Former 7.30 host Kerry O'Brien has called for journalists to unite to protect press freedoms in a powerful opening speech for the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

Key points: O'Brien warned about the dangers of restricted press, saying it could lead to fascism

O'Brien warned about the dangers of restricted press, saying it could lead to fascism He said journalists need to call out any abuses of power

He said journalists need to call out any abuses of power O'Brien also called on the Government to work to bring Julian Assange back to Australia

O'Brien, the Walkley Foundation chair, addressed the crowd of journalists and media professionals on Thursday night, harking back to the Journalism Is Not a Crime campaign in June.

"This year, for a brief moment in the history of Australian journalism, every significant news organisation in this country put its competitive instincts and its differences to one side and united as one voice to stand against an unacceptable step down the road to authoritarianism," he said.

"Authoritarianism unchecked can lead to fascism.

"Fortunately in this country, we're a long way from that yet, but a study of history amply demonstrates how fascism begins.

"Freedom is usually eroded gradually.

"It might happen over years, even decades.

"Its loss is not necessarily felt day by day, but we will certainly know when it's gone."

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The Journalism Is Not a Crime campaign came about after Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided ABC's Sydney headquarters and the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst in June.

Newsrooms across the country joined a public protest calling on the Federal Government to address threats against press freedom, petitioning Prime Minister Scott Morrison to change laws that would protect whistleblowers and journalists from prosecution when acting in the public interest.

On Thursday night, Smethurst told the awards ceremony she was unable to tweet the details of the raid on her home as the AFP had her phone.

O'Brien said the media industry was challenged by the polarisation of journalists as being left or right-leaning, a trend that "has to be resisted".

"For journalists to call out the powerful of any political colour for their abuses of power is not about ideology," he said.

"It is simply journalists doing their job, practising their craft."

O'Brien, who hosted 7.30, Four Corners and Lateline, was inducted in the Logies Hall of Fame earlier this year, using the opportunity to defend the ABC in the wake of successive budget cuts and to reflect on the industry's failures to "cut through fake news".

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 2 minutes 2 m Kerry O'Brien spoke out about 'idealogues' and racism when being inducted into the Logies Hall of Fame in July.

Lawyer X investigation wins gold

Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon of the Herald Sun were awarded the top prize for the night, the Gold Walkley, for their Lawyer X investigation.

The Walkley Foundation commended the pair for their reporting about Nicola Gobbo, a former defence barrister who was recruited by the Victorian police as an informant, as a "definitive explanation of a scandal that recast Melbourne's gangland wars".

"Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon took on the legal system and the police, pursuing this story doggedly for five years," judges said.

"Their coverage was comprehensive and they were relentless in uncovering the biggest scandal in Victorian legal history.

"This story also took a major commitment from the masthead. In its scale, its scope and its ongoing impact, Lawyer X Informer Scandal is an act of journalistic persistence that has changed Australia."

Sue Spencer was presented the Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism award.

Stan Grant won the Documentary Award for The Australian Dream, which told the story of AFL great Adam Goodes, while Leigh Sales took out the Walkley Book Award for Any Ordinary Day.

Suzanne Dredge, Dylan Welch, David Maguire and Janine Cohen won the TV/Video Current Affairs Long award for their Four Corners report Orphans of ISIS.

Jan Fran won the Commentary, Analysis, Opinion and Critique category for her social media video series called The Frant.

Calls to bring Assange home

O'Brien also called for the Government to bring WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange back to Australia.

The Walkley Foundation presented WikiLeaks, with Assange is its editor, an award for its outstanding contribution to journalism in 2011.

Judges said Assange used new technology to "penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup".

WikiLeaks in 2010 published classified military and diplomatic files about US bombing campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Assange is currently in a British prison. ( Reuters: Henry Nicholls )

"As we sit here tonight, Julian Assange is mouldering in a British prison awaiting extradition to the United States, where he may pay for their severe embarrassment with a life in prison," O'Brien said.

"This Government could demonstrate its commitment to a free press by using its significant influence with its closest ally to gain his return to Australia."

Assange is fighting a US bid to extradite him from the United Kingdom on charges filed under a US espionage act that could see him sentenced to up to 175 years in an American prison.

Swedish prosecutors said last Tuesday they had dropped their investigation into a 2010 rape allegation against Assange, even though they found the plaintiff's claim "credible".