There is always a great deal of discourse circling Australian music at this time of year, as the ARIA Awards once again take place in Sydney.

It’s a time when musicians ingeniously find an outfit for the red carpet that they won’t melt in as they are herded past The Wiggles and a plethora of media outlets. And while there are many musicians we adore, champion, and sincerely respect receiving their annual moment in the sun (and subsequent air-conditioned ceremony), it's also a reminder to champion those countless other artists who are definitive within their own scenes, who shape the culture  from the underground up – those who fall outside the neat, increasingly homogeneous frame of the mainstream stamp of approval.

It's a great reminder to continue to ‘Ausify our algo’ – a principle we should all be doing in a collective bid to ensure our homegrown artists can continue to feed themselves, clothe themselves, and pay for the petrol required to get to their next gig.

While we watch today's ceremony and applaud its winners, there are so many great ARIA-winning songs to celebrate in spite of an increasingly more complicated and competitive industry. In reflecting on this year’s nominees, I found myself slipping into the depths of of the ARIA archives to find the best winners from years past that the RUSSH editors still find themselves blasting on the regular.

Whether it is the inherent romance of INXS, the infectious pop of our Kylie, or the wonder of Archie Roach, here is a little snippet of some of our favourite past ARIA-winning songs.

Want to know more about what the RUSSH editors have been bumping lately? Check out our monthly Watch, Listen, Read breakdown to see what culture and content we've been digesting of late. Or you can see our picks for the greatest Australian anthems of all time.