Title

Publication

The Feed, SBS Viceland and Dateline, SBS TV

Year

2018

Category

Young Journalist of the Year Awards
Overall Young Australian Journalist of the Year
All media: Public service journalism
All media: Longform Feature or Special

Laura Murphy-Oates (@lauramoates) is a 27-year-old Ngiyampaa Wailwan woman, who grew up on Darkinjung land on the central coast. She is a presenter and producer on the daily current affairs show The Feed on SBS VICELAND. Over the past six years, Laura has worked across SBS and NITV as a video journalist, news reporter and documentary producer, travelling to Indigenous communities all around Australia. Her work at NITV earned her a Logie nomination in 2017 and a NSW Multicultural and Indigenous Media Award in 2016.

Read an interview with Laura here.
Read Laura’s article on her trip to visit US newsrooms here.

Judges’ comments:

Taking out two categories, for Public Service and Longform Journalism, Laura Murphy-Oates was the clear winner of this year’s Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year. Accepting the trophy at the awards ceremony in Sydney in July, Laura said: “I am incredibly lucky at 27 to have spent the past six years traveling around Australia and the world meeting First Nations people. It has made me a better journalist and a better person.”

Laura’s win was met with a warm outpouring of support from the community, while the judges praised the maturity of her winning body of work. “Laura’s impressive portfolio displays a maturity beyond her years. She has managed to tell three incredibly complex stories in a manner that is in parts shocking, sad and funny — and most importantly always powerful and engaging. In particular, the judges were impressed by her ability to ask tough questions and get telling insights from interview subjects. Equally impressive was the depth of her reporting and ability to engage the viewer for long periods of time. We can’t wait to see what she does next.”