The Walkley Directors are the members and directors of the company Walkley Foundation Limited, which is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission.
Bianca Hall is a journalist and editor with more than 20 years’ experience, having reported from the Press Gallery in Canberra, The Age’s newsroom in Melbourne, for community newspapers, and for papers in regional Victoria. She has worked as a deputy federal editor for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Brisbane Times, WAtoday and The Canberra Times, as well as Immigration Correspondent and Sunday Political Correspondent (among other roles) for those mastheads. She strongly believes in the role journalism can play in representing and connecting our communities, shining a light to power, and in being a “first draft” of history.
Michael Slezak is the ABC’s national environment and science reporter, covering stories across all ABC platforms. A Walkley Award-winning journalist, he has a strong record of breaking stories at the intersection of environmental and governance issues, driving public debate and reform. Before joining the ABC, Michael was the environment reporter for Guardian Australia and the Australasian correspondent for New Scientist magazine. He also edited The Best Australian Science Writing (NewSouth Books) and has contributed to numerous other publications. Committed to fostering a strong journalism community, he is dedicated to supporting reporters in their vital role in Australian democracy.
Kasun Ubayasiri is a print and photojournalist who worked in Sri Lanka, and rural and regional Queensland before taking up a journalism teaching position at Griffith University, Queensland, where he is employed as Senior Lecturer and Program Director of Journalism and Communication. He continues to work on longform photodocumentary projects focusing on human rights and migration. He has a PhD from Queensland University of Technology and is the co-author of Journalism for Social Change in Asia: Reporting Human Rights. He is a strong believer in building united, ethical and robust journalistic collectives that can face the challenges of the future.