Veteran broadcaster Geraldine Doogue AO has been announced as the presenter of the 2025 Andrew Olle Media Lecture, to be held at the W Hotel in Darling Harbour on Friday 25 July.
With a journalism career spanning more than 50 years across radio, television and print, Doogue is one of Australia’s most respected media figures. She currently co-hosts Global Roaming, a weekly world affairs podcast on ABC Radio National with Hamish Macdonald.
“I’m honoured to be presenting the Andrew Olle Media Lecture,” Doogue said. “Andrew represented a terrific example of broad, generalist and above all curious journalism that needs lionising, now more than ever.”
Doogue was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2003 for her service to the community and media. Her accolades include two Penguin Awards from the Television Society of Australia and a UN Media Peace Prize. In 2018, she was inducted into the Australian Media Hall of Fame, alongside the late Andrew Olle.
The annual lecture honours Olle’s legacy as a distinguished ABC journalist and broadcaster. Funds raised from the event support Brain Cancer Australia, the official charity partner, in memory of Olle who died from an undiagnosed brain tumour in 1995.
“Brain cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers and it’s unacceptable that survival rates have barely changed in the 30 years since we lost Andrew Olle,” said Robyn Leonard OAM, Founder and Director of Brain Cancer Australia. “The lecture plays a vital role in raising both awareness and funds to support our mission.”
Since its inception in 1996, the Andrew Olle Media Lecture has featured prominent Australian media figures including Leigh Sales, Ita Buttrose, and Waleed Aly.