Meet the Our Watch fellows
14 outstanding Australian journalists have been chosen for the inaugural Our Watch Fellowship program, administered by the Walkley Foundation.
The Our Watch Fellowship program aims to build and refine fellows’ knowledge of best practice reporting on violence against women and deepen their understanding of the complexities of the issue. The journalists, from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, will attend a series of three retreats in February, March and June 2019.
Kylie Boltin, SBS
Kylie Boltin is a Walkley Award-winning producer and journalist, and currently the commissioning editor of online documentaries for SBS. As well as directing award-winning independent documentaries for TV, interactive projects that Kylie has produced or commissioned at the network have been globally recognised as leading examples of innovation for the web, exhibiting at international festivals and picking up dozens of major awards and nominations. These projects innovate in both storytelling and technology and speak to the SBS Charter of social inclusion and cultural and linguistic diversity. Kylie holds a PhD in creative media and a Master of Arts in creative writing.
Liz Burke, News.com.au
Liz Burke is a news editor at news.com.au. She has been at Australia’s #1 news site for four years, starting as a senior journalist covering politics and social affairs, with a particular focus on women’s issues. She has worked as a journalist across online, newspapers and magazines, where she began her career at the Australian Women’s Weekly.
Dimity Clancey, A Current Affair, Nine
Dimity Clancey is a Walkley Award-winning investigative and crime reporter for the Nine Network. After cutting her teeth in the NSW Central West, Clancey moved to Nine’s Sydney newsroom in 2010 and won respect for her work on the crime round. In 2016, she moved to A Current Affair, where her exclusive story on the confession of Malcolm Naden won a Walkley Award. Clancey was nominated again the following year, for her investigation into the misconduct of disgraced obstetrician, Dr Emil Gayed.
Maddison Connaughton, The Saturday Paper
Maddison Connaughton is the editor of The Saturday Paper. In her previous role as features editor at VICE, she was twice-nominated for the Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Awards.
Alison Dance, WIN News Central West
Alison is the senior journalist for WIN News Central West based in Orange, NSW. She has experience in print media, production and broadcast media including working as a video journalist. Her work has taken her to major cities, rural and remote areas. Proudly from Griffith, NSW she has a keen interest in rural issues and agriculture but determinedly covers all aspects of the communities she works for. Alison aspires to give volume to the voices that need to be heard.
Nour Haydar, ABC
Nour Haydar is a multiplatform reporter with ABC News, based in Sydney. She currently covers NSW politics for ABC News’ online, television and radio platforms. Prior to joining the ABC, she was a producer at Sky News Australia. Nour has a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) from UTS.
Ivy Jensen, The Riverine Herald
After studying at the University of Queensland Ivy Jensen began her journalism career on the North West Star, her local paper, before making the move to Echuca-Moama in 2004 and joining the Riverine Herald in 2005. She is now raising her two daughters while also working as the award-winning paper’s senior journalist and occasional reluctant subeditor. In 2017 she won an Our Watch award for the best local/community journalism category and was the lead journalist in a team which won the 2017 Quill for regional/rural journalism category.
Sarah Malik, SBS
Sarah Malik is an award-winning investigative journalist, writer and commentator. She currently works as the deputy editor of SBS Life. Her work focuses on asylum, surveillance, gender and race — most notably examining domestic violence, gender inequality and migration. Her writing has been featured in the New York Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Life, ABC’s The Drum, The Saturday Paper and The Guardian. She has also presented and produced programs for ABC Radio National. In 2018, Sarah was part of a team awarded three Our Watch awards for an ABC investigative series on domestic violence and faith communities. She has also presented and co-produced podcasts for ABC radio, and has also worked as a contributing reporter for the Guardian and the New York Times.
Sherele Moody, News Corp
Sherele Moody is an award-winning journalist working for News Corp’s stable of regional and metropolitan titles. She reports on issues of relevance to regional Australians and regularly files articles on all forms of violence and abuse against women and children. She is a feminist and outspoken anti-violence campaigner. She has been a journalist for 25 years. She runs The RED HEART Campaign and is the creator of the Australian Femicide and Child Death Map and the Memorial to Women and Children Lost to violence, both of which contains the stories of more than 1600 Australian women and children lost to murder and manslaughter since white settlement.
Lauren Novak, The Advertiser
Lauren Novak is social policy editor for The Advertiser, Sunday Mail and advertiser.com.au in Adelaide, where she began her career in 2005. Prior to this appointment, Lauren worked for more than seven years as a state political reporter. She specialises in coverage of gender equality, child protection and domestic violence policy and has won state and national accolades for this work, including the Gold and Best Campaign at the 2016 Our Watch Awards. She was named Best Print/Digital Journalist at the 2016 & 2017 South Australian Media Awards, and in 2016 won the South Australian Press Club Gold Award.
Gary Nunn, freelance
Gary Nunn specialises in human interest stories, men’s and women’s health, LGBTQI issues, linguistics and more. (See his work here). In the UK Gary wrote for the New Statesman and the Independent. In Australia, Gary writes shorter features for The New Daily and in his regular Fairfax Executive Style column, where all his features are targeted at a male audience. He has also written homepage-lead features for news.com.au and features and opinion for the Guardian. Gary regularly writes op-eds for News Corp (Rendez View) and others such as Ten Daily. Gary has been shortlisted for the Media Professional of the Year Award at the 2019 Australian LGBTI Awards. Before journalism, Gary was director of communications for Change.org for three years, and he spent twelve years in the not-for-profit sector prior to that.
Miki Perkins, The Age
Miki Perkins is the social affairs editor at The Age. Her stories cover gender, equality, family violence, indigenous issues, disability and more. Miki has also reported on urban affairs, education and courts.
Emma Race, ABC
Emma Race is the host and producer of the ABC’s award-winning, all-female footy podcast and radio show, the Outer Sanctum. Along with Lehmo she co-hosts the ABC Grandstand pre-game coverage each Sunday on radio, and during the AFLW season she hosts Daisy, Lane and Race, an online AFLW television show with Daisy Pearce and Samantha Lane. Her proudest title is #1 ticket holder of the Hawthorn VFLW team. Emma is passionate about the role of podcasting and storytelling in empowering women. She uses sport as a vehicle to discuss, model and advocate respect and equity for women.
Gina Rushton, Buzzfeed
Gina Rushton is the gender reporter at BuzzFeed News where she covers issues that affect Australian women, with a focus on reproductive rights and violence. She has worked previously as a journalist for The Australian newspaper and has been published in The Saturday Paper, Meanjin and Brow Books.
The Our Watch Fellowship Program is administered by the Walkley Foundation.
Our Watch has been established to drive nation-wide change in the culture, behaviours and attitudes that underpin and create violence against women and children. Our vision is an Australia where women and their children live free from all forms of violence. Our mandate is to stop violence before it happens. Our purpose is to provide national leadership to prevent all forms of violence against women and their children. Our work will always be based on sound research and strong and diverse partnerships.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au.
