Nominations Open for the 2025 National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs)
This is your chance to nominate your favourite First Nations artists for a slew of awesome awards.
Image Benjamin Warlngundu Ellis
Nominations are now open for the 2025 National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs), giving music fans the chance to highlight their favourite First Nations talent.
Presented by YouTube, this year’s awards ceremony will take place at Garamilla/Darwin’s Darwin Amphitheatre on Saturday, August 9. Nominations are open from now until June 16 (nominate here), with fans able to vote for Artist of the Year, Best New Talent, Album of the Year, Film Clip of the Year, Community Clip of the Year and Song of the Year.
On the Awards, NIMAs 2025 Creative Producer Libby Collins says: “The NIMAs are excited to be back for 2025 and continuing to celebrate First Nations achievement on the big stage, here on Larrakia Land. Alongside our new partner YouTube, we look forward to seeing everyone in Garramilla (Darwin) in August!”
Along with handing out awards, the NIMAs offers First Nations artists the chance to perform on the national stage, with the event featuring live performances from a raft of artists. Previous award shows have seen pioneers including Yothu Yindi, Dr G. Yunupingu (Gurrumul), Jessica Mauboy and Dan Sultan, along with modern groundbreakers such as 3% and Miss Kannina, take to the stage.
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This year’s NIMAs sees the annual event form a new partnership with YouTube, which will see the award ceremony livestreamed to a global audience, further exposing Indigenous music to an international audience.
“It’s a truly special year for both YouTube and the NIMAs as we each celebrate two decades of impact. For 20 years, YouTube has been a launchpad for artists worldwide, and the NIMAs have been championing Indigenous music in Australia,” said Ed Miles, Head of YouTube Australia and New Zealand.
“This partnership underscores our common vision: to empower artists and ensure their stories and sounds resonate with audiences everywhere, and we can't wait to spotlight incredible First Nations talent and share these spectacular awards with the world.”
To nominate your favourite artist, music release and more from the past year, head to nima.musicnt.com.au. Nominations will close on June 13.
The 2025 NIMAs take place on Saturday, August 9, at Garamilla/Darwin’s Darwin Amphitheatre. Cast your nominations now via nima.musicnt.com.au.
