Australia’s premier journalism award – the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of The Year Award – is turning 50. And entries are now open.

The recipient of the 50th Perkin, to be announced at the Quill Awards on March 20, will join a stellar list of the nation’s finest journalists, dating back to its first recipient, Denis Butler, from The Newcastle Herald.

Since then, the great and the good of our nation’s journalism have earned the award, honouring the memory of Graham Perkin, the dynamic modernising editor of The Age, from 1966 until 1975.

The list of winners includes The Australian’s Paul Kelly, Jack Waterford, of The Canberra Times, The Age’s Michelle Grattan, and Pamela Williams, of The Australian Financial Review.

All the recipients demonstrated the qualities of great journalism – from agenda-setting reporting, to moving prose, to insightful analysis, enlightening audiences and often, provoking debate and driving change.

The Perkin serves as a marker of changes in journalism – several winners worked for now-defunct publications. More recently, the reporting has been shared among media stablemates that has increased the exposure of stories across a range of platforms.

In this special year for the Perkin, the Melbourne Press Club will be celebrating the award, in the build-up to the Quills night and through 2026 as we acknowledge the outstanding journalism that has been at the heart of the award.

Graham Perkin was born in Hopetoun, in the Victorian Mallee district, in December 1929. He was appointed editor of The Age, on October 19, 1966 and died in October 1975.   

The Graham Perkin Award is one of three national journalism awards presented by the Melbourne Press Club.

Entries for the Harry Gordon Australian Sports Journalist of The Year award are also open.

And entries for the Jana Wendt Award for International Reporting are also open.

Enter the Perkin

Entries close: 27 January 2026