This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 2012.
| Award | Author |
|---|---|
| Christopher Brennan Award [66] | Tim Thorne |
| Melbourne Prize for Literature [67] | Alex Miller |
| Patrick White Award [68] | Amanda Lohrey |
| Award | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Age Book of the Year [69] | James Boyce | 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia | Black Inc |
| ALS Gold Medal [70] | Gillian Mears | Foal's Bread | Allen & Unwin |
| Colin Roderick Award [71] | Thomas Keneally | The Daughters of Mars | Random House |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [72] | Anna Funder | All That I Am | Penguin Books |
| Nita Kibble Literary Award [73] | Gail Jones | Five Bells | Vintage Books |
| Victorian Prize for Literature [74] | Bill Gammage | The Biggest Estate on Earth | Allen & Unwin |
| Award | Region | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commonwealth Book Prize [75] | Pacific | Cory Taylor | Me and Mr Booker | Text Publishing |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davitt Award [85] | Novel | Sulari Gentill | A Decline in Prophets | Pantera Press |
| Young adult novel | Meg McKinlay | Surface Tension | Walker Books | |
| True crime | Liz Porter | Cold Case Files: Past Crimes Solved by New Forensic Science | Pan Macmillan | |
| Debut novel | Jaye Ford | Beyond Fear | Bantam Books | |
| Readers' choice | YA Erskine | The Brotherhood | Bantam Books | |
| Jaye Ford | Beyond Fear | Bantam Books | ||
| Ned Kelly Award [86] | Novel | J. C. Burke | Pig Boy | Random House Australia |
| First novel | Peter Twohig | The Cartographer | Fourth Estate | |
| True crime | Eamonn Duff | Sins of the Father: The Untold Story Behind Schapelle Corby's Ill-Fated Drug Run | Allen & Unwin | |
| Life achievement | Gabrielle Lord | |||
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurealis Award | SF Novel | Daniel O'Malley | The Rook | HarperCollins |
| SF Short Story | Margo Lanagan | "Significant Dust" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) | |
| Fantasy Novel | Margo Lanagan | Sea Hearts | Allen & Unwin | |
| Fantasy Short Story | Margo Lanagan | "Bajazzle" | Twelfth Planet Press (Cracklescape) | |
| Horror Novel | Kirstyn McDermott | Perfections | Xuom | |
| Horror Short Story | Kaaron Warren | "Sky" | Twelfth Planet Press (Through Splintered Walls) | |
| Anthology | Jonathan Strahan | The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume 6 | Night Shade Books | |
| Collection | K. J. Bishop | That Book Your Mad Ancestor Wrote | K. J. Bishop | |
| Australian Shadows Awards | Novel | Kirstyn McDermott | Perfections | Xoum |
| Long Fiction | Kaaron Warren | "Sky" | Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection edited by Alisa Krasnostein | |
| Short Fiction | Martin J. Livings | "Birthday Suit" | Living with the Dead by Martin J. Livings | |
| Edited Publication | Craig Bezant, editor | Surviving The End | Dark Prints Press | |
| Collected Works | Kaaron Warren | Through Splintered Walls: A Twelve Planets Collection | Twelfth Planet Press | |
| Ditmar Award | Novel | Kim Westwood | The Courier's New Bicycle | HarperVoyager |
| Novella/Novelette | Paul Haines | "The Past is a Bridge Best Left Burnt" | The Last Days of Kali Yuga | |
| Short Story | Tansy Rayner Roberts | "The Patrician" | Love and Romanpunk | |
| Collected Work | Paul Haines | The Last Days of Kali Yuga | Brimstone | |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Play | Joanna Murray-Smith | The Gift | Melbourne Theatre Company |
| Vanessa Bates | Porn.Cake | Beckett Theatre, Melbourne | ||
| Script | Peter Duncan | Rake (Episode 1): "R v Murray" | ABC Television | |
| Patrick White Playwrights' Award | Award | Anna Barnes | Minus One Sister | Griffin Theatre Company |
| Fellowship | Hilary Bell |
| Award | Category | Author | Title | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature [76] | Non-fiction | Mark McKenna | An Eye for Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark | Miegunyah Press |
| The Age Book of the Year | Non-fiction | James Boyce | 1835: The Founding of Melbourne & The Conquest of Australia | Black Inc. |
| Children's Book of the Year Award | Eve Pownall Award for Information Books | Alison Lester and Coral Tulloch | One Small Island: The Story of Macquarie Island | Penguin Group |
| Davitt Award | True crime | Liz Porter | Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science | Pan Macmillan |
| National Biography Award [90] | Biography | Martin Thomas | The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews: In Search of an Australian Anthropologist | Allen & Unwin |
| Indie Book Awards Book of the Year [72] | Non-Fiction | William McInnes & Sarah Watt | Worse Things Happen at Sea | Hachette |
| Prime Minister's Literary Awards | Non-fiction | Mark McKenna | An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark | Melbourne University Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards [81] | Non-fiction | Mark McKenna | An Eye for Eternity: The Live of Manning Clark | Melbourne University Publishing |
| New South Wales Premier's History Awards | Australian History | Russell McGregor | Indifferent Inclusion: Aboriginal People and the Australian Nation | Aboriginal Studies Press |
| Community and Regional History | Deborah Beck | Set in Stone: A History of the Cell Block Theatre | UNSW Press | |
| General History | Tim Bonyhady | Good Living Street: The Fortunes of My Viennese Family | Allen & Unwin | |
| Young People's | Stephanie Owen Reeder | Amazing Grace: An Adventure at Sea | National Library of Australia | |
| Queensland Literary Awards [82] | Non-fiction | Robin De Crespigny | The People Smuggler | Penguin Group |
| History | Bill Gammage | The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia | Allen & Unwin | |
| Victorian Premier's Literary Award [74] | Non-fiction | Bill Gammage | The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia | Allen & Unwin |
| Western Australian Premier's Book Awards | Non-fiction | Roger Averill (author) | Exile: The Lives and Hopes of Werner Pelz | Transit Lounge |
| Western Australian history | edited by Anne Scrimgeour; transcribed and translated by Barbara Hale, Mark Clendon | Kurlumarniny: We come from the Desert | Aboriginal Studies Press | |