The Walkley Directors are the members and directors of the company Walkley Foundation Limited, which is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission.
Bridget Brennan is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman and the co-host of News Breakfast on the ABC. She is an award-winning Aboriginal affairs journalist and a former foreign correspondent at the ABC. Recently, she was the ABC's Indigenous Affairs editor and helped to establish the national broadcaster's first Indigenous Affairs Reporting Team. Bridget’s journalism has predominantly focussed on women and children.
Ben Butler is a senior investigative journalist who has worked at newsrooms across the Australian industry, specialising in the intersection of business and crime.
Investigations he has worked on include exposing the Commonwealth Bank for ripping off term deposit customers, revealing the complex financial engineering used by the owner of the collapsed "sorry business insurer" Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, as well as the involvement of rich Australians in offshore tax schemes laid out in the Pandora Papers.
He has won two Walkley Awards, three Melbourne Press Club Quills, two Kennedy awards and a Citi award (markets division).
Investigations he has worked on include exposing the Commonwealth Bank for ripping off term deposit customers, revealing the complex financial engineering used by the owner of the collapsed "sorry business insurer" Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, as well as the involvement of rich Australians in offshore tax schemes laid out in the Pandora Papers.
He has won two Walkley Awards, three Melbourne Press Club Quills, two Kennedy awards and a Citi award (markets division).
Nadine has worked across film, television and stage for over forty years. Beginning her career as a teenager in the much loved children's television series: The Henderson Kids, Nadine has appeared in many productions including City Homicide for the 7 Network, MR Black for Network 10 and Raw FM. Blue Water High, the Doctor Blake Mysteries and Savage River for the ABC. She is soon to appear in the second series of High Country for Foxtel. Nadine has appeared for all the major theatre companies in both classical and contemporary works and has received many awards for both her screen and stage work. Nadine has had a close relationship with journalists and journalism across her career and believes in the protection and recognition of quality journalism as a major pillar of democracy. Nadine regularly co hosts The Friday Revue, with Brian Nankervis on ABC Radio Melbourne and is currently the Vice President of Equity, advocating strongly for the protection and funding of Australian stories.
Nour Haydar is host and senior producer of Guardian Australia’s award-winning daily news podcast Full Story. Before joining the Guardian, she worked as federal political reporter in the Canberra press gallery, covering national politics for the ABC from Parliament House and appearing across the ABC’s television, radio and digital platforms, including News Breakfast and Afternoon Briefing. Nour is committed to improving media coverage and reporting practices around gender-based and state-sanctioned violence.
David Ross is a journalist at The Australian, covering business and finance for more than six years. Before joining The Australian he was a freelance journalist, writing for local and overseas publications, and has also worked at the European Parliament in Brussels. He strongly believes in the power of good journalism and reporters who can deliver a ripping yarn.
Michael Slezak is the ABC’s national environment and science reporter, covering stories across all ABC platforms. A Walkley Award-winning journalist, he has a strong record of breaking stories at the intersection of environmental and governance issues, driving public debate and reform. Before joining the ABC, Michael was the environment reporter for Guardian Australia and the Australasian correspondent for New Scientist magazine. He also edited The Best Australian Science Writing (NewSouth Books) and has contributed to numerous other publications. Committed to fostering a strong journalism community, he is dedicated to supporting reporters in their vital role in Australian democracy.
Kasun Ubayasiri is a print and photojournalist who worked in Sri Lanka, and rural and regional Queensland before taking up a journalism teaching position at Griffith University, Queensland, where he is employed as Senior Lecturer and Program Director of Journalism and Communication. He continues to work on longform photodocumentary projects focusing on human rights and migration. He has a PhD from Queensland University of Technology and is the co-author of Journalism for Social Change in Asia: Reporting Human Rights. He is a strong believer in building united, ethical and robust journalistic collectives that can face the challenges of the future.