'The Voice Australia' Producer Julie Ward Appointed As ARIA Awards Showrunner

The 30th annual ARIA Awards will benefit from the expertise of a TV industry veteran this year, with the announcement of seasoned program-maker Julie Ward — one of the founding producers of The Voice Australia — as this year's executive producer.

Ward helped bring The Voice to Aussie screens back in 2012 as part of the team at renowned Aussie programmers Shine Australia, ultimately leaving the company in 2014 to spearhead her own project, ZigZagTV (Australia's Got Talent).

"ZigZagTV is delighted to be appointed as the production company for the ARIA Awards' 30th anniversary," Ward said in a statement. "I started in the industry about the same time as the ARIAs began and as my career in TV has mostly been about music, this means a lot on many levels.

Not that they need it — Ward also spent several years as head of production at Foxtel in the mid-to-late '90s, in addition to seven years as a supervising producer at the Nine Network — but this year's ARIAs have extra clout behind them in the form of Ward's co-producer on The Voice, Mark Fennessy, who has been named as the awards' 2016 creative director (and who, Ward says, "shares the same passion for the Australian music industry" as she does), as well as long-time executive director Michael Long.

"We are thrilled to welcome Julie Ward to the ARIAs team for the 30th anniversary," ARIA chief executive Dan Rosen said in a statement. "Julie is a hugely talented and experienced producer, who has a wealth of expertise working on big productions, including several previous ARIA Awards shows.

"We look forward to working together with Julie Ward, creative director Mark Fennessy and long-standing executive director Michael Long to put on a truly stellar production packed with magic moments celebrating Australia's music history over the last 30 years."

This year's 30th-anniversary celebrations will culminate with the ARIA Awards ceremony later this year; additional TV and live events will be announced in the near future.

For more information, see ARIA's website.