Arena has earned several international and national awards, including seven ARIA Awards, and two World Music Awards for 'Best-selling Australian Artist', which she received in 1996 and in 2000. In 2001, Arena was awarded a BMI Foundation Songwriting Award (Broadcast Music Inc.) by the American performance rights organisation for co-writing "Burn" with Pam Reswick and Steve Werfel. In 2011, Arena became the first Australian to be awarded a Knighthood of the French National Order of National Merit, presented by the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, for her contributions to French culture, and ceremonially awarded by Frédéric Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture and Communication of France.