The
AACTA Award for
Best Adapted Screenplay is an award presented by the
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), for an Australian
screenplay "based on material previously released or published". Prior to the establishment of the Academy in 2011, the award was presented by the
Australian Film Institute (AFI) at the annual Australian Film Institute Awards (more commonly known as the AFI Awards). It was first handed out in 1978 when the award for
Best Screenplay (which was first presented at the
1974-75 awards) was split into two categories:
Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. The award has since been presented intermittently from 1978–1979, 1983–1987, 1989, 1993–2003, 2005–2006, and then from 2008–present.