The Sport Australia Media Awards were established in 2002 to recognise excellence in Australian sports journalism and broadcasting. The awards focus on analytical and insightful reporting and the presentation of sport and sporting issues. The awards are the only dedicated sports media awards in Australia. The Walkley Awards do have several sports categories.[1]
The most prestigious award is the Lifetime Achievement Award that recognises exceptional service to sports journalism over an extended period of time. This award is determined by the Sport Australia Board.[1]
| Year | Journalist | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Harry Gordon | |
| 2003 | Norman May | |
| 2004 | Johnny Warren | |
| 2005 | Alan Trengove | |
| 2006 | Ian Heads | |
| 2007 | Mike Gibson | |
| 2008 | Bruce McAvaney | |
| 2009 | Les Murray | |
| 2010 | Caroline Wilson | |
| 2011 | Roy Masters | |
| 2012 | Peter Wilkins | |
| 2013 | Ron Reed | |
| 2014 | Ken Sutcliffe | |
| 2015 | Mike Coward | |
| 2016 | Rebecca Wilson[2] | |
| 2017 | Debbie Spillane | |
| 2018 | Dennis Cometti[3] | |
| 2019 | Karen Tighe | |
| 2020 | Jim Maxwell | |
| 2021 | Mike Sheahan |
| Year | Journalists | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Kate McClymont and Anne Davies (Sydney Morning Herald) | Bulldogs salary cap scandal | |
| 2003 | Kyle Patterson (SBS) | Soccer's Crawford Reform Process. | |
| 2004 | Michael Davis (The Australian) | His Fragile Brilliance (James Hird) | |
| 2005 | Neil Jameson (Inside Sport) | ‘Professional Foul’ | |
| 2006 | Nick McCallum (Fox Footy) | 'Blowing the whistle' | |
| 2007 | Robert Drane and Ian Kennins (Inside Sport) | Goodbye Grassroots | |
| 2008 | Gerard Ryle and Jacquelin Magnay (Sydney Morning Herald) | Firepower | |
| 2009 | Mike Hurst (Daily Telegraph) | Caster Semenya | |
| 2010 | Adrian Proszenko, Brad Walter, Greg Prichard and others (Fairfax Media) | Thunderstruck | |
| 2011 | Greg Prichard and Chris Barrett (Sydney Morning Herald) | Want a Bet? | |
| 2012 | Daniel Lane (Fairfax Media) | 'For 30 years, they had a monster in their midst' | |
| 2013 | Andrew Holden (The Age) | Essendon FC drug scandal | |
| 2014 | Michael Warner, Mark Robinson and Chip Le Grand (Herald Sun and The Australian) | Essendon drugs scandal | |
| 2015 | Caro Meldrum-Hanna, Sam Clark and Max Murch (ABC Four Corners) | ‘Making a killing’ | |
| 2016 | Nick Tabakoff (Daily Telegraph) | Gotcha: The Parramatta Eels Salary Cap Scandal | |
| 2017 | Louise Milligan, Lisa McGregor and Trish Drum (ABC Four Corners) | ‘After the Game’, | |
| 2018 | Leo Schlink (Herald Sun) | 'The big fix' | |
| 2019 | Shark Island Productions | The Final Quarter | |
| 2020 | Jessica Halloran and Julian Linden, The Australian and The Daily Telegraph | 'On Thin Ice: Katia's Story' | |
| 2021 | Selina Steele, Michael Cain, Julian Linden Adrian Arciuli, Anna Henderson, Abdullah Alikhil | Tackling abuse in football, The Daily Telegraph The Taliban Takeover, SBS |
| Year | Journalists | Coverage title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1197 RPH Adelaide | South Australian National Football League (SANFL). | |
| 2006 | |||
| 2007 | Nine Network | Amazing Adelaide | |
| 2008 | SBS | Cycling | |
| 2009 | Inside Sport | ||
| 2010 | Broadcast Media - Nine Network Print Media - Sydney Morning Herald | State of Origin 2010 Sport coverage | |
| 2011 | Broadcast Media - SBS Print Media - (The Sunday Telegraph) | Cycling Sport coverage | |
| 2012 | 2011-12 KFC T20 Big Bash League Winners, sinners, grinners | ||
| 2013 | Rugby 2013 Tour de France | ||
| 2014 | Sporting Event - Network Ten Digital Media - Fox Sports and News Corporation) | Big Bash Cricket Network Sport — ‘Taking the world game to every Australian’ | |
| 2015 | 2014 AFL grand final 2015 Ashes test series | ||
| 2016 | Sporting Event - Network Ten Digital Media - Seven Network | 2015-16 Big Bash League Olympics on 7 | |
| 2017 | Horn v Pacquiao – World Title’ ‘Summer of 7Tennis 2017’ | ||
| 2018 | 2018 Commonwealth Games | ||
| 2019 | The Age & The Sydney Morning Herald | 2019 Ashes series | |
| 2020 | Sporting Event - Fox Sports Australia | Boxing Day Test | |
| 2021 | Sporting Event - Seven Network | Tokyo 2020 Olympics |
| Year | Journalists | |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | |
| 2007 | Michael Dodge (Herald Sun) | |
| 2008 | Will Swanton (Fairfax Media) | |
| 2009 | Gerard Whateley (ABC) | |
| 2010 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (ABC) Print Media - Mike Colman (The Courier-Mail) | |
| 2011 | Broadcast Media - Michael Tomalaris (SBS) Print Media -David Sygall (The Sun-Herald) | |
| 2012 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (ABC) and (Fox Sports) Print Media - Richard Hinds (Sydney Morning Herald) | |
| 2013 | ||
| 2014 | Television - Gerard Whateley (ABC) and Fox Footy) Radio - Gerard Whateley (Grandstand AFL) Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian) | |
| 2015 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (ABC and Fox Footy) Print media - Will Swanton (The Australian) Digital Media - David Weiner (Fox Sports) | |
| 2016 | Broadcast Media - Bruce McAvaney (Seven Network) Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian) Digital Media - Jack Kerr (freelancer) | |
| 2017 | Broadcast Media - Kelli Underwood (Fox Sports and ABC) Print Media - Konrad Marshall (Good Weekend Magazine) | |
| 2018 | Broadcast Media - Lucy Zelic (Special Broadcasting Service) Print Media - Andrew Webster (The Sydney Morning Herald) Digital - Michael Chammas (NRL.com) | |
| 2019 | Broadcast Media - Gerard Whateley (SEN Radio and Fox Footy) Print Media - Konrad Marshall (Good Weekend) Digital - Mary Konstantopoulos (Ladies Who League) | |
| 2020 | Audio - Quentin Hull, ABC Radio Written -Peter Badel, The Courier-Mail Video - Joint winners: Zac Bailey, NRL.com and Kelli Underwood, ABC and Fox Sports Australia | |
| 2021 | Audio - Neroli Meadows, Ordineroli Speaking Written - Phil Lutton, The Sydney Morning Herald Video - David Culbert, Seven Network |
| Year | Journalists | Story coverage | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Angus Fontaine (Inside Cricket) | The Warrior Within’ (Justin Langer) | ||
| 2006 | Broadcast Media - Ben Cheshire (ABC Australian Story) Print Media - Peter Lalor (The Australian) | 'One Perfect Day' (Death of cyclist Amy Gillett) 'Mongrel Streak' | ||
| 2007 | Broadcast Media - Wendy Page and Ian Harley (ABC Australian Story) Print Media - Anthony Sharwood Alpha Magazine | 'Man of the Century' (Barry 'Nugget' Rees) 'Running for his life' | ||
| 2008 | Broadcast Media - (ABC Australian Story) Print - Media - Caroline Wilson (The Age) | 'She's not there' (Sally Robbins) 'How football failed one of its own' | ||
| 2009 | Broadcast Media - Roger Carter (ABC Australian Story) Print Media - Jessica Halloran (Fairfax Media) | 'When We Were Racers' (Sir Jack Brabham) 'Jelena Dokic' | ||
| 2010 | Broadcast Media - John Taylor (ABC) Print Media - Amanda Hooton (Good Weekend Magazine) | 'Boxing hopeful' (Dane Mulivai) 'Mark Webber – Mark 1’ | ||
| 2011 | Broadcast Media - Mary Gearin(ABC 7.30 Report) Print Media - Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | 'Mick and David' (Mick Malthouse and David Buttifant) 'Bloodlines' (Adam Goodes) | ||
| 2012 | Broadcast Media - Denise Reardon (Fox Sports) Print Media - Paul Connolly (The Global Mail) | Profiles: Julian Huxley ‘The fastest man you've never heard of’ (Josh Ross) | ||
| 2013 | Broadcast Media - Caitlin Shea and Roger Carter (ABC) Print Media - Wayne Smith (The Australian) | Know Thy Enemy That Sinking Feeling | ||
| 2014 | Broadcast Media -Ryan Smith, Denise Reardon, Frank Chidiac, Maria Cardomatis and Lisa Shaunessy (Fox Sports) and South Sydney Media) Print Media - Jake Niall (The Age) | ‘Slammin’ Sam’ (Sam Burgess) ‘Inside the world of Liam Jurrah’ | ||
| 2015 | Broadcast Media - Brad Smith, Mike Hirchfield and Mick Neill (Fox Footy) Print media - Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | ‘Dan Menzel – a long way home’ ‘The blame game’ (Ahmed Saad) | ||
| 2016 | Broadcast Media - Winsome Denyer, Tim Wilson and Marc Smith(ABC Australian Story) Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian) | 'True Grit – David Pocock' 'Jarryd Hayne' | ||
| 2017 | Broadcast Media - Adrian Brown (Whooshka Media) Print Media - Grantlee Kieza (The Courier-Mail) Digital Media - Nathan Ryan (Fox Sports), ‘ | ‘Outsiders’ ‘Prized Fighter - Jeff Horn’ 'Beyond the Game: Inside the NRL World' | ||
| 2018 | Broadcast Media - Andy Maher (1116 SEN) Print Media - Will Swanton (The Australian) | Jarrod Lyle interview 'Is this bloke a thug' (Robert Whittaker) | ||
| 2019 | Broadcast Media - Josh Cable, Marcus Cobbledick (Good Thing Productions) Print Media - Samantha Lane (The Sydney Morning Herald & The Age) | ‘Collingwood: From the Inside Out’, ‘Adam Goodes’ | ||
| 2020 | Broadcast - Adrian Brown, Richard Ostroff, Whooshka Media and Cricket Australia Iain Payten, The Sydney Morning Herald | ‘The Test – A New Era for Australia’s Team’ ‘Judging Jane Saville’ | ||
| 2021 | Broadcast Media - Australian Story ABC TV Written Media - Konrad Marshall, Good Weekend | Luc Longley One Giant Leap |
| Year | Journalists | Story Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Dwayne Grant (Gold Coast Publications) | ‘Never Say Never’ | |
| 2011 | Leanne West (Network Ten) | ‘David and Michelle’ | |
| 2012 | Stathi Paxinos (Fairfax Media) | ‘London Paralympic Games’ | |
| 2013 | Mike Dalton (Nine Network) | Special Olympics Junior Games | |
| 2014 | Emma Greenwood (Gold Coast Bulletin) | ‘He who dares lives’ | |
| 2015 | Amanda Shalala (ABC Radio Grandstand) | ‘Grandstand para-sport profiles’ | |
| 2016 | 'Rio 2016 Paralympic Games' | ||
| 2017 | Jim Callinan (Sky News Australia) | ‘Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race' | |
| 2018 | Matt Carmichael (Seven Network) | 2018 Winter Paralympics and 2018 Commonwealth Games | |
| 2019 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | 2018 Invictus Games | |
| 2020 | Matt Carmichael (Seven Network) | Paralympic Presence | |
| 2021 | Tom Decent (Sydney Morning Herald / The Age) | The power of the Paralympics, |
| Year | Journalists | Story title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Brett Kohlhagen (Border Mail) | ||
| 2003 | Gerard Walsh (Warwick Daily News) | Polocrosse World Cup Coverage | |
| 2004 | Daniel DeNardi (The Liverpool Champion) | ‘No Place to Call Home’ | |
| 2005 | Kim Sporton (Bayside Weekly) | Exploration of VFL football team, the Sandringham Zebras | |
| 2006 | Luke Turgeon (Gold Coast Bulletin) | 'Body of work' | |
| 2007 | Aaron Kearney ABC Radio | 'Bringing the World Game to Newcastle' | |
| 2008 | Richard Schmeiszl Sentinel-Times Newspaper | 'Football Crisis' | |
| 2009 | Samantha Derrick WIN News Wollongong | 'Never Too Old: Seniors in Sport' | |
| 2010 | Andrew Piva (Cairns Post) Tim Doutré (Star News Group) | ‘All about the game for life’ ‘Are player payments killing the game?’ | |
| 2011 | Allison Jess (ABC Goulburn Murray) | 'Coby's Back' | |
| 2012 | Newcastle Herald Sports Department | ‘Trouble in Tinkler Town’ | |
| 2013 | Michael Warren (Mackay Telegraph) | Barba Inc | |
| 2014 | Robert Dillon (Newcastle Herald) | ‘Bye, bye boganarie’ | |
| 2015 | Matthew McInerney (APN Fraser Coast Chronicle) | ‘Body of work’ | |
| 2016 | Robert Dillon (Newcastle Herald) | 'Dreams and Knightmares' | |
| 2017 | Grant Edwards (Sunshine Coast Daily) | ‘Multisport Mecca’ | |
| 2018 | Mackenzie Colahan (Central and North Burnett Times) | Decline of rugby league in outback Queensland' | |
| 2019 | Stuart Walmsley | RUGBY.com.au | |
| 2020 | Kieran Pender, Mike Bowers, Freelance and Guardian Australia | "From the ashes of catastrophe: how 'aqua therapy' is helping a town through 2020' | |
| 2021 | Donna Page (Newcastle Herald) | Newcastle cricket's turf war |
From 2009 to 2017 called Best Coverage of Women in Sport.
| Year | Journalists | Coverage title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Merryn Sherwood (Canberra Times) | 'Canberra United - Making a Difference for Women's Sport' (Special commendation) | |
| 2010 | Raelee Tuckerman (Bendigo Advertiser) | ||
| 2011 | Luke Waters (SBS) | ‘A Belt that Fits’ | |
| 2012 | Canberra Times | ‘A capital season for women in Canberra’ | |
| 2013 | Warren Partland (The Advertiser) | Raising Netball's Status | |
| 2014 | Matt Weiss, Denise Reardon and Kelli Underwood (Fox Sports) | ‘Breaking Ground’ | |
| 2015 | SBS | The 2015 women's FIFA World Cup | |
| 2016 | Network Ten | 2015-16 Women's Big Bash League | |
| 2017 | AFL Women's coverage | ||
| 2018 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | The Outer Sanctum Podcast | |
| 2019 | Media Stockade | ‘Power Meri’ | |
| 2020 | Amanda Shalala, ABC | 'In Her Words' | |
| 2021 | Peter Dickson | The Ripple Effect, Dickson Films |
| Year | Photographer | Image Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Bruce Long (The Courier-Mail) | ‘Grabba’ | |
| 2003 | Kristi Miller (The Sunday Telegraph) | The Gus and Joey saga | |
| 2004 | Ray Kennedy (The Age) Vincent Long (Inside Sport) | Doubles’ photo of US doubles pair, Mike and Bob Bryan 'Park Life' | |
| 2005 | Nicole Garmston (Herald Sun) | ‘Bird Strike’ | |
| 2006 | Warren Clark (Inside Sport) | 'The Fight' | |
| 2007 | Michael Dodge Herald Sun) Alex Coppel Sunday Herald Sun | Dream Catchers Tiwi Magpies | |
| 2008 | Michael Dodge Herald Sun) | Football Life | |
| 2009 | Quinn Rooney (Getty Images) | Water Relief | |
| 2010 | Craig Golding (Getty Images) | 2010 World Masters Games | |
| 2011 | Mark Dadswell (Getty Images) | PNG Cricket | |
| 2012 | Scott Barbour Getty Images | Rugby League 2012 | |
| 2013 | Rohan Thomson (Canberra Times) | Canberra Cavalry | |
| 2014 | Cameron Spencer (Getty Images) | ‘Rain Dance’ | |
| 2015 | Brett Costello (Daily Telegraph) | ‘Shark Splash’ | |
| 2016 | Cameron Spencer (Getty Images) | Say Cheese | |
| 2017 | Michael Dodge (Getty Images) | ‘Cyril Magic’ | |
| 2018 | Ryan Pierse (Getty Images) | '‘Cop it on the Chin’ | |
| 2019 | Michael Willson | ‘The Kick’ AFL Photo of Tayla Harris | |
| 2020 | Scott Barbour, Australian Associated Press | 'The Melbourne Cup' | |
| 2021 | Jay Town | Eye on the ball, Tennis Australia |
| Year | Journalists/Media | Story Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | John Stensholt (Australian Financial Review) | Cricket Broadcast Rights | |
| 2014 | Ramy Haidar (Inside Sport) | ‘The Cyberscrimmage’ | |
| 2015 | Simon King (The Australian's Deal Magazine) | ‘Charting a bold course’ | |
| 2016 | Jeff Centenera (Inside Sport) | 'The 0.1 percenters' | |
| 2017 | Jack Kerr (Freelance) | ‘Sports Betting Industry Analysis’ | |
| 2018 | John Stensholt and Max Mason (Australian Financial Review) | 'Cricket Broadcast Rights' | |
| 2019 | The Ticket, ABC |
| Year | Media | |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | PlayersVoice (Interviews with leading Australian athletes) | |
| 2019 | Herald Sun ‘Sacked' - Mick Malthouse talks about his sacking from Collingwood Football Club |
| Year | Media | |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Fox Sports Audio, Virtual Crowd and Flying Fox Camera, Fox Sports Australia | |
| 2021 | Optus Sport, Social Media Innovation, UEFA EURO 2020 |
Up until 2009 named Community Sports Award
| Year | Journalists | Story Title |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | David Pearson and Brian Webb of 104.1FM, Darwin | |
| 2003 | Nick McCallum (Nine Network Today Show) | 'Manangatang Horse story' |
| 2004 | Mark Howard (Seven Network) | 'Footy From the Hearts' |
| 2005 | Brad McEwan (Network Ten) | ‘Local Hero’ series |
| 2006 | Nick McCallum (Fox Footy Channel) | Footy Fanatics |
| 2007 | Travis Cranley (Inside Sport) | 'Disabling sports' |
| 2008 | Paul Kennedy | 'Drug Game' |
| 2009 | Travis Cranley (Inside Sport) | 'Kiddie Wars' |
| 2010 | Mary Gearin – (ABC 7.30 Report) | ‘Majak Daw’ |
| 2011 | Grantlee Kieza (The Courier-Mail) | ‘Million Dollar Noby’ |
| 2012 | Luke Waters (SBS) | ‘Race Game’ |
| 2013 | Will Swanton (The Australian) | 'Life saver' |
| 2014 | McGuire Media (Foxtel) | ‘The Recruit — Indigenous Carnival episode’ |
| 2015 | Dan Goldberg, Adam Kay and Anthony De Sylva (Mint Pictures and ABC) | ‘Pitch battle’ |
| 2016 | Tim Sheridan and Matt Weiss (Fox Footy) | 'From Little Things' |
| 2017 | Allyson Horn (ABC) | ‘Afghan AFL’ |
| Year | Journalists | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Robert Drane (Inside Sport) | Indigenous sport |
| 2003 | Janelle Miles (Australian Associated Press) | Athletes blood worth bottling |
| 2004 | Jesse Fink (Inside Sport) | ‘Silent Witness’ |
| 2005 | Jacquelin Magnay (Good Weekend Magazine) | Wired World of Sports" |
| 2006 | Andrea Ulbrick and Sally Regan (Film Australia) | 'Nerves of Steel' |
| Year | Journalists | |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Amanda Smith of ABC Radio National | |
| 2003 | Steve Grove and Tony Thomas ((Daily Telegraph) | |
| 2004 | Shaun Hollis (The Messenger) |