Seven Australian journalists have been selected to take part in the 2026 Masters & McKenzie Investigative Journalism Fellowship.
The program was launched in 2025, named for multi-Walkley Award-winning investigative journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, who were recognised in 2023 with the Walkley Honour For Media Freedom for their ongoing investigative stories about Ben Roberts-Smith across more than six years. The Fellowship is proudly supported by the Dennoch Fund, a sub-fund of the Australian Communities Foundation, and the Walkley Public Fund.
The seven journalists who will attend a two-day workshop in Sydney in July, featuring Chris Masters, Nick McKenzie and a host of other investigative journalism talent, are (in alphabetical order):
- Michelle Elias, SBS The Feed, Sydney NSW
- Oliver Jacques, Region Riverina / Crikey, Griffith NSW
- Olivia Jenkins, ABC News, Melbourne VIC
- Max Maddison, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney NSW
- Niv Sadrolodabaee, SBS News / SBS Persian, Melbourne VIC
- Amber Schultz, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney NSW
- Alex Turner-Cohen, ABC, Newcastle, NSW
Above, top row from left: Michelle Elias, Oliver Jacques, Olivia Jenkins, Max Maddison.
Bottom row, from left: Niv Sadrolodabaee, Amber Schultz, Alex Turner-Cohen. (Photos: supplied)
The judges were impressed by the calibre and scope of the 30 applications received. In selecting the seven winners, the judges weighed up the quality of the applicants’ examples of past work, the story pitch they proposed to investigate, and which applicants would benefit most from the opportunity.
The judges said: “Judging these applications left us feeling so optimistic about the future of investigative journalism in Australia. We were amazed at the clarity of ideas submitted, and blown away by the passion and smarts of the applicants. These were tough decisions but our seven selected fellows represent a range of skills and story pitches from politics, crime and extremism to business, fraud and legal affairs. We can’t wait to see these reporters develop their stories and careers through the fellowship. We encourage all the other excellent applicants to keep working on their investigative ideas and apply again next year.”
The judges were:
- Dan Bourchier
- Lisa Davies
- Colleen Ryan
The winners will attend a two-day workshop program in Sydney on the weekend of 17-19 July, 2026. The workshop will feature a series of in-depth sessions with award-winning investigative journalists Kate McClymont, Marian Wilkinson, Charlotte Grieve, Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie who will share insights into how they broke major stories. In addition there will be separate panels with lawyers Kiah Officer and John-Paul Cashen; and with Nine’s Kirsty Thompson and former head of ABC Current Affairs Bruce Belsham, who will offer their perspectives on preparing investigations for broadcast and publication. Monica Attard will chair the workshop.
The Walkley Foundation is pleased to be able to confirm the fellowship will be offered for the third time in 2027, thanks to the generous support of the Dennoch Fund, a sub-fund of the Australian Communities Foundation. Please sign up to the Walkley newsletter to stay in touch with news on this program. www.walkleys.com/subscribe.
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Media Contacts:
- James Gorman on james.gorman@walkleys.com
- Clare Fletcher on clare.fletcher@walkleys.com
About the fellows:
Michelle Elias is a Walkley Award-winning reporter and producer with SBS’s The Feed, where she covers youth affairs, crime, culture and the forces shaping young people’s lives. In 2023, she won a Walkley Award for her work investigating Australia’s incel community. In 2025, she was part of the team nominated for a short documentary on the group taking down Australia’s colonial statues. Her work spans a wide range of subjects, with a focus on stories that are complex, human and often underreported.
Oliver Jacques is the Griffith-based editor of Region Riverina and a Crikey contributor. He was a Walkley and Kennedy Award finalist in 2024 for his exclusive investigation into a man who allegedly created fake winery export businesses and fraudulently obtained $17 million from the Australian Taxation Office. Oliver previously worked as a chief of staff for Independent NSW MP Helen Dalton and as an English teacher in Turkey and Ecuador. His work has appeared in The Guardian, ABC, SBS, Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun.
Olivia Jenkins is ABC News’ Melbourne crime reporter. Until June, she was a crime reporter at the Herald Sun, where she and her team led exclusive coverage of the biggest crimes in Victoria, and the nation. These include the deaths of two police officers in Porepunkah and the death of Dezi Freeman, Melbourne’s gangland wars, and Victoria’s youth crime crisis where children as young as 12 were murdered. She is the host of the Hunting Justice podcast and docuseries about the Easey Street murders, which was one of the top 10 podcasts in Australia when it launched earlier this year and unearthed links between the victims and one of Australia’s most infamous criminal trials – the death of Azaria Chamberlain. Before that, Olivia won the 2024 John B Fairfax Young Australian Journalist of the Year award for Public Service Journalism after her investigation into Victoria’s child protection system revealed a 12-year-old girl charged with murder was a ward of the state. Her ongoing coverage repeatedly exposed failings in the system that prompted a failed gag bid by the state government to stop her reporting, which saw several children removed from dangerous care homes, and a federal investigation launched into the 12-year-old girl’s care provider’s fraudulent qualifications
Max Maddison is an award-winning political journalist with over five years of experience covering state and federal politics for Australia’s leading news publications. Currently a state political reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald, he has a proven ability to break major stories, deliver in-depth analysis of policy and elections, and cultivate high-level sources. Max won the 2022 Wallace Brown Young Journalist of the Year award for leading coverage of political affairs.
Niv Sadrolodabaee is an Iranian-Australian journalist working for SBS News and SBS Persian, focusing on community stories from Iranian-Australians. He was a 2026 finalist for the Walkley Foundation’s John B Fairfax Family Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award for Public Service Journalism.
Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter at the Sydney Morning Herald and was previously an investigative journalist and associate editor for Crikey, covering gender and politics. Her coverage focuses on social affairs and victim-based crimes, exploring deep-rooted issues with truth and compassion. She’s been awarded a 2022 John B Fairfax Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award for her on-the-ground coverage of the Ukrainian refugee crisis, and the Mumbrella Young Writer of the Year for her coverage of a parliamentary gender reckoning from Canberra. She has also received awards from the Council of Civil Liberties and the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, and has been shortlisted for four other Young Journalist of the Year Awards and a Kennedy award. She holds masters degrees in journalism and in international relations.
Alex Turner-Cohen is an award-winning investigative reporter with the ABC based in Newcastle, NSW. She was previously a finance and investigative reporter at News Corp, writing mostly about white-collar crime. She has worked in Australia and New York.