As Education Editor at the Australian Financial Review, Julie Hare specializes in dissecting the intersections of academia, policy, and finance. Her award-winning reporting has reshaped national conversations about university governance and international education markets.
Hare seeks stories that:
Julie Hare has established herself as a leading voice in Australian education journalism through her incisive reporting on policy, governance, and financial trends. With over two decades of experience, her work at the Australian Financial Review (AFR) blends investigative rigor with a deep understanding of institutional dynamics. Her career includes roles at The Australian and contributions to international outlets like Times Higher Education, cementing her reputation as a trusted analyst of higher education systems.
This investigation revealed the Australian National University’s governance challenges during a cost-cutting phase, highlighting discrepancies in financial transparency. Hare’s analysis of travel expenses juxtaposed against staff redundancies sparked national debates about university leadership accountability. The piece underscored her ability to contextualize institutional spending within broader fiscal trends, leading to Senate inquiries about public funding oversight.
Hare’s coverage of Macquarie University’s handling of a professor accused of antisemitic rhetoric exposed tensions between academic freedom and institutional responsibility. By interviewing stakeholders across academia and legal sectors, she dissected the complexities of employment law in educational settings. The article became a benchmark for discussions about university ethics committees and their role in moderating contentious speech.
This analysis of Sydney’s education costs combined granular fee data with socioeconomic trends, revealing how ancillary expenses burden middle-class families. Hare’s inclusion of grandparental financial contributions added a human dimension to the statistics, influencing policy debates about equitable access to quality education. The piece exemplifies her knack for connecting macroeconomic factors to household-level impacts.
Hare prioritizes stories that expose mismatches between education policies and real-world outcomes. For example, her 2024 series on student visa loopholes (AFR, March 2025) directly influenced Australia’s migration strategy reforms. Pitches should highlight underreported regulatory flaws or unintended consequences of legislation.
Her work frequently uses FOI requests and financial disclosures to scrutinize university spending. A successful pitch might involve comparative analyses of vice-chancellor salaries versus research budgets, akin to her 2025 ANU exposé.
Hare often anchors data-heavy topics to individual narratives, such as her profile of students working multiple jobs to offset debt. Sources offering access to affected stakeholders (e.g., international students, adjunct faculty) align with this approach.
“Julie Hare’s news-breaking portfolio of higher education reporting put her at the top of this year’s field.” – Universities Australia Judging Panel, 2023
In 2023, Hare received the Universities Australia Higher Education Journalist of the Year award for her groundbreaking series on student visa exploitation. This accolade, considered the nation’s most prestigious education journalism prize, recognized her role in reshaping migration policy debates. Her work was credited with prompting bipartisan parliamentary reviews of tertiary education funding models.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on Education, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
