Top Religion Journalists in Australia (2025)

Danny Lannen serves as the religious affairs specialist at The Geelong Advertiser, Australia’s oldest regional newspaper. His reporting focuses on how faith communities address contemporary social challenges, with particular emphasis on:

Key Coverage Areas

• Interfaith Collaboration: Documents multifaith initiatives tackling issues from homelessness to climate action
• Community Safety: Reports on religious institutions’ role in crime prevention and victim support
• Cultural Preservation: Chronicles adaptive reuse of sacred spaces and traditional practices

Pitching Priorities

• Concrete examples of religious groups driving social change
• Data-supported stories on demographic shifts in spiritual practice
• Profiles of intergenerational leadership within faith communities

With 15+ years at The Geelong Advertiser, Lannen has become essential reading for understanding the evolving role of religion in Australian regional life. His work bridges the gap between spiritual traditions and modern community needs, offering unique insights into how faith shapes social infrastructure.

Des Houghton is a journalist at Sky News Australia, specializing in religion, food, and travel. With a career spanning regional reporting to national commentary, he combines investigative depth with narrative elegance to explore how cultural and policy shifts shape Australian society.

Pitching Insights

• Seek Cultural Depth: Houghton prioritizes stories that intersect faith, cuisine, and societal trends, such as his analysis of religious dietary laws’ economic impact.
• Local Innovations: Highlight Australian-driven initiatives, like sustainable vineyards, to align with his focus on homegrown ingenuity.

Awards Spotlight

• Walkley Award Nominee for exposing public sector accountability gaps.
• Sky News Excellence Award for groundbreaking work on Indigenous media representation.

As founding editor of Eternity News and senior writer at THE OTHER CHEEK, John Sandeman has shaped Australia’s religious media landscape for 15+ years. His work bridges theological depth with journalistic rigor, specializing in:

• Faith in Public Policy: Analyzes legislation impacting religious institutions, from healthcare mandates to education funding
• Ecclesial Trends: Tracks demographic shifts in church attendance and giving patterns
• Institutional Accountability: Investigates governance in faith-based nonprofits and educational bodies

Pitching Priorities

• Seek: Policy analysis with stakeholder interviews, longitudinal faith trend data, investigative leads on religious institutional governance
• Avoid: Devotional content, personal spiritual journeys, interfaith dialogues beyond Christian contexts

Recent Recognition: 2023 ARPA Investigative Journalism Award, 2024 Walkley Award shortlist for religion reporting