Peter Greste, the al-Jazeera correspondent jailed in Egypt, received the second highest honour, for the Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism.

Ferguson and her ABC collaborators Deb Masters and Mario Christodoulo won the Gold Walkley on Thursday for uncovering financial planning scandals at the Commonwealth Bank.

Their report, Banking Bad, which spurred a Senate inquiry, also earned them the award for best weekly TV/AV Current Affairs report.

Ruth Pollard, Fairfax's Middle East correspondent, won the best short feature award for her account of the bombing of schools and hospitals during the war in Gaza.

South-east Asia correspondent Lindsay Murdoch's report on the abandoned Down syndrome baby, Gammy, took out the international journalism category.

Fairfax columnist Waleed Aly was recognised for his commentary on racial discrimination laws and offshore detention, while investigative reporters Richard Baker and Nick McKenzie won the TV daily news category for their stories on union corruption.

Fairfax's Eddie Jim received the prize for best photographic essay for his series on Hayden McLean, a severely autistic 35-year-old.

Ron Tandberg won the best cartoon award for Joe's Budget, which depicted a figure making a long walk into the city to apply for jobs.

The Australian Financial Review's Nabila Ahmed, Sue Mitchell and James Chessell took out the business journalism category for their reports on the failed merger between David Jones and Myer, while the Newcastle Herald's Robert Dillon was awarded for his sports journalism.

The Scoop of the Year went to the ABC and The Guardian's revelations that Australian spy agencies targeted the phone of former Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The ABC and The Australian's report on the Israeli army targeting Palestinian boys for arrest earned them the best investigative reporting award.

Afghanistan-based Andrew Quilty won both photographer of the year and photograph of the year.

Sky News journalist David Speers won the best interview category for his probing on Attorney-General George Brandis' understanding of metadata.