Title
“SourDough: Australia’s High-End Restaurant Scandal”
Publication
The Age
Year
2019
Category
June Andrews Award for Industrial Relations Reporting
Ben Schneiders is an investigative journalist at The Age with a focus on industrial relations, business and politics. He has written extensively on the underpayment of workers, political corruption and on the labour movement. Ben is a Walkley Award-winning journalist and has worked at The Age since 2006 in roles including senior writer and workplace editor.
Royce Millar is a Walkley Award-winning investigative journalist at The Age with a special interest in public policy and government decision-making.
Judges’ comments:
“This series of stories “demonstrated deep investigation and showcased months of work exposing new and specific revelations based on whistleblowers, hard work and persistent inquiries and compelling documentary evidence.
“It exposed a widespread scandal of systematically exploiting workers in Australia’s high-end restaurants in the face of strong denials. It masterfully balanced revelations of hard news with compelling feature stories which elicited public sympathy and engagement. The impact of the series was lasting. The fallout caused powerful investors and tax haven arrangements to be put under the microscope. It led to an investigation by the regulator, action and payouts by the businesses and deep community concern and engagement which served as a warning to others and created real change. It represents a beacon of journalism at its best.”
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