ARIA Award for Best Female Artist

The ARIA Music Award for Best Female Artist, was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognised "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It was handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an organisation whose aim is "to advance the interests of the Australian record industry."

To be eligible, the female artist had to meet one of the following criteria: be an Australian citizen; be born in Australia; be a permanent resident or have applied for permanent residency (having lived in Australia for at least six months for two consecutive years prior to the awards and signed to an Australian record label in the case of an applicant); if they are from New Zealand they must have lived in Australia for at least six months for two consecutive years prior to the awards and signed to an Australian record label.

The ARIA Award for Best Female Artist was given to a female artist who had a single or an album appear in the ARIA Top 100 Singles Chart between the eligibility period, and was voted for by a judging academy, which consisted of 1000 members from different areas of the music industry.

The award for Best Female Artist was first presented to Jenny Morris in 1987. Wendy Matthews, Sia and Kasey Chambers hold the record for the most wins, with three each, followed by Morris, Kate Ceberano, Natalie Imbruglia, Missy Higgins and Kimbra, the only artist to win both her nominations, with two. Six of those artists won in two consecutive years; Morris in 1987 and 1988, Ceberano in 1989 and 1990, Matthews in 1993 and 1994, Imbruglia in 1998 and 1999, Kimbra in 2011 and 2012 and Sia in 2016 and 2017. Kylie Minogue has received 14 nominations, more than any other artist, winning one in 2001 for her album Light Years (2000). Ceberano and Matthews received separate nominations for the same album, You've Always Got the Blues, in 1989, with the former winning.

This and the ARIA Award for Best Male Artist were merged in 2021 to form a single award for Best Artist.This change was designed to ensure that the ARIA Awards reflect and embrace equality and the true diversity of the music industry in 2021. In making this change the number of nominees for Best Artist will be ten.