The MPC is pleased to announce the finalists for our 31st Quill Awards for Excellence in Victorian Journalism.
Finalists for each category are listed below, alphabetically by surname of primary entrant.
The 2025 Student Journalist of the Year finalist list is also presented.
Winners will be announced at the 31st Quill Awards Dinner on Friday 20 March 2026.
Book your tickets now
See also:
The 31st Quill Awards covers work published in the 2025 calendar year.
Full details of two finalists have been withheld due to Greg Lynn's ongoing criminal proceedings.
Please note: links are not available for all stories, and may not comprise the full entry submitted for consideration.
All media
Best Breaking News or Live Coverage, sponsored by The Lottery Corporation
- 7NEWS, “The Verdict - Mushroom Cook Trial”
- 7NEWS Melbourne, 7NEWS, “Two Police Officers Shot Dead (Rolling Coverage)”
- Ashlee Aldridge, ABC News, “Porepunkah Police Shooting”
- Abby Dinham, Steph Baumgartel and Samantha Butler, 10 News, “Mushroom Killer Verdict”
Best Coverage of an Issue
- Shannon Deery, Anthony Dowsley, Mark Buttler and Olivia Jenkins, Herald Sun, “Chief Commissioner Crisis”
- Jacqui Felgate, 3AW, “Melbourne’s Crime Crisis Exposed”
- Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett and the Four Corners / 7.30 teams, ABC News, “Betrayal of Trust - Australia’s childcare crisis”
- Herald Sun Team, Herald Sun, “Let Them Be Kids”
Business Reporting
- Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett, ABC 7.30, “Affinity Exposed”
- Nick McKenzie, Sarah Danckert and Amelia Ballinger, The Age, “‘Nobody’s stopping it’: The taxpayer money trail from building sites to the underworld”
- Cliona O’Dowd, The Australian, “Falcon Capital’s David Anderson: The man behind the $450m First Guardian collapse”
- Shane Wright and Millie Muroi, The Age, “Overgoverned, overtaxed and overcomplicated: How Australia was set up to fail”
Coverage of Women in Sport, sponsored by Big Ant Studios
Excellence in Indigenous Affairs Reporting, sponsored by the Melbourne Press Club
- Nino Bucci and Blake Sharp-Wiggins, Guardian Australia, “The killing of Kumanjayi Walker”
- Sarah Lawrence, ABC News, “Crisis on Country: Inside the neglected village of Cummeragunja”
- This Place - ABC News Melbourne, ABC News, “The story of the Birrarung, the Yarra River”
- Tony Wright, Justin McManus and Selma Milovanovic, The Age, “The Long Road to Treaty”
Excellence in Science, Medical and Health Reporting, sponsored by University of Melbourne
- Michael Bachelard, Charlotte Grieve and Mark Stehle, The Age, “Dollars in the Dust”
- Rachel Carbonell, Loretta Florance and Ninah Kopel, ABC News, “Zinc sunscreen concerns”
- Liam Mannix and Broede Carmody, The Age, “What if it’s not social media?”
- Petra Stock, Guardian Australia, “Domestic violence study that strangled rats should not have been approved, animal advocates argue”
Grant Hattam Quill for Investigative Journalism, sponsored by The Herald & Weekly Times
- Michael Bachelard, Max Maddison, Kieran Rooney and Sumeyya Ilanbey, The Age, “Exclusive Brethren election interference”
- Aisha Dow, Nigel Gladstone, Lucy Macken and The Age Visual Stories Team, The Age, “Bidding Blind”
- Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Ben Butler and Lara Sonnenschein, ABC Four Corners and 7.30, “Betrayal of Trust”
- Robyn Riley, Herald Sun, “Mum gives birth to the wrong baby”
Innovation in Journalism, sponsored by Swinburne University of Technology
- The Conversation Digital Storytelling Team, The Conversation, “Scam Factories: The inside story of Southeast Asia’s fraud compounds”
- Aisha Dow, Nigel Gladstone and The Age Visual Stories Team, The Age, “Bidding Blind”
- Matt Garrow, Ashlynne McGhee and Samuel Cornell, The Conversation, “The Instagram effect: dying for the perfect photo”
- Shivé Prema, SBS News, “How a spaghetti meme reveals something ‘scary’ about this tech’s future”
Keith Dunstan Quill for Commentary
Multicultural Affairs and Media, in partnership with Gandel Foundation
- Gillian Aeria and Lachlan Bennett, ABC News, “Guilt, judgement, silence: why multicultural families struggle with aged care”
- Iris Papathanasiou, Neos Kosmos, “A century of the Nikakis legacy: From war-torn Smyrna to a thriving family in Australia”
- Clyde Salumu Sharady, Africa Media Australia, “Afropreneurs: A Growing Movement Empowering African Communities Through Entrepreneurship”
- Neary Ty, The Age, “Surviving Pol Pot – My Father’s Heartbreaking Journey”
Regional and Rural Journalism
- Tyrone Dalton, Ben Butler, Danny Tran and Madi Chwasta, ABC News, “Infant’s death in illegal Robinvale childcare centre among sector’s secret failures”
- Eden Hynninen and Josie Taylor, ABC News, “Goodstart Ballarat Investigation”
- Bec Symons and Danielle Pope, ABC News, “Families break silence on hospital trauma after child deaths and close calls”
- Harrison Tippet and Tamara Clark, ABC News, “Yarriambiack Forever”
Reporting on Disability Issues, sponsored by the Victorian Government
Sports Feature
Sports News
Young Journalist of the Year, sponsored by Josephine Nicholls
- Olivia Conder, Geelong Advertiser
- Grace Frost, Herald Sun
- Carla Jaeger, The Age
- Selina Zhang, 9News
Audio media
Podcasting
- Michael Bachelard, Ruby Schwartz and Julia Carr-Catzel, The Age, “Diagnosing Murder”
- Grace Jennings-Edquist, Sally Spicer and Michael Joiner, Bitter Pill Studios, “Beyond Hysterical”
- SBS Audio Team, SBS Audio, “Fallout: Spies on Norfolk Island”
- Unravel: Huntsman Team, ABC Listen, for “Unravel: Huntsman”
Radio Current Affairs
- 774 ABC Melbourne Mornings Team, 774 ABC Radio Melbourne, “Squatters move in after Senate candidate posts Melbourne address online”
- Jacqui Felgate, 3AW, “Parliament Pothole Denial”
- Shane McInnes, 3AW, “Northland Machete Attack”
- Josie Taylor and Eden Hynninen, ‘AM’ and ABC News, “Interview with accused child care worker, AM”
Radio News
- Eden Hynninen, ABC Radio, “Ballarat Grammar abuse”
- Karalee Katsambanis, 3AW, “Bondi Beach Terror: The First Critical Hour”
- Kate Meade, 774 ABC Radio Melbourne, “Shooting in Porepunkah”
- Danny Tran, 774 ABC Radio Melbourne, “Victoria Police asked for tougher bail laws for arsonists, FOI documents show”
Print media
Feature Writing
News Report in Writing
- Michael Bachelard, Max Maddison, Kieran Rooney and Sumeyya Ilanbey, The Age, “The Brethren’s Liberal campaign”
- Anthony Dowsley, Herald Sun, “Cop Out”
- Chip Le Grand, The Age, “Victoria's secret Gonski cuts”
- Robyn Riley, Herald Sun, “Mum gives birth to wrong baby”
TV/Video media
Feature Storytelling - TV + Video
- Christine Ahern and Natalie Clancy, 60 Minutes, “Private Shame”
- Adele Ferguson, Chris Gillett, Ben Butler and Lara Sonnenschein, ABC Four Corners, “Betrayal of Trust”
- Kristy Mayr, 7NEWS Spotlight, “The Stunt Pilot”
- Nick McKenzie and Garry McNab, 60 Minutes, “Enemies Within”
News Story - TV + Video
- Lauren Day, ABC News, “LA Protests”
- Elise Kinsella, Rachael Brown and Ben Knight, ABC News Victoria
- Josie Taylor and Monique Hore, ABC News, “Joshua Brown Red Flags Missed”
- Cassie Zervos, 7NEWS, “Dezi Freeman Manhunt”
Outstanding Camera Work (Over 4 Min)
- Andrew Altree-Williams, ABC 7.30, “Meet Melbourne’s Prince of Darkness’ keeping punk music alive”
- Andrew Altree-Williams, ABC Landline, “Polwarth Passion: Australia’s first sheep breed”
- Pete Healy, ABC Landline, “A Taste of Italy”
- Simon Winter, ABC TV, “Australian Story - Say My Name”
Outstanding Camera Work (Under 4 Min)
- Jason Conduit and Roger Humphrey, 9News, “Driver’s Rampage”
- Ryan Mason, 9News, “Sheep Dogs”
- Patrick Rocca, ABC News Breakfast, “This Place: The Story of the Birrarung (Yarra River)”
- Sam Steele and Roger Humphrey, 7NEWS, “Hiking Tragedy”
Visual media
Artwork/Graphics in any Medium
- Jamie Brown, The Age, “Fight and Flight”
- Marija Ercegovac, The Age, “A deafening blow”
- Brad Harvie, 9News, “Midnight Hammer”
- Matt Willis, The Age, “Darling Harbour papercraft”
Cartoon
- Joe Benke, The Age, “Trump’s long reach”
- Matt Golding, The Age, “Nighthawks”
- David Rowe, The Australian Financial Review, “Wish you weren’t here”
Features Photograph
- Christopher Hopkins, Guardian Australia, “Kathy’s Last Wish”
- Christopher Hopkins, Al Jazeera, “They Teach Us To Sing But There Are No Songs About Us”
- Justin McManus, The Age, “Sacred Fire”
- Ellen Smith, Guardian Australia, “Neil”
News Photograph
- Alex Coppel, Herald Sun, “Tony’s Greatest Escape”
- Jason Edwards, Herald Sun, “Erin’s last glance of freedom”
- Christopher Hopkins, The Age, “Anti-Immigration”
- Martin Keep, Agence France-Presse, “Erin Through the Looking Glass”
Sports Photograph
- David Caird, Herald Sun, “Girls Can Ride”
- Jason Edwards, Herald Sun, “Winners”
- Christopher Hopkins, The Age, “ShadowPlay”
- Eddie Jim, The Age, “Airborne”
2025 Victorian Student Journalist of the Year, sponsored by Coles Group
Winners will be announced at the 31st Quill Awards Dinner on Friday 20 March 2026. Book your tickets now.
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