Five social justice journalism projects with a strong focus on the Pacific and Indigenous Australia will be undertaken in the coming year after the Melbourne Press Club announced the 2025-26 recipients of the Michael Gordon Journalism Fellowships.

The recipients were chosen from the highest number of applicants the MPC has received since it established the Fellowships in 2018. It brings the total of Fellows to 36, with an extensive archive of stories, series and images published and broadcast in the past six years that otherwise might not have appeared.

The national Fellowships program supports social justice journalism by funding projects newsrooms might not have the resources to cover. The Fellowships commemorate Michael Gordon, the respected former political editor of The Age newspaper who died suddenly in February 2018.

The projects chosen as Michael Gordon Fellows are:

• Amy McQuire, Black Justice Journalism and The Guardian: Fighting Indigenous disappearance - exploring coronial inquests into the disappearance and suspicious deaths of Aboriginal people.
• Aleisha Orr, freelancer for SBS: The government's plan for the relocation of Australia's oldest continuous Muslim community on Cocos (Keeling) Island.
• Natassia Chrysanthos, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald: The Pacific Promise: exploitation in Australia's Pacific worker scheme.
• Cameron Carr and Gabrielle Katanasho, SBS: 'Food deserts' in Indigenous communities.
• Holly Nott, AAP: Coverage of the 2026 Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Palau.

The selection panel was former ABC and Sky News journalist Jim Middleton, Industry professor of Indigenous media at Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology, Sydney and former Guardian Australia Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam, and former Fairfax Books managing editor Robyn Carter.

Melbourne Press Club CEO Nick Richardson said the record number of applications showed just how important it was for the industry to support this kind of journalism.

"Each year, we see the Fellowships' deliver groundbreaking journalism that supports social justice priorities and shine a light on issues that have grown in the dark," Richardson said.

Several Fellowships stories have also won Quill and Walkley awards, underlining the compelling nature of the journalism.

The range of this year's recipients show a growing engagement with the Pacific, at a time of hightened strategic pressure across the region while the Indigenous stories offer a deeper appreciation of disadvantage and loss.

"The Melbourne Press Club is privileged to have custody of honoring Michael Gordon's outstanding journalism with these Fellowships," Richardson said.

He thanked the Fellowship supporters - the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, the National Press Club, Robyn Carter and family and Nine for their on-going commitment.

"We thank everyone who applied and extend our congratulations to this year's Michael Gordon Fellowship recipients," Richardson said.

The Michael Gordon Journalism Fellowships are generously supported by:

We are also grateful for the support of Robyn Carter.