Australian Awards Ceremony Targeted In ‘Voter Fraud’ Operation

MELBOURNE, Australia — The 2024 Music Victoria Awards were targeted by “unknown assailant/s” who manipulated several of the publicly-voted categories, organizers have confirmed.

Late Wednesday, Nov. 27, Music Victoria, the trade body that produces the annual ceremony, announced the breach by way of a social media post, and a lengthier explanation on its official website.

Music Victoria’s reps reveal they had “recently become aware of unusual activity within the third-party voting system used for the public voted categories in its 2024 Awards.”

Through internal investigations, the statement continues, “including liaison with the third-party voting system Award Force, cyber security experts and legal advice, it has been found that targeted action by an unknown assailant/s has resulted in thousands of misregistered votes being falsely attributed to nominees, resulting in a change to the recipients of five of the six publicly voted categories.”

The most recent event was presented Oct. 25 at Fed Square in the state capital, Melbourne.

The rightful winners have since been reinstated and Music Victoria insists it will “carve out space” in the 2025 ceremony to “present the winners in front of our industry.”

Following an investigation, Music Victoria now awards Jess Ribeiro for “Summer of Love” (best song), Angie McMahon for Light, Dark, Light, Again (best album), Maple Glider (best solo artist), Gut Health (best group) and Leah Senior (best regional act).

As it enters its 20th year, Music Victoria acknowledges “the disappointment and devastation this news may cause members.” The Victoria Police Cybercrime, Fraud, Scams and Online Safety Unit has been tapped to investigate the matter.

It’s a bum note for the Victorian event which began in 2005, a platform to celebrate the brightest and the best contemporary music acts from the state.

Explaining the decision to get on the front foot with this alarming development, the association points out that it is “committed to honesty, transparency and integrity.”

In the meanwhile, organizers continue to “liaise with the third-party voting system Award Force and cyber security experts to ensure we mitigate the risk of an incident like this happening again,” the statement continues.

Winners in the 2024 industry categories, which weren’t affected by the hack, included Gretta Ray (best pop), Cheryl Durongpisitkul (best musician) and Pizza Death (best heavy work).