Archie Roach To Receive Australia Council Achievement Award

Renowned indigenous musician Archie Roach will be recognised by the Australia Council for the Arts this month for his contribution to the local music industry.

Roach, who has been writing songs for around 50 years and has performed alongside everyone from Bob Dylan to Billy Bragg, will receive the Australia Council Don Banks Music Award at a ceremony in Sydney on Thursday, 19 Mar. Nine other artists from a range of fields will also receive awards, including director and musician Tony Doyle who will be presented with the Ros Bower Award for Community Arts and Cultural Development as well as renowned author Thomas Keneally, who will be recognised with the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature.

Past winners of the Don Banks Music Award include jazz musician Mike Nock and indigenous singer-songwriter Kev Carmody.

Australia Council CEO Tony Grybowski said of the award recipients: "The ten recipients are widely respected by their peers nationally and internationally, and these awards give us the opportunity to reflect on their considerable body of work and the impact they have had on the arts in Australia and overseas."

More details on the upcoming, inaugural Australia Council awards can be found at their official website.

Roach is one of the performers at this weekend's Brunswick Music Festival in Melbourne. Head to theGuide and The Music App for more.