Who we are
The Science Journalists Association of Australia is a not-for-profit incorporated association. It was founded in 2019 to support and foster the professional interests of practising and aspiring science journalists in Australia, and to champion and advocate for independence and excellence in science journalism.
SJAA provides networking, professional development and training opportunities for science journalists at all career stages, resources for those both practising and interested in science journalism, and aims to raise awareness of the importance of science journalism in Australia.
The Association is governed by a Committee of no less than seven members, elected each year at the Annual General Meeting.
The current President is Dr. Jackson Ryan. You can find more information about our Committee here.
The SJAA Constitution is available here.
What we do
Since its inception in 2019, the Science Journalists Association of Australia has:
— built a thriving, active network of working science journalists who interact, share resources, discuss issues, and support each other in our SJAA Slack group;
— created an annual grants program providing financial grants to members to support them to undertake a science reporting project or professional development opportunity, as well as mentoring. Grant winners have been broadcast on ABC Radio National’s Science Friction, published in Cosmos magazine and MIT Technology Review, pitched the New York Times, and travelled to the World Conference of Science Journalists;
— created a first-of-its-kind Science Journalist in Residence program in collaboration with the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland and generously funded by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. The first two residents will begin their stints at the IMB in early 2025.
— held regular events such as masterclasses and panel events on how to use Freedom of Information requests, conflicts of interest in science and science journalism, longform feature writing, getting a book published, conspiracy theories and how to cover them, freelance science journalism, and how to write winning grant and award entries.
— published a monthly newsletter called The Abstract, featuring opportunities for members such as jobs, awards and fellowships; resources to help science journalists; interviews with SJAA members and science journalists from around the world talking about their work; and sharing the latest and best in science journalism by members and others.