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Eurydice Aroney

Biographical Notes from The Walkley Awards website 2007

Radio - Radio Feature, Documentary or Broadcast Special - Winners

Eurydice Aroney and Sharon Davis, ABC Radio National, "The Search for Edna Lavilla"

This meticulously produced documentary is an entertaining mix of detective story and personal memoir. Fanning out from the central story of Edna Lavilla Haynes, who at age 35 died of complications from a backyard abortion, the piece examines the impact of illegal abortions, which still resonate today.

Eurydice Aroney and Sharon Davis researched obsessively for 18 months and drew out many compelling personal accounts – a 90-year-old policewoman who took bedside depositions from women dying of botched abortions; a doctor who "fixed" the procedures (when she could); a man who, as a child, found his mother dead on the bathroom floor.

Aroney was a radio producer and presenter for the ABC for 12 years before switching to a freelance producing role. She now lectures in radio journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney, and her radio documentaries have been awarded internationally, including a Silver World Medal at the New York Radio Festival. Sharon Davis has previously won three Walkleys, including one in this category in 2003 for "Crime and Punishment". She has also been awarded the Human Rights Award and the United Nations Media Peace Prize.

Judges' comments

This was a gripping, brilliantly edited yarn with a great finish.

This documentary has a high degree of production techniques and values backed up by thorough research. Aroney and Davis use storytelling, sound and music to demonstrate a skilful use of the medium that should be encouraged. It felt like you were there in the kitchen with her mother confessing her secrets – a fantastic piece in a style that's a dying art in Australian radio.