69th Walkley Awards 2024
The ‘Building Bad‘ investigation has won the 2024 Gold Walkley, Australian journalism’s highest honour, for reports broken by a team of journalists across The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes .
The winner was selected unanimously by the Walkley Judging Board, as the story of the year. The judges declared it ‘an incredible, courageous feat of investigative journalism with huge ramifications. A story Australian journalists have been trying to tell for decades’. They added: ‘Nick McKenzie and his team finally nailed it, in a massive cross-platform, inter-newsroom collaboration.’
The Building Bad Team is Nick McKenzie from The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes , David Marin-Guzman from The Australian Financial Review , Ben Schneiders from The Age , Garry McNab and Amelia Ballinger from 60 Minutes , and Reid Butler from Nine News .
The 69th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 30 categories, announced tonight in Sydney.
Nick Moir was named the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year for his portfolio of work published in the Sydney Morning Herald . Andrew Fowler took out the Walkley Book Award for Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty (Melbourne University Publishing). And How To Poison A Planet won the Walkley Documentary Award, made by Katrina McGowan, Janine Hosking, Mat Cornwell and Carrie Fellner (iKandy Films and Stan).
Pioneering Australian business journalist Robert Gottliebsen was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Journalism which is awarded by the Walkley Foundation’s board of directors.
The Walkley Foundation’s chief executive, Shona Martyn said: “There were more than 1100 entries in this year’s Walkley Awards from journalists, photographers, documentary makers, authors, cartoonists and producers. The quality of their work was extremely high this year proving the excellence of Australia’s leading journalists. My congratulations to the winners and the finalists.”
The chair of the Walkley Judging Board, Sally Neighbour, said: “The Walkleys do not condone or reward chequebook journalism. Our rules have been strengthened this year to make this unequivocal.
“In my first year as chair of the Walkley Judging Board, I have been inspired by the calibre of the journalism before us. I commend all of our finalists and winners for their work.”
Winners of the Walkley Awards were selected by the Walkley Judging Board in October, after first round peer-judging in September. The Walkley Book Award and the Walkley Documentary Award were judged separately by experts in those fields. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
This year the Walkley Foundation required entrants to declare chequebook journalism, and introduced more rigorous reporting of AI and legal challenges, with a checking process that includes the assistance of three integrity observers. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here, conflict guidelines here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
Winners’ list
69th Walkley Award Winners
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Carrie Fellner, Matt Davidson, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Michael Evans , The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age , ‘The factory that contaminated the world’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Ben Walter , Island , ‘The Only Fish: Flathead Decline in Tasmania’
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
Sarah Krasnostein , The Monthly , ‘Peace in the Home: The trial of Malka Leifer‘
ALL MEDIA: COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers
David Leser , The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age , ‘The war in Gaza: Not in my Jewish name’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM
Faster, higher, stronger team , The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age , ‘Faster, higher, stronger’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Caroline Graham, Kylie Stevenson and Tilda Colling , The Australian , ‘NT Schools in Crisis’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
Matthew Kelly , Newcastle Herald , ‘Three decades on the streets’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: CARTOON OF THE YEAR
Cathy Wilcox , The Sydney Morning Herald , ‘Break glass’
ALL MEDIA: SPORTS JOURNALISM
Award Partner University of Queensland
Michael Warner , Herald Sun , ‘White Line Fever: AFL illicit drugs crisis’ (1,2,3)
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
Quinn Rooney , Getty Images, ‘Australians in the Pool’
AUDIO SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner ABC
Ayla Darling and Hannah Palmer , Triple J, Hack , and ABC Investigations, ‘Behind closed doors: How one child’s voice exposed the dangers of rape inside mental health hospitals‘
AUDIO LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner McGrathNicol
Paul Farrell and the Background Briefing Team , ABC, Background Briefing , ‘Stop and Search’ (1,2,3)
DIGITAL MEDIA: INNOVATION JOURNALISM
Award Partner Master Builders Australia
Guardian Australia team , Guardian Australia , ‘Leaving Gaza‘
ALL MEDIA: SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard and Amelia Ballinger, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘The Pezzullo files’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Ogilvy
Chris Reason and Simon Hydzik , 7NEWS , ‘Israel-Hamas War’
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
David Gray , AFP, ‘Walk to freedom’
ALL MEDIA: SPECIALIST AND BEAT REPORTING
Award Partner MEAA
Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw , The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times , ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING Australia
Linton Besser and Ninah Kopel , ABC, 7.30 and ABC Investigations , ‘Netstrata’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Diego Fedele , Getty Images, ‘In the Shadow of a Deadly Sky’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
Matthew Davis , ABC, Foreign Correspondent , ‘From the high Arctic, to the hustle of Seoul‘
TELEVISION/VIDEO: NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven News
Ben Lewis , SBS World News , ‘October 7 Attacks’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Michael Bachelard , Nine, 60 Minutes , ‘The Power Player‘
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner TEN News First
Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes , Nine, 60 Minutes , ‘Building Bad‘
ALL MEDIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM
Award Partner Sydney Airport
Dateline Team , SBS, Dateline , ‘Finding Yusuf’ (1,2)
ALL MEDIA: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Guardian Australia
Chris Reason , 7NEWS , ‘The Bishop of Broome’
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Award Partner MinterEllison
Katrina McGowan, Janine Hosking, Mat Cornwell and Carrie Fellner , iKandy Films and Stan, How To Poison A Planet
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD
Award Partner Banki Haddock Fiora
Andrew Fowler , Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty , Melbourne University Publishing
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
Nick Moir , The Sydney Morning Herald
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Robert Gottliebsen AM
2024 GOLD WALKLEY
Building Bad Team – The Age , SMH , AFR and 60 Minutes , Nine, ‘Building Bad‘
FINALISTS
69th Walkley Award finalists
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
- Carrie Fellner, Matt Davidson, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Michael Evans, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The factory that contaminated the world’ ( 1, 2, 3) WINNER
- Samantha Maiden, News.com.au, ‘Pay You Cash’ (1,2,3)
- Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Lorena Allam, Sarah Collard and Blake Sharp-Wiggins, Guardian Australia, ‘Buried Lives‘
- Jackson Ryan, The New York Times, ‘The Long, Long Way to the Woods‘
- Ben Walter, Island, ‘The Only Fish: Flathead Decline in Tasmania’ WINNER
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
ALL MEDIA: COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers
- Annabel Crabb, ABC News, ‘Shades Of Grey’ (1,2,3)
- Greg Jericho, Guardian Australia, ‘Speaking truth to power with graphs’ (1,2,3)
- David Leser, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The war in Gaza: Not in my Jewish name’ ( 1, 2, 3) WINNER
ALL MEDIA: EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM
- Mridula Amin and Alex Lim, ABC News, ‘This isn’t the 30s I was promised‘
- Faster, higher, stronger team, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘Faster, higher, stronger’ ( 1, 2, 3) WINNER
- Riley Stuart, Lucy Sweeney, Haidarr Jones and West Matteeussen, ABC News, ‘Inside Israel’s ’doomsday’ development‘
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
- Kathryn Diss, Daryna Zadvirna, Keane Bourke, Jake Sturmer and the ABC News Perth Team, ABC News, ‘WA’s Youth Justice Crisis – The Death of Cleveland Dodd’ (1,2,3)
- Lorena Allam, Sarah Collard and Blake Sharp-Wiggins, Guardian Australia, ‘Buried Lives’ (1,2,3)
- Caroline Graham, Kylie Stevenson and Tilda Colling, The Australian, ‘NT Schools in Crisis’ ( 1, 2, 3) WINNER
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
- Oliver Jacques, Region Riverina, ‘Rise and fall of Griffith winemaker who owes $32 million’ (1,2,3)
- Matthew Kelly, Newcastle Herald, ‘Three decades on the streets’ ( 1, 2, 3) WINNER
- Erin Parke and Andrew Seabourne, ABC News and ABC, 7.30, ‘Boat Arrivals’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: CARTOON OF THE YEAR
- Matt Golding, The Age, ‘(M)Any questions?’
- Fiona Katauskas, Guardian Australia, ‘True Colours of 2024‘
- Cathy Wilcox, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Break glass’ WINNER
ALL MEDIA: SPORTS JOURNALISM
Award Partner University of Queensland
- Tom Decent, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The secret Zoom call that brought down a Wallabies coach’ (1,2,3)
- SBS News Documentaries, SBS Television, ‘Came From Nowhere: Australia’s Most Controversial Football Club’
- Michael Warner, Herald Sun, ‘White Line Fever: AFL illicit drugs crisis’ ( 1, 2, 3) WINNER
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
- David Gray, AFP, ‘Light, shadows, action at the Australian Open tennis’
- Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Birdsville Rodeo’
- Quinn Rooney, Getty Images, ‘Australians in the Pool’ WINNER
AUDIO SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner ABC
- Ayla Darling and Hannah Palmer, Triple J, Hack, and ABC Investigations, ‘Behind closed doors: How one child’s voice exposed the dangers of rape inside mental health hospitals‘ WINNER
- Nick Dole, ABC, AM, ‘After October 7’ (1,2)
- Peter Ryan, ABC, The World Today and ABC News Daily, ‘Qantas crisis – demise of the Flying Kangaroo (1,2,3)
AUDIO LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner McGrathNicol
- Paul Farrell and the Background Briefing Team, ABC, Background Briefing and ABC Investigations, ‘Stop and Search’ (1,2,3) WINNER
- Charlotte King and Andy Burns, ABC, Background Briefing, ‘The price of freebirth‘
- Megan Williams and Dan Schulz, 2DRY FM and Community Radio Network, ‘Water Watch: Wilcannia Weir or Wilcannia Won’t’ (1,2,3)
DIGITAL MEDIA: INNOVATION JOURNALISM
Award Partner Master Builders Australia
ALL MEDIA: SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
- Nick McKenzie, Michael Bachelard and Amelia Ballinger, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘The Pezzullo files’ (1,2,3) WINNER
- Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’
- Christopher Walsh, NT Independent, ‘NT Labor’s ministerial shares scandal’ (1,2,3)
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
Award Partner Ogilvy
- 9News & Current Affairs – Bondi Attack Team, Nine, 9News, A Current Affair and Today, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbings’
- Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review, ‘Building Bad’
- Chris Reason and Simon Hydzik, 7NEWS, ‘Israel-Hamas War’ WINNER
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
- Flavio Brancaleone, The Sydney Morning Herald, News.com.au and The Australian, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbing Attack, no place is immune to the reach of terror’
- Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Aftermath of October 7 attacks’
- David Gray, AFP, ‘Walk to freedom’ WINNER
ALL MEDIA: SPECIALIST AND BEAT REPORTING
- Carrie Fellner, Matt Davidson, Matthew Absalom-Wong and Michael Evans, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, ‘The factory that contaminated the world’ (1,2,3)
- Christopher Knaus, Guardian Australia, ‘Out in the cold: Australia’s invisible crisis of homelessness deaths’ (1,2,3)
- Linda Morris and Eryk Bagshaw, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times, ‘The portrait Gina Rinehart doesn’t want you to see’ (1,2,3) WINNER
ALL MEDIA: BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING Australia
- katrina
- Primrose Riordan and Sarah Thompson, The Australian Financial Review, ‘Jon Adgemis and the costs of the private credit boom’ (1,2,3)
- Jonathan Shapiro and Aaron Patrick, The Australian Financial Review, ‘The ANZ bond trading scandal’ (1,2,3)
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
- Sean Davey, Oculi / ABC News, ‘The Goode Fight’
- Diego Fedele, Getty Images, ‘In the Shadow of a Deadly Sky’ WINNER
- Christopher Hopkins, Al Jazeera, ‘They Teach Us to Sing’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
- Matthew Davis, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘From the high Arctic, to the hustle of Seoul‘ WINNER
- Scott Morelli, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Sending a Message‘
- Cameron Schwarz, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, ‘US Immigration‘
TELEVISION/VIDEO: NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven
- 9News and Current Affairs – Bondi Attack Team, Nine, 9News, A Current Affair and Today, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbings’
- Ben Lewis, SBS World News, ‘October 7 Attacks’ WINNER
- Sharri Markson and Montana Duncan, Sky News, ‘Nine’s MeToo moment’ (1,2,3)
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
- Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC, 7.30 and ABC Investigations, ‘Financial Housing Prison‘
- Nick McKenzie, Amelia Ballinger and Michael Bachelard, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘The Power Player‘ WINNER
- The Prayed Upon Team, The Courier-Mail and The Sunday Mail, ‘Prayed Upon’ (1,2)
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner TEN News First
- Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes, Nine, 60 Minutes, ‘Building Bad‘ WINNER
- Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC, Four Corners and ABC Investigations, ‘Pain Factory‘
- Ben Smee, Jennifer Luu, Jodie Noyce and Chloe Angelo, SBS, The Feed and Guardian Australia, ‘In The Box: Inside the isolation cells where Australian kids are imprisoned‘
ALL MEDIA: INTERNATIONAL
Award Partner Sydney Airport
- Dateline Team, SBS, Dateline, ‘Finding Yusuf’ (1,2) WINNER
- Avani Dias, Naomi Selvaratnam, Madeleine Genner and Mayeta Clark, ABC, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners and ABC Listen, ‘Reporting from Modi’s India’ (1,2,3)
- Prue Lewarne, SBS News, ‘Inside Nicaragua’
ALL MEDIA: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Guardian Australia
- Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review, ‘Building Bad’
- Echo Hui, Elise Potaka and Dylan Welch, ABC, Four Corners and ABC Investigations, ‘Ruthless Pursuit – China’s Secret Police, its Agents, and Global Campaign of Repression’ (1,2,3)
- Chris Reason, 7NEWS, ‘The Bishop of Broome’ WINNER
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD FINALISTS
Award Partner MinterEllison
- Katrina McGowan, Janine Hosking, Mat Cornwell and Carrie Fellner, iKandy Films and Stan, How To Poison A Planet WINNER
- Erin Moy, Gabriel Gasparinatos, Sarah Noonan and Jennifer Peedom, Entropico, Stranger Than Fiction and Netflix, ONEFOUR: Against All Odds
- Dora Weekley, Orly Danon, Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, Stan, Revealed: Ben Roberts-Smith Truth on Trial
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD LONGLIST (Shortlist to be announced 31 October)
Award Partner Banki Haddock Fiora
- Julia Baird, Bright Shining, HarperCollins Publishers
- Andrew Fowler, Nuked: The Submarine Fiasco that Sank Australia’s Sovereignty, Melbourne University Publishing WINNER
- Sarah Gilbert, Unconventional Women, Melbourne University Publishing
- David Hardaker, Mine is the Kingdom, Allen and Unwin
- Royce Kurmelovs, Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil, University of Queensland Press
- Anne Manne, Crimes of the Cross: The Anglican Paedophile Network of Newcastle, Its Protectors and the Man Who Fought for Justice, Black Inc.
- Lucia Osborne-Crowley, The Lasting Harm, Allen and Unwin
- Alison Sandy, Bryan Seymour, Sally Eeles and Marc Wright, The Lady Vanishes, HarperCollins Publishers
- Hedley Thomas, The Teacher’s Pet, Pan Macmillan Australia
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
- Matthew Abbott, Freelance / Oculi
- Christopher Hopkins, Freelance
- Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald WINNER
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Robert Gottliebsen WINNER
GOLD WALKLEY
- Building Bad Team – The Age, SMH, AFR and 60 Minutes, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian Financial Review, ‘Building Bad’
