AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama

In the following table, the years listed correspond to the year that the television programme aired on Australian television; the ceremonies are usually held the following year.{{ref label|Ceremonies|A|}} The actor whose name is emphasised in boldface and highlighted in yellow have won the award. Those that are neither highlighted nor in bold are the nominees. When sorted chronologically, the table always lists the winning actor first and then the other nominees.{{cite web | title = AFI/AACTA Award, Winners and Nominees | publisher = Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) | url = http://aacta.org/winners-nominees.aspx | access-date = 8 January 2014}} (User must click on the appropriate decades to access the winners and nominees of each year.) There was no nomination announcement for television categories leading up to the 1986 awards, and therefore only the winners are known.{{cite web | title = AFI/AACTA Award, Winners and Nominees - 1986 | publisher = Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) | url = http://aacta.org/winners-nominees/1980-1989/1987.aspx | access-date = 12 February 2014}}

All sources used in this article make no mention of the episode or series that the actor was nominated for prior to 1991, and therefore have "N/A" template in the "Episode/Series" column. After 1991, the winners and nominees with the "N/A" template in the "Episode/Series" column are television films or miniseries. Those winners and nominees which have the "N/A" template and crosses (†) in the "Episode/Series" column, are TV series, but all reliable sources do not indicate which episode or series the actor was nominated for.

| {{n/a}}

| ABC

|-

| Nick Tate

| Olive

| Anthony Wheeler

| {{n/a}}

| ABC

|-

| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 1989
(31st)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

| Bill Hunter

| Police State

| Graeme Parker

| {{n/a}}

| ABC

|-

| Bob Baines

| Malpractice

| Doug Davis

| {{n/a}}

| ABC

|-

| Gary Sweet

| Police Rescue

| Sgt. Steve 'Mickey' McClintock

| {{n/a}}

| ABC

|-

| Max Phipps

| Police State

| Terry Lewis

| {{n/a}}

| ABC

|}

| Lockie Leonard

| Phillip Leonard

| {{n/a}}

| Nine Network

|-

| Aaron Pedersen

| The Circuit

| Drew Ellis

| Series 2

| SBS

|-

| colspan="6" style="background:#ffdead; text-align:center;"| {{anchor|AACTA}}AACTA Awards

|-

| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2011
(1st)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

| Alex Dimitriades

| The Slap

| Harry

| {{n/a}}

| ABC1

|-

| Rob Carlton

| Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo

| Kerry Packer

| {{n/a}}

| ABC1

|-

| Don Hany

| East West 101

| Detective Zane Malik

| Season 3, Episode 1: "The Hero's Standard"

| SBS One

|-

| Jonathan LaPaglia

| The Slap

| Hector

| {{n/a}}

| ABC1

|-

| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2012
(2nd)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

| Richard Roxburgh

| Rake

| Cleaver Greene

| Series 2

| ABC1

|-

| Jimi Bani

| Mabo

| Eddie Mabo

| {{n/a}}

| ABC1

|-

| Anthony Hayes

| Devil's Dust

| Bernie Banton

| {{n/a}}

| ABC1

|-

| Lachy Hulme

| Howzat! Kerry Packer's War

| Kerry Packer

| {{n/a}}

| Nine Network

|-

| rowspan=5 style="text-align:center" | 2013
(3rd)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

| Lachy Hulme

| Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch War

| Frank Packer

| {{n/a}}

| Nine Network

|-

| Ernie Dingo

| Redfern Now

| Ernie Johnson

| Series 2, Episode 6: "Dogs of War"

| ABC1

|-

| Remy Hii

| Better Man

| Van Tuong Nguyen

| {{n/a}}

| SBS

|-

| Meyne Wyatt

| Redfern Now

| Justin

| Series 2, Episode 3: "Babe in Arms"

| ABC1

|-

| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" |2014
(4th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Ashley Zukerman

|The Code

|

|

|ABC

|-

|Luke Arnold

|INXS: Never Tear Us Apart

|

|

|Seven Network

|-

|Richard Roxburgh

|Rake

|

|Series 3

|ABC

|-

|Dan Spielman

|The Code

|

|

|ABC

|-

| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" |2015
(5th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Joel Jackson

|Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door

|

|

|Seven Network

|-

|Wayne Blair

|Redfern Now

|

|

|ABC

|-

|Joel Jackson

|Deadline Gallipoli

|

|

|FOXTEL

|-

|Oliver Jackson-Cohen

|The Secret River

|

|

|ABC

|-

| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" |2016
(6th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Samuel Johnson

|Molly

|

|

|Seven Network

|-

|Matt Nable

|Barracuda

|

|

|ABC

|-

|Richard Roxburgh

|Rake

|

|

|ABC

|-

|Ashley Zukerman

|The Code

|

|

|ABC

|-

| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" |2017
(7th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Hugo Weaving

|Seven Types of Ambiguity

|

|

|ABC

|-

|David Dencik

|Top of the Lake: China Girl

|

|

|Foxtel/BBC First

|-

|Sean Keenan

|Wake in Fright

|

|

|Network Ten

|-

|Richard Roxburgh

|Blue Murder: Killer Cop

|

|

|Seven Network

|-

| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center" |2018
(8th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Damon Herriman

|Riot

|

|

|ABC

|-

|Aaron Pedersen

|Mystery Road

|

|

|ABC

|-

|Richard Roxburgh

|Rake

|

|

|ABC1

|-

|Scott Ryan

|Mr Inbetween

|

|

|FX

|-

|Hazem Shammas

|Safe Harbour

|

|

|SBS

|-

| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center" |2019
(9th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Scott Ryan

|Mr Inbetween

|Ray Shoesmith

|

|FX

|-

|Patrick Brammall

|Glitch

|Sgt. James Hayes

|

|ABC

|-

|Bryan Brown

|Bloom

|Ray Reed

|

|Stan

|-

|Ewen Leslie

|The Cry

|Alistair Robertson

|

|ABC

|-

|Sam Reid

|Lambs of God

|Father Ignatius

|

|Foxtel

|-

| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center" |2020
(10th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Fayssal Bazzi

|Stateless

|Ameer

|

|ABC

|-

|Bryan Brown

|Bloom

|Ray Reed

|

|Stan

|-

|Jai Courtney

|Stateless

|Cam Sandford

|

|ABC

|-

|Ewen Leslie

|Operation Buffalo

|Major Leo Carmichael

|

|ABC

|-

|Aaron Pedersen

|Mystery Road

|Jay Swan

|

|ABC

|-

| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center" |2021
(11th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Scott Ryan{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |date=2021-12-09 |title=Full winners announced for the 2021 AACTA Awards |url=https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2021/12/09/full-winners-announced-for-the-2021-aacta-awards/ |access-date=2022-12-30 |website=TV Blackbox |language=en-AU}}

|Mr Inbetween

|Ray Shoesmith

|

|Fox Showcase

|-

|Rudi Dharmalingam

|Wakefield

|Nikhil 'Nik' Katira

|

|ABC

|-

|Guy Pearce

|Jack Irish

|Jack Irish

|

|ABC

|-

|Sam Reid

|The Newsreader

|Dale Jennings

|

|ABC

|-

|Richard Roxburgh

|Fires

|Duncan Simpson

|

|ABC

|-

| rowspan="6" style="text-align:center" |2022
(12th)

|- style="background:#FAEB86;"

|Mark Coles Smith{{Cite news |date=6 December 2022 |title=See All the AACTA Awards 2022 Winners |work=The Australian |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/the-oz/lifestyle/i-dont-take-the-australian-film-industry-for-granted-hemsworth/news-story/9472a4224211a51b3c7d9a190d4616f1 |access-date=29 December 2022}}

|Mystery Road

|Jay Swan

|Season 3

|ABC

|-

|Jamie Dornan

|The Tourist

|The Man/Elliott Stanley

|

|Stan

|-

|James Majoos

|Heartbreak High

|Darren Rivers

|

|Netflix

|-

|Sam Neill

|The Twelve

|Brett Colby

|

|Fox Showcase

|-

|Hugo Weaving

|Love Me

|Glen Mathieson

|

|BINGE, Foxtel

|}

• AACTA Award for Best Guest or Supporting Actor in a Television Drama
• AACTA Awards

{{refbegin}}

:A{{note|Ceremonies}}: From 1958–2010, the awards were held during the year of the films release. However, the 1974–75 awards was held in 1975 for films released in 1974 and 1975, and the first AACTA Awards was held in 2012 for films released in 2011.{{cite web|url=http://aacta.org/winners-nominees/1970-1979/1974-1975.aspx|title=AACTA – Past Winners – 1970–1979 – 1974–1975|publisher=Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA)|access-date=16 January 2014}}{{cite news |last=Bodey |first=Michael | title=Industry academy announces new awards | date=8 November 2011 | work=The Australian | url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/industry-academy-announces-new-awards/story-e6frg996-1226188302362 |publisher=News Limited (News Corporation) |access-date=16 January 2014}}

:B{{note|JohnHargreaves}}: All sources used in this article do not mention the name of John Hargreaves' character in The Lizard King.

:C{{note|Corey McKernan}}: The official AACTA website lists Corey McKernan's nomination in 2010 for The Legend of Enyo. However, there are no sources which indicates McKernan's involvement with the aforementioned series, and the original nominations list from the AFI website has him short listed for his performance in Lockie Leonard.{{cite web | title=2010 Samsung Mobile AFI Awards Nominees & Winners | url=http://www.afi.org.au/AM/ContentManagerNet/HTMLDisplay.aspx?ContentID=11828&Section=AFI_Award_Winners_and_Nominees | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216034823/http://www.afi.org.au/AM/ContentManagerNet/HTMLDisplay.aspx?ContentID=11828&Section=AFI_Award_Winners_and_Nominees | archive-date=2013-12-16 |publisher=Australian Film Institute (AFI) |access-date=14 February 2014}}

{{refend}}

{{reflist|2}}

{{AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama}}

{{Australian Film Institute Awards}}

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AACTA Awards