Janice Mayman (1940/1 – 5 August 2021) was an Australian journalist, known for her extensive work as a freelancer between 1980 and 2010.Lemon, Barbara; Henningham, Nikki (6 November 2007
Woman: Mayman, Jan
''The Australian Women's Register''. Retrieved 3 April 2019. Throughout her career, Mayman wrote for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'', ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'', and was a frequent contributor to political journal ''Australian Society''. Mayman was arguably best known for her stories relating to indigenous affairs, most notably a story she wrote in 1983 for ''The Age'', exposing the

death in custody A death in custody is a death of a person in the custody of the police, other authorities or in prison. In the 21st century, death in custody remains a controversial subject, with the authorities often being accused of abuse, neglect, racism and ...

of 16-year-old Aboriginal boy John Pat in

Roebourne, Western Australia Roebourne is a town in Western Australia's Pilbara region. In Ngarluma language, Roebourne is called Yirramagardu (Ieramagadu). It is 35 km from Karratha, 202 km from Port Hedland and 1,563 km from Perth, the state's capital. It is loc ...

. For the story, Mayman won the

Gold Walkley The Gold Walkley is the major award of the Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic ...

at the 1984

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

. She died on 5 August 2021 at the age of 80.

References

1940s births Year of birth uncertain 2021 deaths 20th-century Australian journalists Walkley Award winners Australian women journalists 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian journalists {{Australia-journalist-stub