Past winners
The list of winners since Patrick White in 1957 includes some of the greatest Australian writers of the past 50 years – often more than once. Thea Astley and Tim Winton share the honour of having received the Miles Franklin most times, with four wins apiece.
| 1957 | Patrick White | Voss |
| 1958 | Randolph Stow | To the Islands |
| 1959 | Vance Palmer | The Big Fellow |
| 1960 | Elizabeth O'Conner | The Irishman |
| 1961 | Patrick White | Riders in the Chariot |
| 1962 | Thea Astley | The Well Dressed Explorer |
| George Turner | The Cupboard under the Stairs | |
| 1963 | Sumner Locke Elliott | Careful, He Might Hear You |
| 1964 | George Johnston | My Brother Jack |
| 1965 | Thea Astley | The Slow Natives |
| 1966 | Peter Mathers | Trap |
| 1967 | Thomas Keneally | Bring Larks and Heroes |
| 1968 | Thomas Keneally | Three Cheers for the Paraclete |
| 1969 | George Johnston | Clean Straw for Nothing |
| 1970 | Dal Stivens | A Horse of Air |
| 1971 | David Ireland | The Unknown Industrial Prisoner |
| 1972 | Thea Astley | The Acolyte |
| 1973 | No award |
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| 1974 | Ronald McKie | The Mango Tree |
| 1975 | Xavier Herbert | Poor Fellow My Country |
| 1976 | David Ireland | The Glass Canoe |
| 1977 | Ruth Park | Swords and Crowns and Rings |
| 1978 | Jessica Anderson | Tirra Lirra by the River |
| 1979 | David Ireland | A Woman of the Future |
| 1980 | Jessica Anderson | The Impersonators |
| 1981 | Peter Carey | Bliss |
| 1982 | Rodney Hall | Just Relations |
| 1983 | No award |
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| 1984 | Tim Winton | Shallows |
| 1985 | Christopher Koch | The Doubleman |
| 1986 | Elizabeth Jolley | The Well |
| 1987 | Glenda Adams | Dancing on Coral |
| 1988 | The year of the Award was changed to the year granted rather than the year published | |
| 1989 | Peter Carey | Oscar and Lucinda |
| 1990 | Tom Flood | Oceana Fine |
| 1991 | David Malouf | The Great World |
| 1992 | Tim Winton | Cloudstreet |
| 1993 | Alex Miller | The Ancestor Game |
| 1994 | Rodney Hall | The Grisly Wife |
| 1995 | Helen Demidenko | The Hand That Signed the Paper |
| 1996 | Christopher Koch | Highways to a War |
| 1997 | David Foster | The Glade Within The Grove |
| 1998 | Peter Carey | Jack Maggs |
| 1999 | Murray Bail | Eucalyptus |
| 2000 | Thea Astley | Drylands |
| Kim Scott | Benang | |
| 2001 | Frank Moorhouse | Dark Palace |
| 2002 | Tim Winton | Dirt Music |
| 2003 | Alex Miller | Journey to the Stone Country |
| 2004 | Shirley Hazzard | The Great Fire |
| 2005 | Andrew McGahan | The White Earth |
| 2006 | Roger McDonald | The Ballad of Desmond Kale |
| 2007 | Alexis Wright | Carpentaria |
| 2008 | Steven Carroll | The Time We have Taken |
| 2009 | Tim Winton | Breath |
| 2010 | Peter Temple | Truth |