Mentoring

Walkley Mentorship Program

The Walkley Mentorship Program supports journalists by providing an opportunity to develop their skills, build their networks, and learn from those who have walked the path before them.

Australian journalists of all ages and experience levels were invited to apply to the 2021 Walkley Mentorship program. With thanks to our funders, the Australian Communities Foundation and the Hantomeli Foundation, we are delighted to announce the following 10 mentees: 

• Mawunyo Gbogbo, ABC
• Dion Georgopoulos, Australian Community Media
• Heidi Heck, Tasmania Times & Dynamic Business
• Nic Huntington, freelance
• Maram Ismail, SBS Radio
• Suzi O’Shea, freelance
• Erin Parke, ABC Regional
• Ruby Prosser Scully, The Medical Republic
• Navin Sam Regi, freelance
• Samuel Yang, ABC

The 10 mentees will be selected and matched with suitable mentors who, over 12 months, will share their experiences, insights, and expertise with them to guide their career development.

The Walkley Foundation selects mentors according to the mentees’ career goals and desired areas of development. Mentors will be drawn from a pool of senior news journalists, including Walkley-winners and industry leaders.

Mentors and mentees are required to meet a minimum of eight times over the year. If COVID-19 public health orders allow it, face to face meetings are preferred, but phone conversations or videoconferencing is also acceptable.

Journalists of all ages and levels of experience were invited to apply, as long as they are Australian-based and either a citizen or permanent resident. Those that have participated in the mentorship program in the past three years were ineligible. Journalists from regional and rural areas, as well as those from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, were encouraged to apply. Part-time and freelance journalists were also eligible.

If you would like to know more about the program please read below or you can listen to two participants of the 2020 Mentorship program – mentor Nick Moir and mentee Steven Saphore discuss their experience here.

With thanks to Mentorship program supporters:

The Dennoch Fund, a sub-fund of the Australian Communities Foundation, and the Hantomeli Foundation.

About the Walkley Mentorship Program

Who can apply to be mentored?

Journalists of all ages and levels of experience are encouraged to apply.

• Applications from journalists working in regional and rural areas are encouraged.
• Applications from journalists with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are encouraged.
• Freelance, part-time and full-time journalists are all invited to apply.
• Applicants must be citizens or permanent residents of Australia.
• Unfortunately, mentees who have participated in the program in the last three years cannot apply.

Who are the mentors?

The Walkley Foundation selects mentors according to the mentees’ career goals and desired areas of development. Mentors will be drawn from a pool of senior news journalists, including Walkley-winners and industry leaders.

Application 

Applications are currently closed.

Terms and conditions

• The Walkley Foundation’s mentoring program requires commitment from both parties to make it work. Mentees should understand that the program will require a time commitment and be happy to prioritise time to communicate with their mentor.
• The candidate must understand that once they have committed to participate in this mentoring program if for any reason they cannot see the program through to its conclusion, they must notify the Walkley Foundation and their mentor as soon as possible.
• The confidentiality and privacy of the mentor-mentee relationship must be strictly adhered to at all times.
• This relationship covers 12 months from the introduction to the mentor. Once the mentoring program has concluded, the mentor and mentee are no longer formally required to continue the arrangement. If both parties agree to continue a mentor-mentee relationship, they understand that it is not subject to any oversight or responsibility on the part of The Walkley Foundation.
• The Walkley Foundation expects that if the mentoring relationship is not working for any reason, one or both persons will notify the Foundation promptly and in good faith to address the issue. The Walkley Foundation reserves the right to allocate a new mentor or mentee if other options are exhausted.

Need help? Get in touch with corinne.podger@walkleys.com

Thank you to our mentors

We’d like to thank those mentors, many of them Walkley winning journalists, who have advised, supported and encouraged our mentees over the years. Their insight and experience in producing quality journalism is invaluable in helping to support the next generation of journalists and to sustain a fair and far-reaching industry.

Our grateful thanks to:

• Patrick Abboud, ABC/Network 10
• Lorena Allam, Guardian Australia
• Richard Baker, The Age
• Rachael Brown, Author/Journalist, ABC and Trace podcast creator
• Matt Brown, Deputy International Editor, ABC
• Anne Connolly, ABC
• Simon Crerar, J-Project, PS Media
• Darren Dale, Company Director/Producer, Blackfella Films
• Melissa Davey, Guardian Australia
• Matt Davis, Journalist/Producer, ABC Foreign Correspondent
• Raf Epstein, ABC Radio Melbourne
• Peggy Giakoumelos, SBS
• Siobhan Heanue, South Asia Correspondent, ABC India
• Chris Masters, Author/Journalist. Investigative Reporter, Four Corners, ABC 1983-2010, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
• Kate McClymont, Investigative Journalist, The Sydney Morning Herald
• Nick McKenzie, Deputy Investigations Editor, The Age
• Sophie McNeill, Human Rights Watch (previously Foreign Correspondent)
• Kirsti Melville, ABC Radio National
• Louise Milligan, Investigative Reporter, Four Corners ABC
• Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald
• Lucie Morris-Marr, Guardian Australia
• Ivan O’Mahoney, In Films
• Miki Perkins, The Age
• John Pickerell, Nature Research
• Andrew Probyn, Political Editor, ABC Federal Parliament House Bureau
• Jonathan Richards, Team Lead, Google Creative Lab
• Hugh Riminton, National Affairs Editor, Network 10
• Ben Smee, Guardian Australia
• Justin Stevens, 7.30, ABC
• Helen Sullivan, Guardian Australia
• Mark Willacy, Senior Reporter, ABC