Inside the climate activists’ plan to shut down Australia
When protesters disrupted one of Australia’s largest container facilities, the NSW Government responded with new broad-sweeping laws that carried 2 year jail terms.
Aug 11, 2022•41 min
Background Briefing
Background Briefing brings you true stories not everyone will want you to hear.
Episodes
What happened to the Saudi sisters?
The mysterious discovery of the Alsehli sisters, who were found dead in a Sydney flat after more than a month, has shocked Australians. But who are they? What were they doing here? And most chillingly - why are they dead? Reporters Rachael Brown and Mahmood Fazal investigate. Please note this story contains disturbing themes including discussions of suicide. Listen for free on your mobile device on the ABC listen app , Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , or your favourite podcast app....
Aug 05, 2022•42 min
What happened to the Saudi sisters?
A special investigation by Rachael Brown and Mahmood Fazal into the shocking deaths of two women in Sydney's inner west.
Aug 01, 2022•2 min
The billion dollar industry helping students cheat
When the pandemic pushed university assessments out of the exam room and into the bedroom, many Australian students turned to powerful new allies to help them get good grades. Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates.
Jul 28, 2022•35 min
Who's developing the wilderness?
There's a big nature tourism project about to take off in New South Wales, but many locals aren't all that happy about it. Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates why.
Jul 21, 2022•41 min
The artisan farmers taking on Victoria's meat regulator
Victoria is marketed as an exciting culinary destination. But organic farmers say they're facing draconian rules that prevent consumers from accessing the ethical food they want. Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates.
Jul 16, 2022•39 min
The fight for control over Black births
Worried about racial inequities in the health system, First Nations women are fighting for culturally safe birth options. But as Quandamooka woman Carly Williams finds out, not everyone in the mainstream healthcare service is on board.
Jul 09, 2022•40 min
Will any koalas be left in Australia's east by 2050?
Being one of Australia’s cutest animals hasn’t prevented its slide towards extinction. Reporter Rachael Brown investigates what is being done to try to curb the koala's declining population.
Jul 02, 2022•37 min
What goes on inside Australia's first long COVID clinic?
Thousands of Australians are finding they still feel ill several months after contracting coronavirus. They're experiencing a new and little understood condition called long COVID. As Geoff Thompson discovered, the demand for medical treatment is now overwhelming.
Jun 25, 2022•38 min
Kidnapping the Gods | Part 2
Precious artefacts looted from Cambodia and Thailand made their way into prominent collections here in Australia, and around the world. In the second and final episode of his investigation, Mario Christodoulou investigates why it’s taking so long for these precious works to be returned to their rightful home.
Jun 18, 2022•45 min
Kidnapping the Gods
Many ancient Cambodian artefacts arrived in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s, when the south east Asian country was in turmoil. Mario Christodoulou investigates how some had come from looted historic sites or passed through the hands of suspected smugglers, and now feature in major galleries around the world.
Jun 11, 2022•46 min
The teachers are not alright
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged schools across the country like never before, but it's also shone a light on existing issues within the profession such as a chronic shortage of specialised teachers and growing workload stress. Reporter Mayeta Clark follows teachers in public schools in NSW as they struggle to cover classes and keep their students engaged.
Jun 04, 2022•42 min
Why Queensland's sex workers say the law puts their lives at risk
Many states have repealed tough laws that put sex workers at risk of prosecution. But so far, Queensland hasn't followed suit. Now, the state government is looking at introducing new safeguards to protect those in the industry. Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates.
May 28, 2022•37 min
The 'holy grail' of IVF that went wrong
IVF has grown into a huge industry, with companies competing to provide fertility services. But in the quest to innovate and gain an edge, one Australian company may have taken things too far. Now hundreds of those who used a controversial new genetic test are taking legal action Reporter Rachael Brown investigates.
Apr 23, 2022•42 min
When the floodwater goes, what's next?
Reporter Geoff Thompson followed several residents of Lismore as they tried to recover from February's monster flood in Northern NSW. But before they'd finished the clean-up, the waters started to rise again.
Apr 16, 2022•40 min
The mums accused of poisoning their kids
An almost unimaginable crime: two women accused of poisoning their own children at the same Sydney hospital. Both were charged and spent years separated from their families, but both say they were falsely accused. Reporter Hannah Ryan investigates whether the system has failed these families.
Apr 09, 2022•55 min
The end of Australia's biggest coal fired power plant
Jim works in the control room at Eraring Power Station, where one quarter of NSW's power is produced. But Jim and his 450 colleagues have recently found out that his workplace will be closing down, 7 years ahead of schedule. Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what plans are in place to transition communities away from coal jobs.
Apr 02, 2022•40 min
The quiet drug crisis you haven't heard about
Prison authorities know that drugs are constantly finding their way into our prisons. But the most commonly detected drug is one you might never have heard of. And health experts are warning there’s a disaster looming for addicted inmates when they get out. Mahmood Fazal reports. This episode contains explicit language.
Mar 26, 2022•39 min
The scientists questioning a serial murder case
She was convicted of killing her four children nearly two decades ago. But new scientific evidence has come to light, leading some of Australia’s most respected scientists to argue that Kathleen Folbigg was actually the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice. Some of those scientists now say Australia needs to establish a whole new body to review potentially wrongful convictions. Rachael Brown reports. Special thanks to Flinders University Adjunct Associate Professor Robert Moles for his re...
Mar 19, 2022•42 min
Inside aged care's Omicron chaos
This wave of coronavirus caused more Australians to die in aged care homes than any variant before it. This time we had vaccines and we had time to prepare. Reporter Geoff Thompson investigates how it went so wrong during Omicron.
Mar 12, 2022•36 min
Catching a Fugitive | Part 2
Charles Batham has been in hiding for years, and after two narrow escapes the trail goes cold. Then, reporter Erin Parke gets a tip-off that that brings the global investigation back from the brink – but will the truth ever come out about Batham’s dark past?
Mar 05, 2022•40 min
Catching a fugitive | part 1
A tall, eccentric Englishman with a secret double life flees Australia. For nine years he remains on the run. What he doesn't know is that two Australian women are tracking his movements from afar. Reporter Erin Parke was one of them.
Feb 26, 2022•36 min
The boss you can't escape from
Why a part of our workforce is afraid to speak up, even if their lodgings have bedbugs, it's hard to get a shower, or their pay is getting docked by random amounts. Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates.
Feb 19, 2022•39 min
How COVID chokes a hospital
For months the NSW government assured the public that its hospitals were coping through the pandemic. But frontline staff are now speaking out about the barely controlled chaos behind the scenes. Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what really happened during Omicron's peak.
Feb 12, 2022•40 min
The kids who broke out of detention
What children experienced inside Tasmania's youth detention centre for a long time remained out of sight, out of mind. But as Mahmood Fazal discovered, the centre's secrets are coming out now, as more former detainees come forward to tell their stories for the first time.
Feb 05, 2022•43 min
Summer Season: Her name was Mhelody Bruno
She died in tragic circumstances, but it seems that the public, her family, even the court may not have been given the full story. Elise Kinsella investigates why. This is a repeat of a program that aired in July 2021.
Jan 29, 2022•45 min
Summer Season: A far-right troll's journey from an Ipswich bedroom to global infamy
A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children online with a mix of racial stereotypes and hardcore shock tactics. With that fame and notoriety, he's become a useful recruitment tool in the expansion of one of the globe's most extreme social movements. Alex Mann reveals Catboy Kami's true identity and how this young live streamer from south east Queensland ended up in the United States mixing with ...
Jan 15, 2022•38 min
Summer Season: The hidden park of last resort
It’s one of the last affordable caravan parks near Sydney's CBD where people can actually make a home. Many of the residents were driven here in one of life's desperate moments, but as Mridula Amin discovers, not everyone wants to leave. This is a repeat of a program that aired in April 2021.
Jan 08, 2022•45 min
Summer Season: 'The ghosts are not silent'
An awkward Christmas lunch conversation sends reporter Sam Carmody on a search for answers about his family history. The stories he finds out about are so disturbing, they have implications not just for his family but for the entire region, where his ancestors have a statue in their honour, a highway and even a town named after them. This is a repeat of a program that aired in September 2021.
Jan 01, 2022•43 min
Summer Season: The death Uber Eats disowned
Relatives of a dead food delivery rider say he was at work when a truck hit him. Uber Eats says he wasn’t. Patrick Begley investigates. This is a repeat of a program that aired in June 2021.
Dec 25, 2021•41 min