Isabella Higgins
Bachelor of Journalism/Bachelor of Communication
Distinguished Young Alumni Award for excellence in the field of journalism.
Isabella Higgins is a well-known journalist who has reported across both regional and metropolitan areas of Australia as a reporter, as the national Indigenous affairs correspondent, and she is now Australia’s first Torres Strait Islander Europe correspondent, working for ABC News, based in London.
Based on her detailed coverage on the First Nations suicide crisis, Ms Higgins was awarded the 2019 Walkley Award for Young Australian Journalist of the Year, and her recent work reporting from the war in Ukraine has shed light on the atrocities of that conflict.
From QLD to NYC
One of the most influential experiences I gained from UQ was the opportunity to travel abroad to the University of New York on student exchange. It was there while searching the streets of Manhattan for a story that I found a real passion for journalism.
What inspired you to pursue journalism as a career?
I’ve always been an avid reader and writer, and as a high-school student journalism sounded like a career where I might get to do both of those things all day long. Of course, it’s much more complicated than that, but thankfully it all worked out.
If you could go back to your graduation day, what would you tell young Isabella?
The journey is just beginning, hold on tight and get ready for a lot of tight deadlines.
What are you most proud of?
As a proud Torres Strait Islander woman, becoming the ABC’s National Indigenous Affairs Correspondent was a huge honour and responsibility. I travelled to all corners of the country and met some extraordinary people in the role. I’m incredibly proud of some of the work I produced in these places, which I hope changed the conversation about the First Nations communities. Similarly, the time I spent in Ukraine as war broke out earlier this year was especially significant for me. I tried to elevate the voices of women in these places who were going through the unimaginable. Their stories will always stay with me.
What was your study soundtrack while at uni
I never stopped listening to Triple J as a student. I always hoped I might work there (and I did for a little bit!)