INDONESIAN reporter Devianti Faridz knew after she watched the devastating floods tear through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley on her television set in Jakarta that this had to be her next big story.

She knew she had to get the personal angle and after successfully being awarded the Australian Government's Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award, she knew the story was hers.

Ms Faridz was in Toowoomba last week as part of her three-week trip around Australia filing stories on the recovery efforts of last year's floods for her Indonesian news organisation, Metro TV.

"Everyone in Indonesia was aware of what was going on in Australia with last year's floods, but no-one over there really had a personal angle," Ms Faridz said.

"I documented one person's story and how the floods had affected them."

The Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award commemorates the distinguished career of Elizabeth O'Neill OAM who died while working for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Indonesia in 2007.

The award is designed to help bridge the gap between the two countries.