Nick McKenzie

The Age / Sydney Morning Herald / 60 Minutes

“When you find things that the public deserve to know … it’s absolutely exhilarating.”

As an investigative reporter on The Age, Nick McKenzie has covered the local Mafia, allegations of war crimes, Crown casino’s links to criminal figures, political donations by Chinese interests, national security issues, foreign bribery by Reserve Bank and other companies, and much more.

The award-winning journalist’s work also is published in The Sydney Morning Herald, and his investigations have aired on the ABC’s Four Corners and Nine’s 60 Minutes.

1999-2002: McKenzie completes a bachelor’s degree in journalism at RMIT.

2002: ABC employs McKenzie as a cadet journalist. He is awarded an Andrew Olle Scholarship. McKenzie and Andrew Fowler establish the ABC investigative reporting unit and report the first links between Al Qaeda and Australian fundamentalists.   

2004: McKenzie wins his first Walkley award for exposing serious police corruption. His reporting triggers an inquiry by Tony Fitzgerald, QC, into the killing of a state witness.

2006 - current: McKenzie joins The Age investigative unit, reporting major stories across Fairfax/ Nine, Four Corners and 60 Minutes. 

2008: McKenzie wins the Melbourne Press Club’s Gold Quill award with Richard Baker for investigations into misconduct by a leading surgeon.

2010: Graduates with a Master’s degree in international politics from Melbourne University.

2011: McKenzie’s investigation into sex trafficking and Chinese organised crime wins his second Melbourne Press Club Gold Quill (with Maris Beck & Tom McKendrick). 

2017: With Richard Baker, McKenzie wins the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year for a body of work including reporting on Chinese influence on Australian politics and the “lobster with a mobster’ scandal. He also wins a Melbourne Press Club Gold Quill with Fairfax Media and Four Corners. McKenzie enrols in a Juris Doctor degree at Monash University.

2018: Breaks story with Chris Masters and David Wroe that war hero Ben Roberts-Smith is being investigated for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. Roberts-Smith sues for defamation.

2021: Ben Roberts-Smith’s defamation trial begins.

2023: Justice Anthony Besanko dismisses the defamation suit. He finds that Roberts-Smith engaged in or was complicit in the unlawful killings of four unarmed prisoners. Roberts-Smith appeals; Walkley Foundation initiates the Masters-McKenzie Grant for Investigative Journalism. 

2024:  Defamation appeal begins. 

Awards

2004: Walkley award, radio (with Rafael Epstein); Grant Hattam Quill for investigative journalism (with Rafael Epstein); Melbourne Press Club young journalist of the year. 

2005: Quill, best radio current affairs report. 

2008: Walkley, sport news reporting; Gold Quill (with Richard Baker); Grant Hattam Quill for investigative journalism (with Richard Baker); Quill, best sports story. 

2009: Quill, best news report in print

2010: Quill, best sports story (with Richard Baker); Quill, best coverage of an issue or event (with Philip Dorling, & Richard Baker) 

2011: Walkley award, investigative journalism (with Richard Baker); Gold Quill (with Maris Beck & Tom McKendrick); Quill, best coverage of an issue or event (with Maris Beck & Tom McKendrick); Grant Hattam Quill for investigative journalism (with Richard Baker); Quill, best news report in print (with Richard Baker). 

2012: Walkley award, business journalism (with Richard Baker); Quill, best business story (with Richard Baker); Quill, best sports news story (with Richard Baker); Grant Hattam award for investigative journalism (with Richard Baker); Quill, best news story in print (with Richard Baker & Jane Lee)

2013: Walkley award, print/text (with Richard Baker); Walkley award, coverage of major event or issue (with Richard Baker, Caroline Wilson, John Silvester, Jake Niall and The Age team); Quill for best coverage of an issue or event (with Caroline Wilson, Jake Niall & Samantha Lane)

2014: Walkley award, daily current affairs (with Richard Baker & Sam Clark)

2016: Quill, TV video feature short form (with Gus Goswell). 

2017: Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year (with Richard Baker); Gold Quill (with Fairfax Media & Four Corners);  Grant Hattam Quill for investigative journalism (with James Massola, Richard Baker & Fergus Hunter).

2019: Walkley, business journalism (with Nick Toscano and Grace Tobin).

2020: Walkley, current affairs long (with Joel Tozer and Sumeyya Ilanbey); Kennedy Prize - Journalist of the Year; Kennedy, outstanding finance reporting (with Grace Tobin and Nick Toscano); Kennedy, outstanding TV current affairs (with Grace Tobin and Nick Toscano); Quill, feature writing; Grant Hattam Quill for investigative reporting (with Chris Masters). 

2021: Walkley, current affairs long (with Joel Tozer); Walkley, investigative journalism (with Joel Tozer); Grant Hattam Quill for investigative reporting (with Joel Tozer).

2022: Walkley, business journalism (with Joel Tozer and Amelia Ballinger); Kennedy Prize Journalist of the Year; Kennedy, outstanding finance reporting (with Joel Tozer); 

2023: Walkley, current affairs long (with Amelia Ballinger and Joel Tozer); Walkley honour for media freedom (with Chris Masters).  

Books

The sting: Australia’s plot to crack a global drug empire (Melbourne University Publishing, 2012

Crossing the Line: The explosive inside story behind the Ben Roberts-Smith headlines (Hachette, 2023).