The following is a list of finalists for the 2021 Quill Awards for Excellence in Victorian Journalism. The Student Journalist of the Year finalist list is also presented.
Finalists are listed alphabetically by surname of primary entrant.
Please note: links are not available for all stories, and may not comprise the full entry submitted for consideration.
The winners will be announced at the 2021 Quills Awards Dinner on Friday 18 March 2022. Tickets can be booked here.
ARTWORK
Matt Davidson, The Age, 'Science fiction or fact – will we meet aliens?
Richard Giliberto, The Age, 'Under the Canopy'
Richard Giliberto, The Age, 'Working the Network/Out of the Loop'
Tia Kasambalis, The Saturday Paper, 'Twenty years on'
BREAKING NEWS
7NEWS Melbourne, 7NEWS, ‘Construction Protests’
Christine Ahern, Today Show, 'CFMEU Protests'
Matt Johnston, Shannon Deery, Kieran Rooney, Mitch Clarke, Herald Sun, 'Victoria's Covid-19 restrictions'
Caroline Wilson, Footy Classified, 'Alastair Clarkson departs Hawthorn'
BUSINESS NEWS/FEATURE
Sarah Danckert, The Age, 'Secrets at Stake.com: The Australian origins of the world’s biggest crypto casino'
Konrad Marshall, Good Weekend magazine, 'Playing hardball'
John Stensholt and Nick Evans, The Australian, 'Twiggy's Green Dream'
CARTOON
Matt Davidson, The Age, 'AUKUS Bombshell'
John Ditchburn, Ballarat Courier, 'There's someone tailgating us dear!'
Jim Pavlidis, The Age, 'Net Zero, Zero Net'
COVERAGE OF AN ISSUE OR AN EVENT
Shannon Deery, Matt Johnston, Kieran Rooney, Mitch Clarke, Herald Sun, 'Restrictions revealed'
Clay Lucas, The Age, 'Broken homes: aged care and the horror of St Basil's'
Ben Schneiders and Royce Millar, The Age, 'Class Divide: Sacked for being gay'
Cassie Zervos, 7NEWS, 'Missing Campers'
COVERAGE OF WOMEN IN SPORT sponsored by VicHealth
Christie Cooper, 7NEWS Melbourne, 'Girls' Footy'
Tom Cowie and Rachael Dexter, The Sunday Age, 'How one woman’s story shook the sport of powerlifting'
Damien Ractliffe and Craig Butt, The Age, 'Tackling steep rise in women’s contact sport injuries'
Rhiannon Stevens, ABC Online, 'The Strongest Woman In The World'
EXCELLENCE IN INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS REPORTING sponsored by Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations
Andy Burns and Shahni Wellington, ABC 7.30 and ABC News, 'Footage of police arrests leaves Indigenous Australians feeling unsafe in their own community'
Yoo-rrook: A time for truth team, The Age, 'Yoo-rrook: A time for truth'
EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE, MEDICAL AND HEALTH REPORTING sponsored by University of Melbourne
Alexis Daish, A Current Affair, 'The Shadow Pandemic'
Liam Mannix, The Age, 'COVID-19: evidence-based reporting'
Chris Vedelago, The Age, 'Doubts over shaken baby science used to convict'
FEATURES PHOTOGRAPH
David Caird, Herald Sun, 'A Good Friday For Kids'
Eddie Jim, The Age, 'After the Storm'
Justin McManus, The Age, 'Time for Truth'
Jake Nowakowski, Sunday Herald Sun, 'Bug's Life'
FEATURE WRITING
James Button, The Age, 'Cancel culture'
Melissa Fyfe, Good Weekend, 'The Death of Ashleigh Petrie'
Chip Le Grand, Timna Jacks & Paul Sakkal , The Age, 'How Victoria is really governed'
Marta Pascual Juanola, The Age, '"Wrong skin" - Tragedy: death, drugs and violence in a divided town'
GRANT HATTAM QUILL FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Ben Butler, Elise Worthington, Neil Chenoweth, Mario Christodoulou, and Liam Walsh, Guardian Australia, ABC, and Australian Financial Review, 'Pandora Papers'
Sarah Curnow and Josie Taylor; ABC News, 'Data breach'
Adele Ferguson, Lauren Day and Klaus Toft, The Age, 'Cosmetic Surgery Underbelly'
Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer, The Age, 'Neo Nazis exposed'
INNOVATION IN JOURNALISM
Matilda Boseley, Guardian Australia, 'Guardian Australia TikToks'
Michael Slezak, Mark Doman and Katia Shatoba, ABC News, '"Lawless" loggers'
Sharnelle Vella, 'Who wants facts?'
Asia Pacific Newsroom, ABC News, 'Hidden In Plain Sight'
KEITH DUNSTAN QUILL FOR COMMENTARY
Waleed Aly, The Age, 'It makes no sense to ask
'Liam Mannix, The Age, 'Examine'
Martin McKenzie-Murray, The Monthly, Three works
Julie Szego, The Age, 'The states’ race to freedom is over'
NEWS PHOTOGRAPH
David Caird, Herald Sun, 'Farewell Greatest Showman'
Christopher Hopkins, The Age, 'Anti lockdown: 262 Days'
Justin McManus, The Age, '"If I had not been double vaccinated, I'd be Dead"'
Darrian Traynor, Getty Images, 'Locked down, locked up, locked in and locked out'
NEWS REPORT IN WRITING
Melissa Cunningham, The Age, '"I feel like a criminal": Traveller says he told authorities about nebuliser'
Stephen Drill and Christopher Tinkler, Herald Sun, 'Tim Paine sexting scandal'
Tom Minear and Matt Johnston, Herald Sun, 'Rail Park Fail'
Jewel Topsfield and Royce Millar, The Age, 'How Denise Morgan escaped Albert Park's House of Horrors'
PODCASTING
Genevieve Alison, Ashley Argoon, Andrea Thiis-Evensen, Jon Burton, Herald Sun, 'Class Act podcast'
Bethany Atkinson-Quinton and Madison Griffiths, Broadwave, 'Tender: Roia Atmar'
Mahmood Fazal, ABC Radio National, 'The infiltrator who helped hatch a terror plot'
John Silvester, Margaret Gordon, Anu Hasbold, and Cormac Lally, The Age, 'Naked City'
RADIO CURRENT AFFAIRS
Norman Hermant, ABC AM, 'Hidden Homeless'
Charlotte King, ABC Background Briefing and AM, 'The memo that erased a scandal'
Neil Mitchell, 3AW, 'The fall of Tim Smith'
RADIO NEWS
Nicole Asher, ABC Radio Melbourne Drive, 'Violence on the steps of the Shrine of Remembrance'
Bridget Rollason, 774 ABC Radio Melbourne, 'Victoria's construction industry shutdown for two weeks'
Richard Willingham, ABC News, 'Purpose built quarantine hub to be built in Mickleham'
REGIONAL AND RURAL JOURNALISM
Charmayne Allison and Catherine Grey, Shepparton News, 'Beyond the Addiction'
Emma Field, Andy Burns and Charlotte King, ABC Gippsland, Countryhour and News, 'Petfood investigation reveals dodgy racehorse burials'
Harrison Tippet, The Geelong Advertiser, 'Out in the Cold'
Dale Webster, The Regional, '"Big four" banks casting a dangerous shadow'
REPORTING ON DISABILITY ISSUES sponsored by Victorian Government
Adam Carey, Sunday Age, 'Autistic siblings removed from specialist school after good results'
Luke Henriques-Gomes, Guardian Australia, 'Reporting on the National Disability Insurance Scheme'
Jessica Longbottom, ABC News, 'The Australian-born children the government wants to deport because they have a disability'
Jewel Topsfield, The Age, '"It doesn't define me": What is it like to live with dementia?'
REPORTING ON MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS sponsored by Victorian Government
Christopher Hopkins and Margaret Simons, The Guardian, '"We Thought we were Australian"'
Sumeyya Ilanbey and Melissa Cunningham, The Age, 'How coronavirus closed in on the City of Hume'
Bang Xiao, Jarrod Fankhauser, Steven Viney, ABC News, 'Hidden In Plain Sight'
ROAD SAFETY REPORTING sponsored by TAC
Sherryn Groch, The Age, 'The horrible thud: How can we stop roadkill?'
Lana Murphy, Nine News, 'Southbank Survivor'
Olivia Shying and Harrison Tippet, Geelong Advertiser, 'Deadly December'
Brianna Travers, Herald Sun, 'Bye Mum, I'll be fine'
SPORTS FEATURE
Russell Jackson, ABC News, 'Rod Owen's Secret'
Chip LeGrand, The Age, 'Cruel game'
Konrad Marshall, Good Weekend magazine, 'All the right moves'
Damien Ractliffe, Craig Butt, Mark Stehle and Richard Lama, The Age, 'Head on: Rising concussion rates in community footy exposed amid calls for action on youngsters'
SPORTS NEWS
Greg Baum, The Age, 'Shane Tuck'
Sam McClure and Peter Ryan, The Age, 'Walker racism probe'
Paul Sakkal and Scott Spits, The Age, 'Tennis Australia fights vaccine mandate to allow Djokovic entry'
Michael Warner, Herald Sun, '"Do better": The secret Collingwood racism report'
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPH
Alex Coppel, Herald Sun, 'Jess Fox'
Jay Town, ausopen.com, 'Eye on the ball'
Darrian Traynor, Getty Images, 'Bigger than sport'
Michael Willson, AFL.com.au, 'Air-O-Smith'
TV CAMERA WORK (CREATIVE)
Glenn Edwards, Today Show, 'Runway Revamp'
Ryan Mason, Nine News, 'Plane Graveyard'
Steven Ramplin, A Current Affair, 'Dingo Whisperer'
TV CAMERA WORK (SHOT OF THE YEAR)
Oli Bourguignon, 7NEWS, 'Wild Scenes: Union Protest'
Glenn Edwards, Today Show, 'Melbourne Protests'
Jason Edwards, Herald Sun, 'Anti-Lockdown Protests'
Hamish Russell, 10 News First, 'Gippsland Flood Rescue'
TV/VIDEO FEATURE
Alexis Daish, A Current Affair, 'Doyle Talks'
Georgia Done, Lisa Wilkinson, Anthony Hawwa and Josh Wedd, The Project, 'Enough is Enough'
Adele Ferguson, Klaus Toft, Lauren Day, ABC Four Corners, 'Cosmetic Cowboys'
Nick McKenzie and Joel Tozer, 60 Minutes / The Age, 'Nazi's Next Door'
TV/VIDEO NEWS
Cameron Baud, 7NEWS, 'Delta Removalists Uncovered'
Lana Murphy, Nine News Melbourne, 'Contact Tracer Predator'
Michael Slezak and Laura Kewley, ABC 7.30, '"Lawless" loggers'
Cassie Zervos, 7NEWS, 'Greg Lynn arrest'
Early career awards
THE MPC STUDENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Ruth Brook, Monash University, 'May the end be beautiful'
Amalya Hart, University of Melbourne, 'Earth’s orbital space: who’s in charge?'
Warwick Jones, RMIT, 'The battle over Australia’s tough new vape ban'
Petra Stock, University of Melbourne, 'National Treasure'
Fia Walsh, University of Melbourne, 'On the land, between phosphate rock and a hard place'
YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR sponsored by Wilnic Family Trust
Caitlin Cassidy, Guardian Australia, a body of work
Mitch Clarke, Herald Sun, a body of work
Olivia Jenkins, Herald Sun, a body of work
Shannon Schubert, ABC News, 'Shining a light on regional issues and the failures at Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre'
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