An ABC investigation laying bare the failures in Australia’s $20 billion childcare sector has won Australian journalism’s highest honour, with Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett winning the 2025 Gold Walkley Award.
It’s a year since Ferguson and Gillett began digging into the sector for the ABC NEWS Investigative Reporting Team, exposing shocking stories of abuse and neglect and leading a national conversation on how we can better keep children and babies safe.
The Walkley judges unanimously selected the multi-platform investigation as the story of the year. It also won three other Walkley categories: TV/Video: Current Affairs Short, TV/Video: Current Affairs Long, and All Media: Investigative Journalism, the latter two with Ben Butler and Lara Sonnenschein.
Ferguson and Gillett were also finalists in the All Media: Coverage of a Major Event category and Scoop of the Year.
Earlier this year Betrayal of Trust, the initial report for Four Corners in March, also won the Logie Award for Best News Coverage or Public Affairs Report.
Adele Ferguson: “This investigation underscores why public interest journalism matters. Every day 1.5 million kids go to childcare and parents expect they will be safe. This investigation exposed a system in crisis and sparked national conversations and reforms that will help keep children safer.
I’m proud to work with a team at the ABC that is willing to take on complex, difficult stories that need to be told.”
ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks: “I’m so pleased that the work of Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett has earned this well-deserved recognition. ABC investigative journalism revealing major issues in a key industry the public relies on, such as childcare, is the ABC at its best. Congratulations to all the ABC finalists and winners for their excellence and dedication.”
A remarkable 30 ABC journalists, programs and teams were finalists across 18 categories in this year’s Walkleys and won a total of nine awards.
Other ABC Winners:
- All Media: Coverage of Community and Regional Affairs – Joanna Woodburn, Hannah Meagher, Fred Shaw, Shaun Kingma (ABC, 7.30, ABC News): ‘Whistleblower doctors expose cancer surgery’
- Audio Short (under 20 minutes) – Lucy Barbour (AM, ABC News): ‘Australia’s ‘unspoken’ abortion ban’
- Audio Long (over 20 minutes) – Anne Connolly, Ninah Kopel, Gina McKeon, Echo Hui (ABC, Background Briefing): ‘The Invisible Killer’
- All Media: International – Mark Willacy, Jonathan Miller, Ryan Sheridan (Four Corners): ‘Endurance’
- All Media: Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique – The Media Watch Team (Media Watch): ‘Nine’s beach house porkies, ABC radio chairbound, Conflict Class’
Director, News Justin Stevens: “The ABC’s result at the Walkley Awards is a credit to the talent and hard work of many people at the ABC and their dedication to serving the public every day.
Locally, nationally and internationally, ABC News is committed to exploring the issues that matter to people and bringing to light information they should know about, with impact.”
Former Head of ABCTV News and Current Affairs, Peter Manning, was also honoured by the Walkley Foundation for his Outstanding Contribution to Journalism. During his time at the ABC, Peter launched programs such as Lateline, Foreign Correspondent, and Landline. His son Paddy Manning is an investigative journalist with the ABC, based in Hobart.
Visit https://www.abc.net.au
