The Walkley Foundation acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the Redfern area of Sydney where our office stands. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
The Walkley Foundation has long celebrated and supported great Australian journalism. The first Walkley Award for Best Piece of Newspaper Reporting was presented in 1956 to Eva Sommer from the Sydney Sun for her story about an unidentified migrant stowaway. Eva's story garnered national headlines.
Our mission
The Walkley Foundation benchmarks the industry standard for excellence and best practice journalism. We work independently with all media organisations to enable Australian journalists to tell the stories of our nation and strengthen our democracy. We aim to engage both the media and the public to value, celebrate, and support great Australian journalism.
- The Walkley Awards
- Walkley Press Photography Awards
- Walkley Book Award
- Walkley Documentary Award
- Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards
- June Andrews Award for Freelancer of the Year
- June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership
- June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting
- June Andrews Award for Arts Journalism
- Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism
- Humanitarian Storytelling Award
- Our Watch Award
- Media Diversity Australia Award
- Digital Archive
Encouraging excellence
The Walkley Awards are the pinnacle of achievement for any Australian journalist. With a rich 68-year history, the Walkley Awards now include 30 categories across all platforms, peer-judged with a two-tier process. No matter their era, Walkley Award-winning stories have always chronicled Australia’s history, people and events.
The Walkley Foundation also runs and administers honours that benchmark excellence for freelance journalists, women’s leadership in media, industrial reporting, arts journalism and criticism, and more.
Encouraging excellence
The Walkley Awards are the pinnacle of achievement for any Australian journalist. With a rich 67-year history, the Walkley Awards now include 30 categories across all platforms, peer-judged with a two-tier process. No matter their era, Walkley Award-winning stories have always chronicled Australia’s history, people and events.
The Walkley Foundation also runs and administers honours that benchmark excellence for freelance journalists, women’s leadership in media, industrial reporting, arts journalism and criticism, and more.
Read more about our awards and prizes
Our history
The first Walkley Awards were presented in 1956 by Sir William Gaston Walkley. The Walkley Foundation for Excellence in Journalism was established to carry on his legacy through the annual Walkley Awards, a celebration of the best Australian Journalism.
Our history
The first Walkley Awards were presented in 1956 by Sir William Gaston Walkley. The Walkley Foundation for Excellence in Journalism was established to carry on his legacy through the annual Walkley Awards, a celebration of the best Australian Journalism.
Read more about our history
Professional Development
The Walkley Foundation provides professional development programs for journalists from across the industry. We want to help journalists of all experience levels and backgrounds to develop their skills, build contacts and have access to new opportunities that will support them as they hone their craft.
Read more about our scholarships, mentorships, training and more
Professional Development
The Walkley Foundation provides professional development programs for journalists from across the industry. We want to help journalists of all experience levels and backgrounds to develop their skills, build contacts and have access to new opportunities that will support them as they hone their craft.
Read more about our scholarships, mentorships, training and more
Support and Value journalism
The Walkley Foundation supports Australian journalism through offering scholarships, fellowships, mentoring, training and grants. We’re also building a digital archive of six decades of Walkley-winning journalism as a resource for journalists, students, and the public. Bringing the first draft of history to life!
We’ve got an important role to play in helping all Australians understand why great journalism makes life better, safer and fairer for all of us. We’re spreading the word by giving the best journalists a platform at public events and festivals, through The Walkley Magazine, our newsletter and our podcast.
Read more about how we support and amplify journalism
How we do it
The Walkley Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation and relies on support from corporate organisations, tertiary institutions, government, foundations and individuals to develop a wide range of programs including providing scholarships, offering grants and developing tools for increased digital media literacy.
If you would like to join us in building a news ecosystem that is thorough, far-reaching and trusted for today and for future Australians, consider partnering with us or making a donation today.
"It’s a great privilege to acknowledge and celebrate the best of Australian journalism. It is a hugely rewarding profession, and there aren’t too many jobs that can make democracy stronger, society fairer and lives richer. Speaking truth to power we must. Only by shining a light do things change."
Adele Ferguson, Walkley Foundation Chair
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