CNAV 20th Annual Conference
2025 CNAV Conference
What’s happening at this year’s Conference
The 2025 Conference in Ballarat will be CNAV’s 20th Conference. CNAV was set up at a meeting in Churchill in 2005, the first conference was held in Ballarat in 2006.
The keynote presentation will be given by members of the Ballarat Gambling Harm Prevention Taskforce. They will talk to us about how we can help to minimise gambling harm in our communities.
Jeanette Severs, multi-award winning journalist, will be facilitating a workshop on how to conduct an interview. How do you get an interviewee to talk to you? What should you ask? What should you not ask? Are there things that are said in interviews that you should not publish?
Join Pete and Dona, two self-professed non-experts, in a critique on using fun cartoons in your newspapers to make for a more entertaining read. You may discover in yourself a sharpened awareness of unconscious bias! Engage in brainstorming a repository of acceptable but joyous cartoons (non-editorial/political/lewd/religious/poor taste) to fill small gaps in copy. They will also cover ways to create, solve, and share your own Sudoku puzzles.
Anne Boyd, Editor Emeritus of Ferntree Gully News, will lead a workshop looking at how your community newspaper can go beyond the printed document. Our goal is to strengthen community connections by reporting news and telling stories. But we don’t need to just wait for news: we should identify needs, suggest solutions, help to host events such as: markets, fairs and food trails: ANZAC Dawn Watch; surveys of parking, submissions to local planning, courses in writing and publishing. Anne has found that once they had got organised with volunteers, premises and a calendar of publication, they were in a position to build further connections and then to initiate.
Download your registration form here.
To assist conference organisation and catering, please send registration and payment no later than
Friday 26 September 2025
Previous Conferences
2022 Conference Macedon
Click for award results
2021 Virtual Conference
see here for video replays
2020 Virtual Conference
see here for video replays
2019 Lilydale
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Marie Guerin and Katrina Collins from the Victorian Electoral Commission
Discussed engaging readers with the 2020 Municipal Elections
WORKSHOPS
Digital Publishing – James Poyner
James discussed using digital technology in the various stages of news gathering, production and distribution,
Your burning questions — Jeanette Severs
Jeanette facilitated a lively Q&A about all manner of topics that delegates had about newspaper production
Illustrating your point – Jock Macneish
Cartoonist Jock Macneish gave a talk about the benefits of using a cartoon to draw readers in to your story.
2019 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2019 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="2019"]2018 Creswick
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION
Lisa Colquhoun and Felicity Garrigan—State Library Newspaper Archive
Legal deposit is the responsibility of publishers to submit their papers to the State Library.
WORKSHOPS
Conducting an interview—Lisa Dennis, from Castlemaine Mail and Midland Express
Lisa gave some excellent information on interviewing.
Principles of layout and design—Jeanette Severs
Jeanette gave a thought provoking workshop illustrating the importance of the visual impression of your layout and what it says about what your publication is and is trying to convey.
How to survey your readership—Mick Bourke
Mick talked about how to engage with your community using tools such as Survey Monkey.
2018 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2018 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="CNAV 2018"]2017 Traralgon
Keynote speaker (was unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances)
Workshops
- How to write an opinion piece (Jeanette Severs)
- Interpreting the Census (Rebecca Roberts, ABS)
- Do you need a website? (An umbrella CNAV website system) (Tony Phelps, Winch Websites)
2017 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2017 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2017"]2016 Bendigo
Keynote speaker Superintendent Matthew Ryan (Family Violence Command, Victoria Police)
Workshops
- Developing good headlines
- Expanding into social media
- Copyright: understanding your responsibilities
2016 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2016 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2016"]2015 Mooroolbark
Keynote speaker Peter Wearne (Youth Support and Advocacy Service, Chair of the Yarra Drug and Health Forum and Vice-President of the Trust for Young Australians)
Workshops
- Writing
- Photography
- Community engagement
2015 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2015 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2015"]2014 Caroline Springs
Keynote speaker Don Watson (Author, public speaker and speech-writer)
Workshops
- Generating stories and content
- Digitisation of archives
- Achieving balance in editing your community newspaper
- Building and maintaining relationships with other community groups
2014 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2014 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2014"]2013 Frankston
Keynote speaker Angela Carey (Head of Content (Features) for Fairfax Media regional division)
Workshops
- Making a difference
- What makes a good page
- Planning
- Not taking sides
2013 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2013 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2013"]2012 Nagambie
Keynote speaker Margaret Simons (Journalist, author, academic and media commentator)
Workshops
- Writing
- Editing
- Photography
- Models of community newspaper ownership
- Moving online—digital or not?
- Advertising, policies, pricing, and selling space
2012 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2012 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2012"]2011 Geelong
Keynote speaker Andrew Dodd (Journalist and Academic)
Workshops
- Writing
- Design and layout
- Editorial
2011 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2011 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2011"]2010 Warragul
Keynote speaker Gerard Callinan (ABC Gippsland General Manager and Breakfast presenter)
Workshops
- Writing
- Legal matters
- Ethics
- Grants
2010 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2010 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2010"]2009 Kinglake/Toolangi
Keynote speaker Karen Kissane (Age journalist and author)
Workshops
- Survival strategies
- Governance
- Websites
- Desktop publishing
- Design
- Writing
2009 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2009 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2009"]2008 Castlemaine
Keynote speaker Jonathan Ridnell (ABC Centralvic Station Manager and Breakfast presenter)
Workshops
- Legal
- Governance
- Web site
- Desktop publishing
2008 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2008 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2008"]2007 Lorne
Keynote speaker Eric Beecher (former journalist and editor, owner and publisher of several journalism-based websites including Crikey.com)
Workshops
- Editorial content and direction
- Production problems and solutions—why some photos reproduce so poorly
- Advertising
2007 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2007 Conference photo album on Flickr
[slickr-flickr tag="conference2007"]2006 Ballarat
Keynote speaker John Thwaites, Deputy Premier and Minister for Victorian Communities
Workshops;
- Legal structures of community newspapers
- The Fair Trading Act with Consumer Affairs Victoria
- Production, activities and equipment involved in community newspaper publication
- Governance — Structure, Volunteers, Policy development
2006 Award Winners – Click Here
See the full 2006 Conference photo album on Flickr