Top Education Journalists in Australia (2025)

Christopher Knaus is a senior journalist at The Guardian Australia specializing in education, legal justice, and environmental conflicts. His reporting consistently bridges data-driven investigation with human-centered storytelling, particularly focusing on systemic inequities affecting Indigenous communities and abuse survivors.

Key Coverage Areas

• Education Policy: Exposes racial and socioeconomic disparities in schools, often highlighting community-led reform efforts.
• Legal Accountability: Reports on landmark cases challenging institutional power, from church abuse settlements to Indigenous land rights.
• Environmental JusticeInvestigates fossil fuel projects through the lens of community resistance and corporate transparency.

Pitching Tips

• Lead with Data: Knaus prioritizes stories where FOIA requests or academic studies reveal systemic failures. Provide access to unpublished datasets or whistleblower testimony.
• Center Marginalized Voices: Successful pitches foreground Indigenous leaders, abuse survivors, or grassroots activists rather than NGO spokespeople.
• Avoid Incremental Updates: His work focuses on structural overhauls, not policy tweaks. Frame pitches around paradigm-shifting legal rulings or community movements.

Awards Spotlight

• 2024 Walkley Finalist for homelessness death investigation
• Co-author of award-winning Black Educational Leadership

Helen Gregory has shaped Australia’s policy discourse through her incisive coverage of education reform and rental affordability at The Newcastle Herald. With 15 years of experience, she excels at translating complex legislation into stories that drive tangible community outcomes.

Key Coverage Areas

• Education Policy: Tracks funding equity, rural access, and curriculum reforms
• Tenant Rights: Analyzes rental legislation through regional housing crises
• Environmental Law: Investigates policy gaps in climate-affected communities

Achievements

• 2020 Walkley Award winner for environmental investigative reporting
• Cited in 3 NSW parliamentary inquiries on education and housing
• Authored the Herald’s most-read investigative series for 3 consecutive years

Pitching Preferences

• Do: Lead with FOI-obtained data or localized case studies
• Avoid: National trend pieces without NSW-specific analysis

Jordan Baker, chief reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald, has established herself as Australia’s preeminent education journalist while branching into sports analysis and media criticism. Her work combines policy expertise with narrative flair, particularly when examining:

Core Coverage Areas

• **Education Reform**: Tracking implementation and outcomes of curriculum changes
• **Sporting Mega-Events**: Analyzing cultural and economic impacts of league expansions
• **Newsroom Evolution**: Investigating ethical challenges in digital journalism

Pitching Preferences

Baker seeks stories with:

• **Concrete Case Studies**: Avoid abstract theories without real-world applications
• **Multidisciplinary Angles**: Education-technology hybrids or sports-policy intersections
• **National Relevance**: Local stories must demonstrate broader implications

"Great journalism doesn’t just report events—it illuminates systems."

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.

Key Coverage Areas

• Higher Education Reform: Track record of exposing funding mismanagement and governance gaps in universities
• International Student Dynamics: Seminal work on visa policy impacts for Australia’s $51B education export sector
• Institutional Accountability: Regular FOI-driven investigations into administrative spending and transparency

Achievements

• 2023 Universities Australia Journalist of the Year
• Cited in 6 parliamentary inquiries on education policy
• Regular commentator for ABC’s Higher Education Spotlight series

Pitching Preferences

Hare seeks stories that:

• Reveal systemic flaws in education funding models
• Include quantitative analysis of policy outcomes
• Feature underrepresented stakeholder perspectives

This award-winning journalist combines policy expertise with human-centered storytelling across Australia's leading publications. Her work for The Courier-Mail and 89 Degrees East focuses on three key areas:

• Classroom Innovations: Profiles educators implementing measurable improvements in student outcomes
• Family Policy Impacts: Analyzes legislation through multi-generational lived experiences
• Trauma-Informed Reporting: Sets new standards for covering sensitive education topics

Pitching Priorities

• Queensland-based educational initiatives with 6+ months of implementation data
• Cross-sector partnerships improving access to learning resources
• Personal narratives illustrating systemic policy challenges

"The most powerful education stories live where policy documents meet playground realities."

As Professor of Career Development at the University of Queensland, Dr. McMahon shapes global conversations about vocational guidance through her Systems Theory Framework. Her work intersects education, psychology, and social policy, particularly in:

• Lifespan Career Development: Developing evidence-based interventions from childhood through late adulthood
• Inclusive Practice: Creating accessible career services for neurodiverse and migrant populations
• Sustainable Career Ecosystems: Addressing 21st-century challenges through systemic approaches

Recent honors include the 2024 NICEC International Fellowship and advisory roles with Australia's National Career Development Strategy. McMahon's research informs policy in 17 countries and has been translated into 9 languages.

As a senior reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, Natalie Croxon specializes in:

• Education Policy: Particularly initiatives addressing regional disparities
• Crime Reporting: With emphasis on domestic violence cases and judicial outcomes

Avoid pitching:

• Celebrity-focused education stories
• Urban-centric tech innovations without regional applicability

Notable Achievement

Her 2025 investigation into a Wollongong domestic violence case sparked parliamentary discussions about victim support funding, demonstrating her work’s policy impact.

Natasha Bita is an award-winning journalist at The Australian, specializing in education, health policy, and social affairs. With a focus on systemic reform, her work influences national debates on higher education funding, aged care staffing, and immigration policies.

Pitching Insights

• Seek Policy-Relevant Stories: Bita prioritizes investigations with legislative implications, such as her analysis of student loan reforms.
• Combine Data and Human Impact: Successful pitches mirror her approach in exposing aged care shortages through workforce statistics and caregiver interviews.

Awards Snapshot

• 2024 UA Higher Education Journalist of the Year
• Multiple Walkley Award nominations for investigative reporting

Contact her with exclusives on education policy implementation, healthcare workforce challenges, or immigration system pressures. Avoid lifestyle trends or celebrity-driven angles.

Professor Peter McIlveen is a leading voice in career development research and practice, serving as Editor-in-Chief of the Australian Journal of Career Development. Based at the University of Southern Queensland, his work focuses on:

Key Research Areas

• Narrative career counseling: Developed the widely adopted My Career Chapter autobiographical method
• Employability frameworks: Conducts multinational studies on university-to-work transitions
• Vocational psychology: Advances evidence-based practices for career practitioners

Pitching Priorities

• Innovative qualitative research methodologies
• Lifespan approaches to career development
• Cross-cultural studies of work identity

"Career development is the architecture of meaningful lives - we build it one story at a time."

McIlveen's work has been recognized through numerous awards including the CDAA Lifetime Achievement Award (2022) and international fellowships. He welcomes collaborations that bridge academic research with practical career interventions.

Current Focus: Education policy analysis and historical context at Brisbanetimes.com.au

Key Coverage Areas

• Higher Education Innovation: Tracks university reforms and research commercialization
• Cultural Policy: Analyzes funding models for creative industries
• Historical Analogues: Explores past solutions to current societal challenges

Pitching Preferences

• Do:
  • Connect education trends to workforce development data
  • Highlight regional cultural initiatives with national implications
• Avoid:
  • Personality-driven stories without systemic analysis
  • PR-driven "innovation" announcements lacking evidence

Notable Achievements: Led 7 ARC-funded research projects, advised 3 state cultural policy reviews, maintains 92% source retention rate across 15+ years of journalism.