About Melissa Davey

Melissa Davey is Guardian Australia's Medical Editor, guiding the coverage through the global pandemic. Prior to that she was Melbourne Bureau Chief, also covering general and breaking news, child sexual abuse, family violence, medicine, social justice issues and the trials of Cardinal George Pell. She won a Walkley Award in 2019 in the Women in Leadership category for her investigation into disgraced gynaecologist Dr Emil Shawky Gayed. In 2023 she and her colleagues won a Melbourne Press Club Quill award in the competitive ‘Investigation’ category for their examination of concussion in sport guidelines, triggering an AFL inquiry. In 2024 she was nominated for a Walkley Award for the investigation she worked on with reporter Donna Lu examining access to abortion in Australia.

She is passionate about understanding the ways in which commercial and social determinants of health impact our lives, and communicating this with the public. She has a strong interest in evidence-based reporting and helping others to analyse and interpret the evidence. She believes monitoring the impact of harmful industries and holding those industries to account is critical to global health. As well as a double degree in journalism and international relations she has completed a Masters of Public Health with distinction.

The podcast series she collaborated on with Miles Martignoni and David Marr, called 'The Reckoning', won two New York Festival awards and was nominated for a Walkley. She has written a book on society’s reckoning with child sexual abuse and the Pell trials, called ‘The Case of George Pell’. She has also won awards from the Victor Chang Institute and the Royal Australasian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists for her medical reporting. Her investigation into gynaecologist Dr Emil Gayed triggered a government inquiry.

Melissa has appeared on ABC News breakfast, Triple J Hack, and The Drum. She has also appeared on BBC World News, and commercial radio in Australia and overseas. Previously she has worked for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sun Herald, and News Ltd. She also conducts guest lectures and appears on panels and at festivals. 

In her spare time she works as a fitness instructor around Melbourne teaching Les Mills programs, and enjoys swing-dancing and walking her rescue cattle dog.