Student Awards Winner - Zac Nikolovski
The winner of Democracy’s Watchdogs’ 2025 award is Zac Nikolovski, an undergraduate student at University of Technology Sydney.
Congratulations Zac!
Two students – Madaleine Mansfield and Katherine Everest – were highly commended.
Zac will receive $1000 and an engraved trophy while Madaleine and Katherine will each receive a certificate.
Zac identified an easily-accessible online site that makes buying cannabis as simple as ordering a pizza. Anyone can locate vendors in their own suburb, select the strain, quantity and price and remain beyond the reach of authorities. Zac showed how a US geolocation system for medical cannabis was converted for local illicit cannabis purchasing. While cannabis use and debates about the effectiveness of prohibition are old news, Zac showed how influencer-type promotions and digital technologies have transformed the black market for illicit drugs.
The two highly commended students and their stories:
Madaleine Mansfield, Ara Institute of Canterbury - New Zealand Broadcasting School. A key characteristic of investigative journalism is that it should have an impact. Madaleine’s story, about university students earning rewards for promoting illegal overseas gambling on their social media, sparked an investigation by the New Zealand Government. She then wrote another story which examined the Government’s response and found it wanting. Well done Madaleine.
Katherine Everest, University of Melbourne. Katherine’s well-written and comprehensive story held to account a Victorian Government department’s performance in responding to Freedom of Information requests. She revealed that the very department launched to improve access to government services was wracked by politically-motivated delays and obfuscation, declining funding and chronic understaffing. It was an important story at a time when public faith in government is in decline.
The judges were impressed by the quality of the entries this year and the variety of stories covered, and congratulate all those who entered the competition.
Democracy’s Watchdogs plans to continue the prize for investigative stories in 2026 because promoting serious journalism by students is an important part of its mission. Meanwhile, we wish everyone a happy, relaxed and peaceful holiday season.
Honour Roll
Democracy’s Watchdogs has hosted an annual award for the best investigative stories by student journalists since 2020. We proudly foster journalism that enhances our democratic processes and promotes excellence in tomorrow’s journalists. Below are the winners of our award.
2020:
Kate Wong and David Bogi, University of Melbourne.
How China uses Muslim press trips to counter claims of Uighur abuse
2021:
Stephanie Tran, University of Technology Sydney.
State Capture: top corporations identified as members of both Liberal and Labor parties
2022:
Jade Murray, Sasha Gattermayr, James Costa, Helena Morgan, University of Melbourne.
Exhausted: the breathtaking cost of living near a freight route
2024:
Brendan Kearns from the University of Melbourne