A major event conducted by the club after the end of each financial year is the Rural and Regional Journalism and Photography Awards.
These awards are hotly contested by journalists and photographers from across the state, and the presentation ceremony culminates in a dinner where the winners are honoured for their efforts.
One of the main activities of our club are our lunch/breakfast meetings which help foster fellowship among rural media practitioners.
Influential and often outspoken speakers present their thoughts on issues of significance to the communities of rural and regional Victoria.
This bi-annual event is a professional development day for journalists.
It offers the opportunity to learn from some of Victoria’s leading journalists, network with peers and work through current challenges of regional reporting. This event is free for club members and catering is provided.
Membership to our club is open to all people interested in the rural industry.
Our club has both a country and metropolitan base from both print, broadcast and digital media. Other members include agribusiness organisations, financial, government, marketing and public relations.
Download our Association Rules which were updated at our 2013 Annual General Meeting.
Alex is a journalist with The Weekly Times.
He has more than 15 years experience in journalism, starting at The Standard in Warrnambool as well as work with WIN Television and the Geelong Advertiser.
With an interest in politics, Alex has interviewed every prime minister from Fraser to Albanese and covered numerous elections and byelections.
Kellie has been a journalist for almost 25 years and is currently working in a digital editor role for ABC News, based in Gippsland.
She held a national role as acting emergency broadcast lead during the 19/20 Black Summer bushfires and led the Victorian Country Hour team as executive producer in 2021.
Kellie is the recipient of two Rural Press Club, Victoria awards and a highly commended Quill. She is a long ago graduate of the Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) degree at RMIT University.
Séamus has 40 years of experience in media, communications, stakeholder, and community relations, and has received awards for both news reporting and copywriting.
He has worked at the ABC as a general and specialist reporter (specialising in industrial relations), presenter of Overnights, corporate affairs and marketing adviser, and content manager for ABC Radio Melbourne.
He serves as a director on Bendigo Tourism Board and Eaglehawk United Friendly Societies.
Peter is a senior communications advisor at Currie Communications.
He was previously a rural reporter for ABC Gippsland and has worked at The Weekly Times, Snowy River Mail and The Land.
Bryce is a journalist who specialises in agricultural and rural affairs reporting with ACM’s Stock & Land based in regional Victoria.
He joined the RPCV’s committee in 2017 where he held a number of roles, before he was elected deputy-president in 2019 and president in 2021.
He is also a community radio presenter, Rotarian, volunteer firefighter and an ambulance community officer, and sits on RMIT’s Bachelor of Journalism industry advisory panel.
Alannah has a professional background in communications, marketing and philanthropy. She has worked with an extensive range of organisations within the agricultural and equine sectors, most notably through her 15 year tenure as both the Marketing and Foundation Manager with Marcus Oldham College.
Alannah has recently joined the Agribusiness team with CBRE and in her spare time runs a very competitive equestrian stable with her daughter just outside of Geelong.
Sonja is director of the Digital News Academy at Melbourne Business School.
A former undergraduate and postgraduate journalism lecturer at RMIT University, Sonja was awarded JERAA’s Outstanding Educator in a Journalism Program, the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, the Ed Montano Award for Industry Engagement and several other accolades.
Sonja has an extensive journalism background across the ABC, SBS and commercial newsrooms.
Harrison is a Geelong reporter for the ABC.
His career started with Leader Community News in Melbourne, before heading to Geelong in 2016 as a reporter for the Geelong Advertiser and then to the ABC in 2023.
Prior to joining the committee Harrison has twice been named the RPCV’s Journalist of the Year and has won various awards for his work in print, radio, online, podcasting and TV journalism.
Madeleine is a reporter with the ABC, based in South Gippsland. She previously worked in print journalism for more than a decade, including with The Weekly Times.
She was the recipient of a Rural Press Club of Victoria award for her reporting on gender inequality in agriculture, and a News Awards winner in 2023.
Madeleine holds a Master of Arts Writing and Literature from Deakin University, specialising in Professional Writing.
Nicole has more than decades of photography experience, having started in a country newspaper darkroom in the early 1990s.
Her work spans across food, stage productions, and newspapers including The Herald Sun, The Age, The Guardian and The Weekly Times.
Her clients include The Australian Ballet, Olivia Newton-John Foundation, Avalon and Essendon Airports, Chobani, Sovereign Hill, many government departments as well as musicians and artists from all over the world.
Alex is a journalist with The Weekly Times.
He has more than 15 years experience in journalism, starting at The Standard in Warrnambool as well as work with WIN Television and the Geelong Advertiser.
With an interest in politics, Alex has interviewed every prime minister from Fraser to Albanese and covered numerous elections and byelections.
Kellie has been a journalist for almost 25 years and is currently working in a digital editor role for ABC News, based in Gippsland.
She held a national role as acting emergency broadcast lead during the 19/20 Black Summer bushfires and led the Victorian Country Hour team as executive producer in 2021.
Kellie is the recipient of two Rural Press Club, Victoria awards and a highly commended Quill. She is a long ago graduate of the Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) degree at RMIT University.
Séamus has 40 years of experience in media, communications, stakeholder, and community relations, and has received awards for both news reporting and copywriting.
He has worked at the ABC as a general and specialist reporter (specialising in industrial relations), presenter of Overnights, corporate affairs and marketing adviser, and content manager for ABC Radio Melbourne.
He serves as a director on Bendigo Tourism Board and Eaglehawk United Friendly Societies.
Peter is a senior communications advisor at Currie Communications.
He was previously a rural reporter for ABC Gippsland and has worked at The Weekly Times, Snowy River Mail and The Land.
Bryce is a journalist who specialises in agricultural and rural affairs reporting with ACM’s Stock & Land based in regional Victoria.
He joined the RPCV’s committee in 2017 where he held a number of roles, before he was elected deputy-president in 2019 and president in 2021.
He is also a community radio presenter, Rotarian, volunteer firefighter and an ambulance community officer, and sits on RMIT’s Bachelor of Journalism industry advisory panel.
Alannah has a professional background in communications, marketing and philanthropy. She has worked with an extensive range of organisations within the agricultural and equine sectors, most notably through her 15 year tenure as both the Marketing and Foundation Manager with Marcus Oldham College.
Alannah has recently joined the Agribusiness team with CBRE and in her spare time runs a very competitive equestrian stable with her daughter just outside of Geelong.
Sonja is director of the Digital News Academy at Melbourne Business School.
A former undergraduate and postgraduate journalism lecturer at RMIT University, Sonja was awarded JERAA’s Outstanding Educator in a Journalism Program, the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, the Ed Montano Award for Industry Engagement and several other accolades.
Sonja has an extensive journalism background across the ABC, SBS and commercial newsrooms.
Harrison is a Geelong reporter for the ABC.
His career started with Leader Community News in Melbourne, before heading to Geelong in 2016 as a reporter for the Geelong Advertiser and then to the ABC in 2023.
Prior to joining the committee Harrison has twice been named the RPCV’s Journalist of the Year and has won various awards for his work in print, radio, online, podcasting and TV journalism.
Madeleine is a reporter with the ABC, based in South Gippsland. She previously worked in print journalism for more than a decade, including with The Weekly Times.
She was the recipient of a Rural Press Club of Victoria award for her reporting on gender inequality in agriculture, and a News Awards winner in 2023.
Madeleine holds a Master of Arts Writing and Literature from Deakin University, specialising in Professional Writing.
Nicole has more than decades of photography experience, having started in a country newspaper darkroom in the early 1990s.
Her work spans across food, stage productions, and newspapers including The Herald Sun, The Age, The Guardian and The Weekly Times.
Her clients include The Australian Ballet, Olivia Newton-John Foundation, Avalon and Essendon Airports, Chobani, Sovereign Hill, many government departments as well as musicians and artists from all over the world.
