The award was established at the
4th Hong Kong Film Awards (1985) and the first winner was
Anita Mui for her role in the film
Behind the Yellow Line. There are 5, sometimes 6, nominations for the category of Best Supporting Actress from which one actress is chosen the winner of the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. The most recent recipient of the award was
Rachel Leung, who was honoured at the
42nd Hong Kong Film Awards (2024), for her performance in
In Broad Daylight. The actress with most awards in this category is
Elaine Jin with 4 awards. There are six actresses who have been awarded in both the categories for leading and supporting roles,
Anita Mui,
Cecilia Yip,
Zhou Xun,
Deanie Ip,
Kara Wai and
Teresa Mo. ==Winners and nominees==