It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an organisation whose aim is "to advance the interests of the Australian record industry.
"[2] The award is given to an Australian group or solo artist who has had an album appear in the ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart between the eligibility period, and is voted for by a judging academy, which comprises 1000 members from different areas of the music industry.
[4] Boy & Bear were the last act to receive the accolade in 2011 for their album Moonfire (2011).
[4] This, and the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single was merged in 2012 to form a single award for Breakthrough Artist – Release.
All reliable sources used in this article make no mention of nominees prior to 1992.