The Indigenous folk and roots singer-songwriter will receive the Ted Albert Award, which has previously been given to artists Paul Kelly, Slim Dusty, The Seekers and Cold Chisel.
On a in his honour, APRA describes Archie Roach as “one of Australia’s most respected, beloved and admired artists.”
“Archie Roach writes songs from his soul, in the true sense of the word.”
The artist has expressed his gratitude on his Twitter account:
Roach released his debut album Charcoal Lane in 1990, which launched his career. It featured the song, 'Took The Children Away', which documents the story of the Stolen Generations, also his own. The song, which tells the story of how he was taken away from his family, was given a Human Rights Achievement Award.
He has told audiences how writing the song helped him heal his pain.
"Every time I sing it, I let a little bit of it go," Roach told the crowd at WOMAdelaide in 2011.
Since then, he has released 10 albums and won five ARIA Awards, seven Deadlys, three National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) and was inducted into the NIMA Hall of Fame in 2013.
The APRA Awards take place in Sydney next Monday and will feature performances from Paul Kelly with A.B. Original & Dan Sultan, Kate Miller-Heidke, Tkay Maidza, Holy Holy, Julia Jacklin, Cloves and Busby Marou.
Nominees for the APRA Awards, which recognise Australian songwriting, include Flume, Sia, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and The Veronicas.
The winner of the International Work of the Year has also been announced as Adele for her song 'Hello'.
With AAP
