Licensed to `be nosey'

Since 2016, she has been Editor of The Guardian Australia, where she leads a newsroom of more than 150 people and continues to shape the national conversation through rigorous, independent journalism.

`Journalism is like a ticket to be nosey, and interested, and curious in anything you want to be,' Lenore says. (See the link to her video story below.)

`I think real journalism is telling people what they wouldn't know if you weren't there—exposing things that need to be exposed and explaining things that need to be explained. This is going to sound corny, but I think you can make the world a better place by doing that.'

As a student at Girls Grammar, Lenore excelled in academics and was drawn to literature, language and social issues. She was awarded numerous academic prizes during her time at the School, including the Dux of Second Form in 1977 and the Kathleen Mitford Lilley Prize for English in 1981. Her love of English was nurtured by inspirational teachers, and she credits this encouragement with helping set the foundation for her future in journalism.

After graduating, Lenore studied journalism and politics at The University of Queensland, where she was co-editor of the student newspaper Semper Floreat. She began her journalism career at The Canberra Times in 1987 and went on to become a prominent member of the federal parliamentary press gallery, holding senior roles at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, and The Canberra Times. Her international experience includes a three-year posting in London as European correspondent for The AFR.

Lenore is a two-time Walkley Award winner for Scoop of the Year—first in 2010 for coverage of the Rudd Government’s shelving of the emissions trading scheme, and again in 2014 for reporting on Australian intelligence operations in Indonesia. She is also a two-time recipient of the Paul Lyneham Award for excellence in press gallery journalism and was named Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Journalist of the Year in 2007 and 2014.

In 2013, she became The Guardian Australia’s first political editor and was instrumental in establishing the newspaper’s Australian bureau, driven by a desire to diversify the nation’s media landscape and offer Australians a new, independent news source. She was appointed Editor-in-Chief in 2016, a role she describes as her proudest professional achievement.

Lenore is also the co-author of Sh*tstorm: Inside Labor’s Darkest Days, a detailed account of the Rudd Government’s response to the global financial crisis. Throughout her career, she has remained committed to public interest journalism and continues to mentor and inspire future generations of reporters.