The Golden Guitars are the Country Music Awards of Australia, a central part of the story of Australian country music. Their history brings together a radio station, a festival city and an industry organisation. Following that history means keeping several dates in view: the first awards, the formation of the Country Music Association of Australia and the later editions of the concert.
Tamworth and the First Awards
The CMAA's overview of the Golden Guitars dates the first awards to 1973, around the time Tamworth became known as Australia's Home of Country Music. It describes the event as the nation's longest-running music awards concert and the pinnacle event of the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Those descriptions place the awards within a wider musical gathering, while recognising the concert's own continuity.
The CMAA's history gives the starting point more precisely: in January 1973, radio station 2TM launched the Australasian Country Music Awards. The station's role is an essential part of the chronology. The awards were already established before the association that would later take responsibility for them came into being.
The CMAA says the awards have played a key role in developing and promoting Australian country music since they began. An awards history can therefore be read as more than a sequence of trophies. It also offers a way to follow the institutions through which a musical tradition presents itself and gives recognition to its work.
How the CMAA Took Over the Awards
According to the CMAA's history of the association, the organisers decided in late 1991 to discontinue the traditional awards night. Instead, Golden Guitars would be presented at several venues during the festival. That format was used in January 1992, and the industry considered it a failure. The history records that the decision had been made without industry consultation.
Artists, record companies, songwriters and other industry participants objected to the change. Their response brought the interests of these different parts of country music into the same discussion.
The response led to the formation of an organisation to represent the interests of Australian country music, particularly in relation to the awards. The Country Music Association of Australia was launched in Tamworth in January 1992. A board of 18 industry members was appointed, giving the association a structure through which to pursue that purpose.
Funding came from a concert at the Rodeo Arena in January 1992, where major artists performed without payment. The concert raised more than $40,000. APRA also provided a $10,000 grant and legal assistance. These details show that establishing the association involved practical support as well as a shared concern about the awards.
After negotiations, 2TM agreed by June 1992 to hand over the awards to the CMAA without charge. The distinction between 1973 and 1992 matters: the earlier date marks the first awards, while the later year marks the association's launch and the transfer of responsibility. Keeping those events separate makes the sequence easier to understand.
The Roll of Renown
The CMAA's 2026 awards report names Slim Dusty, Smoky Dawson and Reg Lindsay among the legends in the Australasian Country Music Roll of Renown. That list offers another thread to follow when exploring the history of country music and the people recognised within it.
The Awards in 2026
The CMAA's announcement for the 2026 ceremony identifies the Toyota Golden Guitar Awards as their 54th edition. The event took place on Saturday 24 January 2026 at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre. The edition number, date and venue provide a clear reference point for that year's concert.
Counting the Country Music Industry
The CMAA's Valuing Australian Country Music 2025 looks beyond the awards concert. It updates findings reported in 2019 to examine recovery from travel restrictions, capacity restrictions and event cancellations during the COVID years. The association describes its approach as a detailed, census-like analysis of every sector of the country music industry, incorporating survey responses from event and gig attendees and performers.
Method is another useful point of comparison. The CMAA says it adopted the same methodology as its 2019 study, The Economic and Cultural Value of Australian Country Music 2018. Retaining that approach gives readers a consistent basis for following the association's comparison with the period before travel and venue restrictions disrupted music activity.
A broader economic view appears in Music Australia's May 2026 account of The Bass Line. The report estimated that Australia's music industry generated $10.76 billion in revenue in 2024–25 and contributed $4.28 billion in direct Gross Value Added. The companion music education report put that sector's revenue at $1.79 billion.
The scope of those figures matters. The Bass Line's total concerns Australia's music industry, while the CMAA study focuses on country music. The reporting date and the period measured also serve different purposes: publication in 2026 accompanies figures for 2024–25. These studies offer context for the work around music, alongside the awards' account of recognition and the festival concert.