The Assembly, the ABC’s series featuring Autistic journalism students, has won the annual Screen Diversity and Inclusion Network (SDIN) Award at this year’s Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards.
The show, which premiered on the ABC last August, follows 15 Autistic journalism students as they interview well-known Australian personalities, including actor Sam Neill, sporting legend Adam Goodes and singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem.
The Assembly: building skills
Under the guidance of acclaimed journalist Leigh Sales, the students develop their skills in research and interviewing, resulting in candid and unpredictable conversations that reveal unexpected sides of their guests, present fresh perspectives and diverse voices, and challenge stereotypes about neurodiversity.
The Assembly, as the first series in Australia to explore the strengths of neurodivergence in journalism, was the catalyst for Macquarie University developing Australia’s first Autism-friendly journalism course.
Produced by HELIUM Pictures for the ABC, supported by Aspect, Bus Stop Films and Macquarie University, the series was also nominated for Best Factual Entertainment Program at the 2025 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards.
The SDIN Award was announced this evening at the SCREEN FOREVER 39 event on the Gold Coast. It recognises an Australian-based project, producer and/or production company and/or screen organisation that has made a significant contribution, through excellence or impact to diversity and inclusion either on or offscreen, within the Australian screen industry.
The South Australian feature documentary Songs Inside (2024) was Highly Commended by the SDIN this year. Written, directed and produced by Shalom Almond and produced by Katrina Lucas and Lauren Drewery, the film follows First Nations singer-songwriter Nancy Bates and the groundbreaking music program she led with inmates at the Adelaide Women’s Prison.
This year’s SDIN Award shortlist also included the series Four Years Later, shown on SBS and produced by Four Years Productions and Easy Tiger, and Moonbird, produced by kutikina Productions and SheOak Films.
ScreenHub: Four Years Later, SBS review: compulsive viewing
The SDIN Award jury said: ‘The Assembly provided a fantastic opportunity for both Autistic journalists and crew. It also empowered those involved to spread education and awareness about the barriers that can face neurodivergent individuals.
‘Most importantly it worked to showcase their skills and talents, and challenge misconceptions that disability is a barrier to success. The judges overall were impressed with the way in which The Assembly presented this.’
The SDIN is a network of broadcasters, screen funding agencies, business associations, guilds and industry-aligned education and training organisations who have committed to work together towards a more inclusive and diverse screen industry.
The Assembly was produced by HELIUM Pictures for the ABC, with production funding from Screen NSW and additional funding from Screen Australia.
From ScreenHub’s four-star review of The Assembly:
Journalism is a job where you learn by doing. University courses are relatively recent; working at a media organisation as a cadet is still one of the main ways new journos learn their trade. Usually they start off at the bottom handling jobs like fact-checking the tide times. Interviewing the Prime Minister? Not unless you’re one of the new journalists on The Assembly.
Mentored by Leigh Sales, these 15 Autistic journalism students have been thrown in at the deep end. No quick chats over the phone with the coach of the local amateur football team or the second prize winner in the jam contest at the local agricultural show here. Across six episodes, they’ll be speaking to luminaries such as Sam Neill, Hamish Blake, Delta Goodrem, Adam Goodes, Amanda Keller, and the aforementioned Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese.
Based on the 2023 French production Les Rencontres du Papotin (whose guests included French President Emmanuel Macron), each 45-minute episode features Sales guiding the team as they put together their questions, helping them to find angles that mean something to them – and, through them, their audience.
There are obstacles along the way, from nervousness at dealing with big names through to the realisation that they personally may not have much of a connection with the subject but still have to come up with relevant questions. Read more …
