1981 Australian Film Institute Awards

The ceremony was televised in Australia on ABC for the third year running,[3] with John Bluthal presiding over the event.

[4] Gallipoli won nine of the twelve awards it was nominated for, including Best Film.

Phillip Adams was the recipient of the Raymond Longford Award Gallipoli (1981) received the most feature-film nominations with twelve, winning in nine categories including Best Film, Best Achievement in Directing for Peter Weir, Best Screenplay for David Williamson, Best Achievement in Cinematography for Russell Boyd, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Mel Gibson and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Bill Hunter.

Individuals with multiple nominations were sound designer Peter Fenton with three for Best Sound, winning for his work on Gallipoli; sound designer Andrew Steuart received two nominations in the Best Sound category without a win; Judy Davis was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her roles in Winter of Our Dreams and Hoodwink, respectively, picking up both prizes; Wendy Weir gained two nominations for Best Achievement in Art Direction and Best Achievement in Costume Design, winning in the former category; David Williamson, who was given the Best Screenplay award, was also further nominated for his adapted screenplay of The Club in the same category.

The Raymond Longford Award given to a person for their life's work in the Australian film and television industry, was presented to Australian journalist and producer Phillip Adams.