The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers".^[2] To qualify, a work must have been first published by an Australian citizen or permanent resident between 1 January and 31 December of the corresponding year;^[3] the presentation ceremony is held the following year. It has grown from a small function of around 20 people to a two-day event attended by over 200 people.^[4]

Since their creation in 1995, awards have been given in various categories of speculative fiction. Categories currently include science fiction, fantasy, horror, speculative young adult fiction—with separate awards for novels and short fiction—collections, anthologies, illustrative works or graphic novels, children's books, and an award for excellence in speculative fiction.^[2] The awards have attracted the attention of publishers by setting down a benchmark in science fiction and fantasy. The continued sponsorship by publishers such as HarperCollins and Orbit has identified the award as an honour to be taken seriously.^[5] Independently of Chimaera, the publishing industry announces results and winners especially when a publisher's author has won an award, genre databases list the award and its winners and libraries and review sites recommend books on the basis they have won the award.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

The results are decided by a panel of judges from a list of submitted nominees; the long-list of nominees is reduced to a short-list of finalists.^[2] Ties can occur if the panel decides both entries show equal merit, however they are encouraged to choose a single winner.^[13] The judges may declare a "no award" if there is unanimous agreement that none of the nominees are worthy.^[13] The judges are selected from a public application process by the Award's management team.^[14]

This article lists all the short-list nominees and winners in the best fantasy short story category, as well as short stories that have received honourable mentions or have been highly commended. Since 2003, honourable mentions and high commendations have been awarded intermittently. Thoraiya Dyer holds the record for most wins, having won three times. Angela Slatter holds the record for most nominations, having been nominated seven times. Adam Browne, Kaaron Warren, and Suzanne J. Willis share the record for most nominations without winning, each having been losing finalists three times.

In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the story's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a blue background have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.

  *   Winners and joint winners
  *   Nominees on the shortlist

The honourable mentions and high commendations are announced alongside the list of finalists for their respected year of eligibility.^[13] In the following table, the years correspond to the year of the book's eligibility; the ceremonies are always held the following year. Each year links to the corresponding "year in literature" article. Entries with a grey background have been noted as highly commended; those with a white background have received honourable mentions. If the short story was originally published in a book with other stories rather than by itself or in a magazine, the book title is included after the publisher's name.

  *   Highly commended
  *   Honourable mentions

• Ditmar Award, an Australian science fiction award established in 1969

• Aurealis Awards official site