Advocacy & Action for Journalists' Freedom
The AJF has an executive director and a policy officer. To amplify our voice, the AJF works with other civil society groups, industry bodies and politicians to build momentum for reform.
The AJF’s core activities include the following:
Leading the Conversation on Reform
We have published two White Papers on the state of Press Freedom in Australia. We released the first White Paper in 2019. In November 2024 we released our updated version which examines how far we have come since then.
We also regularly engage in public debates through opinion articles, media interviews and parliamentary submissions.
Calling for a Media Freedom Act
Australia is the only liberal democracy without explicit protections for media freedom. Constitutional reform is the ideal, but we know that in Australia it is hard. That is why we have written a Media Freedom Act which would protect those writing high quality journalism from prosecution while putting upward pressure on ethical and professional standards in the industry.
Learn more about our Media Freedom Act here
Calling for a professional association for journalism.
Unlike most other professions such as engineering, surgeons and accountants, Australian journalism has no professional association to uphold ethics and standards. We are developing a model association to meet that need.
Developing relationships in Canberra and Australia
We frequently meet federal politicians, staffers, and bureaucrats to raise awareness and support for our reform model
This includes advancing a national dialogue that brings together security agencies, government, publishers, and journalists to develop common goals that strengthen democracy
We know that on our own our voices are small, but united we can make change. We seek to build broad coalitions of support to campaign for positive, sustainable change in the media industry for the benefit of our democracy.
Contributing to public awareness
We aim to be amongst the first to comment on issues related to media freedom, with a strong and prompt response led by our Executive Director and spokesperson, Professor Peter Greste.
