Ava Cashmore wins Student Journalist of the Year in the Kennedy Awards
Ava Cashmore
Monash journalism’s Ava Cashmore has won the coveted Student Journalist of the Year in the 2026 Kennedy Awards.
Ava was presented with her Kennedy trophy before 400 industry leaders and guests at the Royal Randwick Racecourse ballroom in Sydney on Friday, 21 August.
A reporter at Channel 7, Ava was praised for her body of work. She won from a national field, including finalists Zoe Brock (RMIT University) and Jessica O’Bryan (University of Technology Sydney).
“I’m grateful, to say the least,” Ava said after her win. “It was such a special night around so many talented and accomplished people who are also the reason I was in the room in the first place.
“Thank you to everyone who’s given me two minutes of their time, and more.”
Monash students Phoebe Valiotis, Olivia Tiralosi and graduate Molly Paynter, now an ABC producer, were 2026 Kennedy Scholarship finalists.
Josh Hanrahan
Monash alumnus Josh Hanrahan teamed with Daily Telegraph colleague Mark Morri to win the Les Kennedy Award for Outstanding Crime Reporting for their Bondi terror coverage.
Josh, who is chief reporter of the Daily Telegraph, said the Bondi terrorist attack was the biggest story Sydney had seen in decades.
Josh and Mark sought their crime contacts to provide the News Corp national audience with an inside picture of the Bondi attack.
“We really prided ourselves on what we did after Bondi because I think Bondi is probably the biggest story Sydney’s seen - before I was born, and maybe the same for Mark,” Josh said.
Josh said they approached the Bondi story like a crime story and spoke with their sources to break their exclusive news. Josh was also part of the Daily Telegraph team to win the Outstanding Digital News Breaking category for its live digital coverage of the Bondi terror attack.
Suzan Giuliani (right) and Eliza Barr
Monash alumna Suzan Giuliani was also a member of the award-winning digital news team to win a Kennedy award. As the weekend investigations editor at the Saturday and Sunday Telegraph, Suzan has been a successful story breaker, providing exclusive coverage for News Corp’s brands nationally.
Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett
Monash journalism alumnus Chris Gillett teamed with Adele Ferguson and Jade Toomey to win the Outstanding Consumer Affairs category for the Four Corners’ expose, Australia's Childcare Crisis.
Kennedy Foundation chairperson Carl Dumbrell said it had been a bumper year for excellent Australian journalism.
“There’s no greater honour than to receive a Kennedy for your work,” Dumbrell said.
“The Kennedy Foundation is extremely proud of its support for those endeavours that are essential to an informed and vital democracy.
“It was such a great night, especially seeing the joy of the winners of our scholarship program for young aspiring journalists.”
Monash University Head of Journalism Alicia McMillan congratulated both current students and graduates on their success at the Kennedy Awards.
“We couldn’t be prouder than to see them celebrated on such an auspicious national stage,” McMillan said.
“It reinforces the fact Monash students understand the vital role they play as journalists informing the public - whether that be at a state-based level, or during an incident of international significance, such as the Bondi attack.”
All winners can be found here.