Winner: Rebecca Symons and Harrison Tippet, ABC News, “Domestic violence rates nearly twice as high in regional Victoria than metropolitan Melbourne”

Judges’ citation:

“Diligent research and vigorous scrutiny of raw data in the best tradition of investigative journalism revealed that regional Victoria suffered higher rates of family violence than metropolitan areas. In the absence of official statistics separating regional levels of domestic incidents, Rebecca Symons and Harrison Tippet located, sorted and scrutinised more than 12,000 data points. They uncovered for the first time the disturbing heart of the story – that regional Victorians are 84% more likely to experience family violence, and the gap is growing. Their empathetic storytelling was strengthened by a powerful case study and enhanced with strong visuals. The story was used across all ABC platforms and was broadcast both locally and nationally. This work won a section that included several outstanding entries that epitomised the strength of regional and rural journalism.”

Highly Commended:

Ed Gannon, Stock & Land, “Exclusive: Elders live export fraud revealed”

Harrison Tippet, ABC News, “Historic Decision: Robert Farquharson stripped of rights over graves of his dead sons”

Shortlisted:

Alex Sinnott, The Weekly Times, “Big banks on notice”