Julie Goodwin won the first season of the Australian reality cooking series MasterChef Australia in 2009.
Goodwin, a home cook from New South Wales, defeated Poh Ling Yeow in the grand final. The first season aired on Network Ten and was judged by George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston. Its success helped make MasterChef Australia one of the country's most recognizable cooking programs.
Goodwin won a cash prize, a publishing contract and the opportunity to develop her culinary career. Her first cookbook, Our Family Table, was published after the series and became part of her public profile as a television cook and author.
MasterChef Australia is based on the British MasterChef format but developed a distinctive long-form structure, with contestants facing multiple challenges each week. It is separate from MasterChef USA, whose first champion was Whitney Miller.