Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett have won the 2025 Gold Walkley, Australian journalism’s highest honour for a series of stories on 7.30, Four Corners and ABC online. The Walkley Judging Board unanimously selected the pair’s multi-month multi-platform investigation into the systemic failures in childcare as the story of the year. Ferguson and Gillett won three Walkley categories: TV/Video: Current Affairs Short, TV/Video: Current Affairs Long, and All Media: Investigative Journalism (the latter two with colleagues Ben Butler and Lara Sonnenschein). In addition, they were finalists in the All Media: Coverage of a Major Event category and Scoop of the Year.
The Walkley Judging Board unanimously described their work as the investigation of the year, noting its impact was continuing amid wide public interest.
The 70th Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism were presented in 30 categories, announced tonight in Sydney.
Christopher Hopkins was named the Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year for his portfolio of work published in Al Jazeera, The Age and The Guardian. The judges commended his use of light and framing to capture emotion. They praised Hopkins as a ‘powerful storyteller who uses beauty and an artistic approach to his assignments which range from protests to portraits, in both colour and black and white’.
Rick Morton took out the Walkley Book Award for ‘Mean Streak’ (HarperCollins Publishers) about the robodebt scheme. The Walkley Documentary Award went to ‘Yurlu|Country’ made by Yaara Bou Melhem, Maitland Parker, Tom Bannigan and team (Illuminate Films).
Peter Manning, a distinguished journalist, executive producer, and former head of ABC TV News and Current Affairs, was honoured for his Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. Peter, who oversaw a golden age for Four Corners between 1985 and 1989 and launched programs such as Lateline, Foreign Correspondent, and Landline, later became a journalism academic. This award is selected by the Walkley Foundation’s board of directors from peer nominations.
The Walkley Foundation’s chief executive, Shona Martyn said: “The Walkley Awards were first presented in 1956 and, since then, have become the benchmark for excellence in Australian journalism. This year there were more than 1000 entries in the Walkley Awards from journalists, photographers, documentary makers, authors, cartoonists and producers. The quality of the work was extremely high and I thank the Judging Board, the 88 first round judges and the three integrity observers for their considered contributions. This is no easy task. My congratulations to the winners and the finalists.
The chair of the Walkley Judging Board, Sally Neighbour, said: “In this landmark 70th year of the Walkley awards, the high calibre of the finalists’ and winners’ entries is a testament to the fact that Australian journalism is at its best, as good as anywhere in the world.
“At a time of immense disruption for the news media, it is heartening that the commitment to journalistic independence, excellence and integrity remains as strong as ever.”
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.
You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here, conflict guidelines here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
The list of winners follows.
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70th Walkley Award winners
PRINT/TEXT NEWS REPORT
Walkley Foundation partner MinterEllison
Eryk Bagshaw, Bianca Hrovat, Clare Sibthorpe, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Good Food, ‘The sinister side of the glitzy hospitality scene’ 1,2,3
FEATURE WRITING SHORT (UNDER 4000 WORDS)
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Melissa Fyfe, Good Weekend Magazine, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Wedlocked‘
FEATURE WRITING LONG (OVER 4000 WORDS)
Primrose Riordan, Lisa Murray, The Australian Financial Review, ‘The Power of One: Inside Forrest’s Fortescue‘
ALL MEDIA: COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS, OPINION AND CRITIQUE
Award Partner Thomson Geer Lawyers
The Media Watch Team, ABC, Media Watch, ‘Nine’s beach house porkies, ABC radio chairbound, Conflict Class’ 1,2,3
ALL MEDIA: EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM
Lucy King, Joshua Peach, Fiona Buffini, Bryan Cook, The Australian Financial Review, ‘Inside Australia’s $11b charity stockpile’
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Award Partner National Indigenous Times
Guardian Australia’s Indigenous Affairs Team, Guardian Australia, ‘The Descendants’ 1,2,3
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
Award Partner BHP
Joanna Woodburn, Hannah Meagher, Fred Shaw, Shaun Kingma, ABC, 7.30, ABC News, ‘Whistleblower doctors expose cancer surgery’ 1,2,3
ALL MEDIA: SPORTS JOURNALISM
Award Partner University of Queensland
Jessica Halloran, Stephen Rice, The Australian, ‘Predator in the Vault’ 1,2,3
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
David Gray, Agence France-Presse, ‘Sporting Moments’
ALL MEDIA: CARTOON OF THE YEAR
Walkley Foundation partner Banki Haddock Fiora
David Pope, The Canberra Times, ‘Gaza’
AUDIO SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner ABC
Lucy Barbour, ABC, ‘AM’ program, ‘Australia’s ‘unspoken’ abortion ban’ 1,2
AUDIO LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Anne Connolly and the Background Briefing team, ABC, Background Briefing, ‘The Invisible Killer’ 1,2,3
DIGITAL MEDIA: INNOVATION JOURNALISM
Award Partner Master Builders Australia
Badiucao, Matthew Absalom-Wong, Patrick O’Neil, Tom McKendrick, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Watched, followed, threatened. Now an impostor is claiming to be me‘
ALL MEDIA: SCOOP OF THE YEAR
Award Partner The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age
Robyn Riley, Herald Sun, ‘Mum gives birth to the wrong baby‘
ALL MEDIA: COVERAGE OF A MAJOR NEWS EVENT OR ISSUE
The Age Mushroom Trial team, The Age, ‘The mushroom case: A family meal and a courtroom drama’ 1,2,3,4,5,6
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
Martin Keep, Agence France-Presse, ‘Erin Patterson’
ALL MEDIA: SPECIALIST AND BEAT REPORTING
Kate Aubusson, Aisha Dow, Emily Kaine, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Medical Misogyny Investigation’ 1,2,3
ALL MEDIA: BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Award Partner ING Australia
Neil Chenoweth, Mark Di Stefano, The Australian Financial Review, ‘The downfall of MinRes and Chris Ellison’ 1,2,3
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Julian Kingma, New South Publishing, ‘The Power of Choice’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CAMERAWORK
Tim Noonan, Freelance, SBS, ‘Hunt for Truth: Tasmanian Tiger’
TELEVISION/VIDEO: NEWS REPORTING
Award Partner Seven News
Andrew Probyn, Nine, Nine News, ‘Russian Gangsters and the Medibank Hack’ 1,2
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS SHORT (UNDER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner SBS
Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, ABC, 7.30, ‘The Slap, Childcare Exposed‘
TELEVISION/VIDEO: CURRENT AFFAIRS LONG (OVER 20 MINUTES)
Award Partner The Pharmacy Guild of Australia
Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Ben Butler, Lara Sonnenschein, ABC, Four Corners, ‘Betrayal of Trust‘
ALL MEDIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNALISM
Mark Willacy, Jonathan Miller, Ryan Sheridan – with Tetiana Prytulenko (Ukraine), ABC, Four Corners, ‘Endurance‘
ALL MEDIA: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Award Partner Guardian Australia
Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Ben Butler, Lara Sonnenschein, ABC, Four Corners, 7.30, ‘Betrayal of Trust, Australia’s childcare crisis’ 1,2,3
WALKLEY DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Yaara Bou Melhem, Maitland Parker, Tom Bannigan & team, Yurlu | Country, Illuminate Films
WALKLEY BOOK AWARD
Award Partner Bookoccino
Rick Morton, Mean Streak, HarperCollins Publishers
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
Christopher Hopkins, Freelance, Al Jazeera, The Age, The Guardian, ‘2024/25 Folio’
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO JOURNALISM
Award Partner Media Super
Peter Manning
2025 GOLD WALKLEY
Award Partner MEAA
Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC, Four Corners, 7.30, ABC News online, ‘Childcare Crisis’ portfolio’
Thank you to the many senior journalists who gave their time to judge the Walkley Awards this year.
The Walkley Judging Board:
Chair: Sally Neighbour
Christine Ahern, Nine
Gay Alcorn, Good Weekend Magazine
Tom Dusevic, The Australian
Karla Grant, Living Black, NITV (abstained from 2025 judging)
Richard Guilliatt, Freelance writer
Rashell Habib, 10 News First
Saffron Howden, Freelance
Gabrielle Jackson, Guardian Australia
Julie Lewis, The Sydney Morning Herald
Claire Mackay, ABC South Australia
Greg Muller, LiSTNR
Jake Nowakowski, Herald Sun (abstained from 2025 judging)
Melanie Petrinec, The Courier-Mail & Sunday Mail
Mark Riley, Political Editor, Seven News
Paul Williams, SBS
