ABC reporters and camera operators dominate awards for excellence in Victorian journalism
ABC journalists, photographers and camera operators dominated the Quill Awards for excellence in Victorian journalism throughout 2025, taking out more than a dozen of the 30 categories.
Veteran journalist Heather Ewart has received the Melbourne Press Club Lifetime Achievement Award for her career as a political correspondent, overseas correspondent and most recently as a presenter on the ABC TV series Backroads, which showcases the country of Australia.
Area reporter Ashlee Aldridge won for Best Breaking News or Live Coverage. The state’s biggest breaking news coverage of 2025 – Fatal shooting of two police officers by alleged gunman Dezi Freeman in Porepunkah.
Victorian regional reporter Ashlee Aldridge won the best breaking news award for her coverage of the Porepunkah attack. (Provided)
Judges said Aldridge acted quickly on a local report and was the first reporter to arrive in Porepunkah. He worked alone and delivered nine hours of uninterrupted live radio and TV coverage, as well as producing stills, blog posts and a story for that night’s TV bulletin.
“The news reflected the wild and unpredictable nature of the incident, the fear that gripped the local community, and the deep sadness and shock felt when it became clear that two police officers had been killed,” they said.
The Business Reporting award went to Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett for their 7.30 investigation into childcare failures at nursery provider Affinity.
Ferguson and Gillett, along with Ben Butler and Lara Sonnonschein, won the Grant Hattam Quill for Investigative Journalism for their stories on 7.30 and Four Corners exposing shocking cases of abuse in childcare.
“Their reports on the material encountered were always sensitive and meticulous, and they never lost sight of the need to reform failing systems,” the judges said.
Melbourne journalists (left to right) Elise Kinsella, Rachael Brown with ABC News Victoria editor Sarah Jaensch and deputy editor Monique Hore. (ABC News)
Sports reporter Marnie Vinall won the Women in Sports Reporting award for the challenges faced by the Kineton Women’s Football Team.
Bendigo-based reporter Sarah Lawrence received the Excellence in Indigenous Affairs award for her story ‘Crisis on Country: Inside the neglected Cummeragunja village’, which explores the housing challenges faced by Aboriginal people in Victoria and New South Wales.
The Excellence in Science, Medicine and Health Reporting award was given to Rachel Carbonell, Loretta Florance and Ninah Kopel for their investigation of reporting evidence regarding zinc sunscreen products.
Reporters Bec Symons and Danielle Pope won the Regional and Rural Journalism award, which led directly to state government action and changes at LaTrobe Regional Hospital.
The Reporting Disability Issues award went to Jessica Longbottom, Ben Butler and Danielle Bonica for their investigation into abuse in the National Disability Insurance Scheme, giving a voice to vulnerable participants, many of whom were isolated and scared.
The judges said their multiplatform series “challenges stigma and highlights systemic failures to detail the real-life experiences faced by some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”
In audio media, the ABC’s Rachel Brown won the podcasting award and the 774 ABC Melbourne Mornings team won the Radio Current Affairs award for a compelling episode about slum dwellers moving into a Melbourne woman’s property after her address was published online.
ABC Melbourne local radio Mornings host Raf Epstein with senior producer Erin Mathews. (Provided)
Ballarat journalist Eden Hynninen received the Radio News award for her coverage of toxic boarding student behavior at Ballarat Grammar School.
Melbourne reporters Elise Kinsella, Rachael Brown and Ben Knight won in the News Story – TV and Video category, with Simon Winter taking the gong for Outstanding Camerawork over four minutes for his Australian Story segment about Louisa Ioannidis, who was found dead in a stream in 2011.
And Charlotte Wilkes was named the 2025 Victorian Student Journalist of the Year for her story covering five female patients’ accusations of abuse by two male massage therapists.
Journalists awarded ‘highly commended’ across multiple Quills categories included Gillian Aeria, Lachlan Bennett, Tyrone Dalton, Danny Tran, Madi Chwasta, Alica Walker, Daniel Miles, Josie Taylor, Monique Hore and camera operators Pete Healy and Andrew Altree-Williams.
