2003 Australian Film Institute Awards

The nominations were announced on 31 October 2003. Leading the feature film nominees was comedy crime caper Gettin' Square with a total of fourteen nominations across 12 of the 14 categories, equalling the record set by director Phillip Noyce's film Newsfront in 1978. After the Deluge, a miniseries about a father who is suffering from Alzheimer's and his three estranged sons who reluctantly come together to secure institutional care for him, gained the most television nominations with eight.^[3][4]

Despite the record number of nominations, Gettin' Square only won a single award, for David Wenham as best actor. Director, Sue Brooks's Japanese Story, about an Australian geologist and a Japanese businessman journeying into the Pilbara desert in Western Australia received eight awards, the most for any production. In the television category, the miniseries After The Deluge and medical-legal drama MDA, won three awards apiece.^{[1][5][6][7][8]}

There was some controversy at the ceremony, with almost half of the winners using their acceptance speeches to criticise the Australian government's proposal to cut cultural subsidies as part of a free trade agreement with the United States. Many arrived wearing yellow and green ribbons in protest against the agreement.^[1][8][6]

The following films received multiple nominations.

• 14 nominations: Gettin' Square
• 10 nominations: Japanese Story
• 9 nominations: Ned Kelly

• AACTA Awards