last Hellos by Les Murray
2006	Candy	Neil Armfield and Luke Davies	The novel Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction by Davies
	The Book of Revelation	Andrew Bovell and Ana Kokkinos	The novel of the same name by Rupert Thomson
	Jindabyne	Beatrix Christian	The short story So Much Water So Close to Home by Raymond Carver
	Last Train to Freo	Reg Cribb	The play The Return by Cribb
2008	Unfinished Sky	Peter Duncan	Based on the film The Polish Bride by Kees van der Hulst
	All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane	Stephen Vagg	The play of the same name by Vagg
2009	Balibo	Robert Connolly and David Williamson	The non-fiction book Cover-Up by Jill Jolliffe
	Beautiful Kate	Rachel Ward	The novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg
	Blessed	Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves and Christos Tsiolkas	The play Who's Afraid of the Working Class? by Bovell
	Mao's Last Dancer	Jan Sardi	The memoir of the same name by Li Cunxin
2010s
2010	Tomorrow, When the War Began	Stuart Beattie	The novel of the same name by John Marsden
	The Boys Are Back	Allan Cubitt	The memoir The Boys Are Back in Town by Simon Carr
	Bran Nue Dae	Reg Cribb, Rachel Perkins and Jimmy Chi	The musical of the same name by Chi
	The Tree	Julie Bertuccelli	The novel Our Father Who Art in the Tree by Judy Pascoe
AACTA Awards
2011 (1st)	Snowtown	Shaun Grant	Based on the true story of the Snowtown murders
	The Eye of the Storm	Judy Morris	The novel of the same name by Patrick White
	The Hunter	Alice Addison	The novel of the same name by Julia Leigh
	Red Dog	Daniel Taplitz	The novel of the same name by Louis de Bernières
2012 (2nd)	The Sapphires	Tony Briggs and Keith Thompson	The play of the same name by Briggs
	Lore	Robin Mukherjee and Cate Shortland	The novel The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert
2013 (3rd)	The Great Gatsby	Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce	The novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald
	Adoration	Christopher Hampton	The short story collection The Grandmothers by Doris Lessing
	Dead Europe	Louise Fox	The novel of the same name by Christos Tsiolkas
	The Turning	The Turning Ensemble	The short story collection of the same name by Tim Winton
2014 (4th)	The Railway Man	Frank Cottrell Boyce and Andy Paterson	The memoir of the same name by Eric Lomax
	Predestination	The Spierig Brothers	The novel All You Zombies by Robert A. Heinlein
2015 (5th)	Last Cab to Darwin	Reg Cribb and Jeremy Sims	The play of the same name by Cribb
	Holding the Man	Tommy Murphy	The memoir of the same name by Timothy Conigrave
	Ruben Guthrie	Brendan Cowell	The play of the same name by Cowell
2016 (6th)	The Daughter	Simon Stone	The play The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen
	Girl Asleep	Matthew Whittet	The play of the same name by Whittet
2017 (7th)	Lion	Luke Davies	The memoir A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley & Larry Buttrose
	Berlin Syndrome	Shaun Grant	The novel of the same name by Melanie Joosten
	Don't Tell	Anne Brooksbank, Ursula Cleary and James Greville	Based on the true story
	Jasper Jones	Shaun Grant and Craig Silvey	The novel of the same name by Silvey
2018 (8th)
	Boy Erased	Joel Edgerton	The memoir Boy Erased: A Memoir by Garrard Conley
	Breath	Simon Baker, Gerard Lee and Tim Winton	The novel of the same name by Winton
	Cargo	Yolanda Ramke	Based on the short film of the same name by Ramke
	Ladies in Black	Bruce Beresford and Sue Milliken	The novel The Women in Black by Madeleine St John
2021 (11th)
	The Dry	Robert Connolly and Harry Cripps	The novel of the same name by Jane Harper
	Penguin Bloom	Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps	The novel of the same name by Bradley Trevor Greive
	Peter Rabbit 2	Patrick Burleigh and Will Gluck	Based on the stories of Peter Rabbit created by Beatrix Potter
	Rams	James Duncan	Based on the film of the same name by Grímur Hákonarson

See also

• AACTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
• AACTA Award for Best Screenplay, Original or Adapted
• AACTA Award for Best Screenplay in a Short Film
• Australian Film Institute Award for Best Screenplay
• AACTA Awards