The Walkley Foundation

Seven Australian journalists have been selected to take part in the 2026 Masters & McKenzie Investigative Journalism Fellowship. The program was launched in 2025, named for multi-Walkley Award-winning investigative journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, who were recognised in 2023 with the Walkley Honour For Media Freedom for their ongoing investigative stories about Ben Roberts-Smith across more than six years.

As guest of honour at our 2026 Mid-Year Media Prizes, Gold Walkley-winning political editor of news.com.au, Samantha Maiden, shared her top ten lessons for journalism. We’re delighted to be able to bring them to you here, but please note we do not endorse starting one’s Walkley entry at 11.30pm on the night of the deadline. 1. Sit next to the smartest and most interesting person in the room The best lessons in journalism come from observing other journalists.

The Walkley Foundation for Excellence in Journalism today announced acclaimed journalist and editor Gay Alcorn will be stepping into the role as Chair of the Walkley Judging Board. A senior writer with Good Weekend magazine, Alcorn is a three-time Walkley Award winner and has held a number of senior leadership positions throughout her career, including editor of The Age and The Sunday Age, and Melbourne editor of Guardian Australia.

Claudia Long, Chantelle Al-Khouri, and Hannah Meagher have been named the winners of the 2026 Our Watch Award for 'Predators Paradise: Driving instructors accused of sexual assault', an investigation into the danger facing young Australians from the person they're supposed to be able to trust when learning to drive: their instructor.

18 June, 2026 Riley Walter, a crime reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald, has been named the 2026 John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year at the Walkley Foundation’s Mid-Year Media Prizes in Sydney. He was selected from the winners of eight categories for young journalists aged 28 and younger.

We’re pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Walkley Grants for Freelance Journalism, supporting ambitious public-interest reporting by freelance journalists across Australia. 14 projects have been selected for funding, with grants supporting original investigations, features, audio documentaries, multimedia reporting and longform journalism across a wide range of public-interest issues.

21 May, 2026Finalists for the Walkley Foundation’s 2026 Mid-Year Media Prizes have been announced today.

Thinking about freelancing, or already navigating the realities of going it alone? This three-part webinar series is designed to give you the practical tools, legal grounding and confidence to make freelance work sustainable.

The Walkley Foundation for Excellence in Journalism today announced the appointment of five new board directors, as well as five replacement members of its Walkley Judging Board. These appointments bring fresh and exciting expertise and perspectives to the Foundation, and include Bridget Brennan, Nadine Garner, Nour Haydar and David Ross, who join the Foundation’s board of directors, alongside new Walkley Judging Board chair Ben Butler.

The Walkley Foundation and McKinnon are proud to introduce the cohort of 16 journalists selected for the From Bottom Line to Headlines: Public Finance for Journalists workshop. The intensive one-day Canberra workshop has been designed primarily for non-business reporting journalists who want to sharpen their understanding of how government budgets are made, how spending decisions take shape, and the financial and economic dimensions of policies and government services.