Guests at long tables applaud during the SONARR Awards gala dinner at Machine Hall in Sydney, 15 October 2026. Image: SONARR Awards
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Colin Cassidy Takes the Acting Prize at Australia’s First All-Audio Awards. Here’s Every SONARR Winner

Published Priya Raman , , , , , , ,
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Australia’s audio industry now has one awards night for everything you can hear: podcasts, radio, audiobooks and voice-over. At the first SONARR Awards in Sydney, the Performance / Acting Excellence Award went to voice actor and impressionist Colin Cassidy, who beat two audiobook narrators to it.

The gala dinner was held on 15 October at Machine Hall, which the organisers describe as “a 100-year-old former substation in the CBD.” Alexei Toliopoulos hosted, guests sat at long tables in black tie, and 33 trophies went out across five pillars: Sound, Narrative, Voice, Impact and Vision.

SONARR, short for Sound and Narrative, bills itself as Australia’s first awards program to put all four audio formats under one banner. It arrives after two old fixtures went quiet. Mediaweek reported in June that the Australian Commercial Radio Awards ended in 2025, and the last Australian Podcast Awards was held in 2024.

For working voice actors, the part to watch is the VOICE pillar. It’s ten awards for people rather than shows, and one of them is for performance.

A voice-over win on a shortlist of narrators

Three finalists made the Performance / Acting Excellence shortlist: Yannick Lawry (audiobook, indie), Colin Cassidy (voice-over, indie) and Felicity Jurd (audiobook, indie). Cassidy, the only one entered as voice-over, took the trophy.

He calls himself “a Copywriter and Creative Director turned Pro-Voice” on his own website. He was born in outback Australia to a Scottish mother, spoke with a Scottish accent for the first five years of his life, then spent more than a decade in the UK working as a creative director and a British-accented voice before coming home to Sydney.

Colin Cassidy's website home page: Colin mid-performance in his recording booth in front of a microphone, under the Colin Cassidy Media voice actor banner. Screenshot: colincassidymedia.com, 20 October 2026

Colin Cassidy's website, 20 October 2026. Screenshot: colincassidymedia.com

Today he records “in a myriad of accents, impressions and characters for clients worldwide,” his site says, and the menus back that up. There are demos in American, Australian and British voices, a gaming reel, and impression pages for voices like David Attenborough, Morgan Freeman and Stephen Fry.

Lawry and Jurd were both entered for audiobook work, so long-form narration and voice-over were judged side by side for the same trophy. That’s SONARR’s whole pitch in one category.

How SONARR picked its winners

SONARR didn’t rank finalists against each other. According to its finalists announcement, every entry was assessed independently against six fixed criteria by industry practitioners and academics. Judges scored in writing, with no group deliberation, “ensuring no single judge’s view could sway another’s.”

Founder Pariya Taherzadeh, an award-winning executive producer and academic, made the case for that model when the finalists were named in September. “Conventional awards, although well-intentioned, haven’t kept pace with an industry that has outgrown them,” she told Mediaweek. “For years, many parts of audio production went unseen and unrecognised.”

The bar wasn’t for show. Some categories reached the night with only one or two finalists “because few entries met the bar,” the organisers said, and the Marketing for Audio Award got no entries at all. SONARR says so openly and has invited the industry to send in work for 2027.

Graphic: a red SONARR winner's envelope with the card pulled out. Performance / Acting Excellence Award, and the SONARR goes to Colin Cassidy, voice-over, indie. The three finalists: Yannick Lawry, audiobook, indie; Colin Cassidy, winner; Felicity Jurd, audiobook, indie

The rest of the VOICE pillar

The Host / Presenter Excellence Award went to Ashlynne McGhee, ahead of finalists Ashlea Hansen and Marc Fennell. Producer Excellence went to Rhys Gunter, who was also named top winner of the whole VOICE pillar and took the A$5,000 cash prize for the best commercial work.

SONARR winners page showing the Host / Presenter Excellence Award to Ashlynne McGhee, Producer Excellence Award to Rhys Gunter and Performance / Acting Excellence Award to Colin Cassidy, voice-over, indie, with their portraits. Screenshot: sonarr.au, 20 October 2026

SONARR's winners page, 20 October 2026. Screenshot: sonarr.au

Fennell still won four awards on the night: the CALD Creator Award, plus three for No One Saw It Coming with Marc Fennell on ABC Radio National, which took AFTRS Narrative Excellence, Knowledge and Learning, and Arts and Culture. SBS Audio won Network Excellence, a category where it was the only finalist.

Marc Fennell smiles holding three red horn-shaped SONARR trophies beside a guest holding a fourth, at Machine Hall in Sydney. Image: SONARR Awards

Marc Fennell at the SONARR Awards. Image: SONARR Awards

Audio drama gets its own trophy in the Narrative pillar, and it’s another one voice actors will care about. The Glam Gizmo, from Gizmo Verse, won it. The other finalist was the audiobook of Candice Fox’s The Night Caller from Penguin Random House ANZ.

The remaining six VOICE awards honour creators by community and career stage: independent, First Nations, female, LGBTQIA+, CALD and student creators.

Graphic: a long table seating plan with ten place cards for the VOICE pillar winners. Performance / Acting, Colin Cassidy; Producer, Rhys Gunter, top VOICE winner; Host / Presenter, Ashlynne McGhee; Network, SBS Audio; Indie Creator, Kyla Brettle; First Nations Creator, Sajarn Stow; Female Creator, Julia Rangiheuea; LGBTQIA+ Creator, Laura Brierley Newton; CALD Creator, Marc Fennell; Student Creator, Felicity Weaver, AFTRS

Who handed out the trophies

Trophies were presented by representatives of AFTRS, Podnews, ABC, RØDE, Original Audio, Podcast Workers Australia, Bedou and AAVA, along with independent creators including Farz Edraki and Gamilaroi media personality Matty Mills.

AAVA is The Australian Association of Voice Actors, and it’s one of four supporters SONARR names, alongside AFTRS, RØDE and Original Audio. Its stated mission is “To tirelessly advocate for human voice acting, while promoting community cohesion through events, education, resources and support for our entire industry.” Voice actors who missed Sydney get another chance soon: the association’s own gala dinner is on 24 October, according to its website.

SONARR of the Year and the big winners

Opening the night, Taherzadeh told the room why she started it: “We started it because audio in this country needed a fresh look: a new way of seeing it, a new way of being heard, and quite literally, a new way of being recognised. All of that requires us to re-imagine, and we wanted everyone to be part of the re-imagining.”

SONARR founder Pariya Taherzadeh smiles on stage in a red gown, holding a bouquet, at the SONARR Awards gala in Sydney. Image: SONARR Awards

Pariya Taherzadeh at the SONARR Awards gala. Image: SONARR Awards

The top prize, SONARR of the Year, went to A Cyclone for Christmas by Caddie Brain, made for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. It also won Sound Design and Atmosphere, top honours in the SOUND pillar and the A$5,000 cash prize for the best independent work.

Of the 33 awards presented, 22 went to indie work and 11 to commercial productions. We Used to be Journos (Ette Media) and SBS Audio won two each.

Every 2026 SONARR winner

Here’s the full list as SONARR published it, with the format and stream each winner entered.

SOUND

  • Audio Production: Conspiracy: War on the Waterfront, Rewind, ABC Radio National (Radio, Commercial)
  • Sound Design and Atmosphere: A Cyclone for Christmas, Caddie Brain, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Radio, Indie)
  • Original Sonic Identity: Shortwave, Ian Moorhead, Darwin Festival and ABC Radio Darwin (Radio, Indie)

NARRATIVE

  • AFTRS Narrative Excellence: No One Saw It Coming with Marc Fennell, ABC Radio National (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Audio Drama: The Glam Gizmo, Gizmo Verse (Podcast, Indie)
  • Investigative and Documentary: Dear Rachelle, True Crime Australia, News Corp Australia (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Cultural and Social Insight: The Voices of Women Podcast, Lliane Clarke (Podcast, Indie)
  • News and Public Discourse: We Used to be Journos, Ette Media (Podcast, Indie)
  • Knowledge and Learning: No One Saw It Coming with Marc Fennell, ABC Radio National (Podcast, Commercial)
  • STEM: Nocturnal Worlds, Audiocraft (Podcast, Indie)
  • Business and Entrepreneurship: Minted Kids with Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, F+K Media (Podcast, Indie)
  • Health and Wellbeing: Breaking Taboos: Older Australians Talk About Mental Health, Dr Helene Thomas, Dr Mia Lindgren and Professor Kate Burridge (Podcast, Indie)
  • Entertainment and Lifestyle: The World Cup, But Not Really, SBS Audio (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Comedy: Tony Martin’s Sizzletown, Pots and Pans (Podcast, Indie)
  • Youth and Family: Fluff ‘n’ Stuff, Pevan & Sarah (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Arts and Culture: No One Saw It Coming with Marc Fennell, ABC Radio National (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Music: Cassette Culture, Martin Franklin (Podcast, Indie)

VOICE

  • Indie Creator: Kyla Brettle (Podcast, Indie)
  • First Nations Creator: Sajarn Stow (Radio, Indie)
  • Female Creator: Julia Rangiheuea (Podcast, Indie)
  • LGBTQIA+ Creator: Laura Brierley Newton (Podcast, Indie)
  • CALD Creator: Marc Fennell (Podcast, Indie)
  • Student Creator: Felicity Weaver, AFTRS (Podcast, Indie)
  • Host / Presenter Excellence: Ashlynne McGhee (Podcast, Indie)
  • Producer Excellence: Rhys Gunter (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Performance / Acting Excellence: Colin Cassidy (Voice-Over, Indie)
  • Network Excellence: SBS Audio (Podcast and Radio, Commercial)

IMPACT

  • Community Wave Maker: Soil: Rewilding the Underground, Jessica Hamilton (Podcast, Indie)
  • Innovation: The Dynamic Blood Supply Audio System, NOVA Entertainment and Original Audio, Red Cross Australia: Lifeblood (Radio, Commercial)
  • Audience Connection: We Used to be Journos, Ette Media (Podcast, Indie)

VISION

  • Video for Audio: Wiggle Talk, A Podcast for Parents, The Wiggles (Podcast, Commercial)
  • Visual Identity: Real Made Up Stories, Coequal (Podcast, Indie)
  • Events for Audio: DomeFest, Dome and Finely Tuned (Podcast, Indie)

Pillar winners: SOUND, A Cyclone for Christmas; NARRATIVE, Dear Rachelle; VOICE, Rhys Gunter; IMPACT, The Dynamic Blood Supply Audio System; VISION, Real Made Up Stories. Cash prizes (A$5,000 each): A Cyclone for Christmas (indie) and Rhys Gunter (commercial). SONARR of the Year: A Cyclone for Christmas.

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Congratulations to every winner, and to the finalists who made the cut against a bar that some categories couldn’t clear. The full announcement is on Podnews.

Sources: SONARR Awards, winners announcement via Podnews (16 October 2026), finalists announcement via Podnews (10 September 2026), and the winners and gala dinner pages at sonarr.au; Mediaweek, “SONARR names 91 finalists for inaugural audio awards” (10 September 2026) and “Australia finally has one awards night for all of audio” (10 June 2026); The Australian Association of Voice Actors, aavavoices.org; Colin Cassidy Media, colincassidymedia.com. Images: SONARR Awards.

Lee este artículo en español: Colin Cassidy gana el premio de actuación en los primeros premios de todo el audio en Australia. Estos son todos los ganadores de SONARR

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