Guardian Australia’s Matilda Boseley has secured one of the top honors at the 2026 Walkley mid-year media prizes, winning the award for innovative storytelling. Her high-profile, multiplatform political explainer series, titled Parliamen-Tea: explaining the chaos of Australian politics, was recognized for engaging a younger generation in national policy debate. The category celebrates journalism that breaks conventional structural molds to reach and inform audiences through dynamic digital platforms and creative production formats.
Recognition for Creative Storytelling
Boseley was commended for her fast-paced commentary, clear graphic breakdowns, and accessible short-form video storytelling. She successfully translated complex federal legislation, budget measures, and shifting party dynamics into engaging visual journalism that resonates with a broad audience.
Top Accolade of the Night
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Riley Walter received the evening’s highest honor, the John B Fairfax family young Australian journalist of the year award. A rising force in crime investigation journalism, Walter also won the short-form journalism and specialist and beat reporting categories for his series of investigations, including a staff ring that allegedly defrauded the NAB of $150 million.
ABC Recognized Across Multiple Categories
The ABC Four Corners team of Louise Milligan, Mary Fallon, Mayeta Clark, and Lara Sonnenschein won the women’s leadership in media prize for the investigation titled Scarred, which exposed systemic institutional failures through deeply personal accounts of women’s experiences with trauma and inequality.
The ABC was also honored in the Our Watch award for excellence in reporting on violence against women. Claudia Long, Chantelle Al-Khouri, and Hannah Meagher won for their 7.30 reports on sexual predators within the driving instructors industry.
In the science and environment reporting category, the ABC’s Tom Hartley was recognized for his multiplatform investigation on vitamin B6.
Freelance and Independent Journalism
Independent journalist Nina Funnell was named freelance journalist of the year for her news.com.au campaign, Keep Counselling Confidential. The investigation aimed to protect the legal privacy of assault survivors and built on Funnell’s previous advocacy journalism, including her Walkley-winning #LetHerSpeak campaign and book, which successfully overturned state victim-gag laws across Australia.
Diversity and Arts Recognition
The ABC also won the Media Diversity Australia prize, with Gillian Aeria and Lachlan Bennett’s body of work on racism in the trucking industry and cultural stigmas surrounding aged care in multicultural families broadcast across the ABC news channel, YouTube, and radio.
In the arts journalism and arts criticism category, The Australian’s arts editor, Tim Douglas, was recognized for his comprehensive body of work over the year.
Young Journalist Categories
Under the Young Australian Journalist categories, SBS reporter Niv Sadrolodabaee won the long-form feature writing category for her body of work uncovering the Iranian regime’s hostile activities and tracking operations targeting dissidents inside Australia.
The short-form feature writing category was awarded to Peter McKenzie from Reuters Australia for his feature on the power tussle between the US and China over the tiny Pacific island paradise of Palau.
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Anthony Segaert won the public service journalism award for his investigation into Parramatta council, while the community affairs reporting prize went to Joseph Hathaway-Wilson from ABC News NT for his expose into the territory’s maximum-security prisons.
RMIT student Charlotte Wilkes won the student journalist of the year award for a trio of stories run on ABC online and Stateline.
Reflections on the Winners
Reflecting on the caliber of this year’s entries, Walkley Foundation chief executive Shona Martyn commended the winners for their tenacity and deep commitment to public interest reporting. “In a time of great change in the media, we are ever more reliant on journalists, broadcasters, and photojournalists with a nose for news and an ability to interpret and analyze key issues facing Australians today,” she said in a statement. “At an event where we shine a particular spotlight on the next generation of journalists through awards and scholarships, there is much to be encouraged about.”
