'They use us': The Balinese villagers taking on Russian-backed developers
‘Cities’ are popping up across Bali’s spiritual heartland. Can villagers from Ubud hold back a tsunami of foreign money and preserve the island's culture?
Feb 08, 2024•33 min
Background Briefing
Background Briefing brings you true stories not everyone will want you to hear.
Episodes
Summer Season: Prisoner of the State
In a nursing home lives an elderly man who is being held against his will. We can’t tell you his name. We can’t tell you his age. We can’t even use his real voice, or the voice of anyone involved in his case. Reporter Anne Connolly investigates what happens when the state rules you're incapable of looking after yourself.
Dec 14, 2023•42 min
Summer Season: Remy was 12 when she became a drug dealer
As a teenager, Remy learnt to survive by hustling on the streets of Parramatta. Then she hit the bigtime. Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates what life is like on the other side of the war on drugs.
Dec 14, 2023•37 min
Summer Season: False Witness
Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.
Dec 14, 2023•36 min
Summer Season: Darcey and Chloe Part 01 - How the system failed to save two baby girls
Queensland authorities failed to heed multiple serious warnings that a young pair of sisters were in danger, before it was too late. Their grieving family is now desperate to understand why. Reporter Alexandra Blucher investigates.
Dec 14, 2023•39 min
Summer Season: Darcey and Chloe Part 02 - How the system failed to save two baby girls
When two infants die after being left inside a hot car, their family seek answers to how this could have happened. Reporter Alexandra Blucher tracks down a child safety officer involved in their case, and hears why she believes the girls' deaths could have been prevented.
Dec 14, 2023•32 min
Summer Season: The Whistleblower who helped catch a paedophile politican
After an electoral officer helped police arrest a popular state minister, her life began to unravel.
Dec 14, 2023•32 min
Summer Season: The whistleblower who exposed Australia’s secretive offshore detention system
"Simone" arrived on a remote island to help asylum seekers. But she witnessed something there that convinced her to leak over 2000 documents. Reporters Paul Farrell and Maddison Conaughton investigate what happened.
Dec 14, 2023•35 min
Summer Season: An aspiring doctor from the 'burbs takes on medical schools for elitism
From humble beginnings, Fahad faced hurdles entering medical school. Now, he fights for equal access to medical education. Marty Smiley reports.
Dec 14, 2023•31 min
A one-man consulate and a mysterious list: How to get out of Gaza
Father-of-three Ayman Dhlan started a WhatsApp group to help Australians and their families get out of war-torn Gaza. Now he can barely put his phone down.
Dec 07, 2023•31 min
Hitler, Stalin and Shirley Temple lived in the Australian outback
It might surprise you to learn that the names of pop stars and fascist dictators have been passed down to generations of Indigenous Australians. Reporter Erin Parke heads to the remote Kimberley to meet a man named Bing Crosby, and find out how it happened.
Nov 30, 2023•40 min
An aspiring doctor from the 'burbs takes on medical schools for elitism
From humble beginnings, Fahad faced hurdles entering medical school. Now, he fights for equal access to medical education.
Nov 23, 2023•31 min
How an ADHD diagnosis was the start of Natalia’s life unravelling
Natalia had a job at a prestigious university, $120,000 in the bank, a loving partner, and shared custody of her two sons. Then one day, a little over a year later, she woke up in a psychiatric hospital, where doctors told her she was experiencing what’s known as stimulant-induced psychosis.
Nov 16, 2023•38 min
The whistleblowers who stared down threats from Australia's biggest bank
How the Commonwealth Bank tried to stop a royal commission by using dirt files, intimidation, threats and surveillance against whistleblowers and journalists.
Nov 09, 2023•38 min
The whistleblower who believed his employer was covering up an oil spill
Three dead dolphins turn up in an oil spill.
Nov 02, 2023•33 min
The whistleblower who exposed Australia’s secretive offshore detention system
"Simone" arrived on a remote island to help asylum seekers. But she witnessed something there that convinced her to leak over 2000 documents. Reporters Paul Farrell and Maddison Conaughton investigate what happened.
Oct 26, 2023•36 min
The Whistleblower who brought down Australia's Dr Death
When patients start unexpectedly dying at a regional hospital, nurse Toni Hoffman takes a big risk to blow the whistle on a negligent surgeon.
Oct 19, 2023•39 min
The Whistleblower who captured the nation — and the man who unmasked her as a fraud
Kathy Jackson was once heralded as a revolutionary who shone a bright spotlight on union corruption but she too was later found to be a fraudster who had misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars in union members' money. So who was the man responsible for blowing the whistle on her? Reporter Annika Blau investigates.
Oct 12, 2023•29 min
The Whistleblower who helped catch a paedophile politican
After an electoral officer helped police arrest a popular state minister, her life began to unravel.
Oct 05, 2023•32 min
INTRODUCING — 'The Whistleblowers', a new series from Background Briefing
In this 6-part series presented by Adele Ferguson, the Background Briefing team brings you the untold stories of ordinary Australians who helped bring some of Australia’s biggest and dirtiest scandals to light.
Oct 03, 2023•2 min
Can a rape trial be a positive experience?
Two years ago, Meagan complained to the ABC that our coverage of sexual assault cases was too negative, and it didn't reflect her personal experience.
Aug 10, 2023•33 min
03 | The outland or the cage
Just after midnight, Marty woke to find three young intruders in his bedroom. Then they started talking to him. He'd now become one of the hundreds of victims of crime in Mount Isa each year. This is the final episode looking at the youth justice system in Queensland — the state with the highest number of children behind bars.
Aug 03, 2023•34 min
02 | The outland or the cage
"Locked down for hours and hours": Jaxon explains what life is like inside a juvenile detention centre.
Jul 27, 2023•31 min
01 | The outland or the cage
Jaxon stole a car at age 10. Six years later, the Mount Isa teen has a decision to make.
Jul 21, 2023•33 min
'What's your p(doom)?' Why AI experts are calculating our doomsday odds
A growing number of AI industry insiders are guessing at the probability that Artificial Intelligence will lead to a catastrophic scenario for humanity, and calculating their ‘p(doom)’.
Jul 13, 2023•40 min
The little-known religious code ruling many major public hospitals
Did you know that some of Australia’s largest public hospitals are run according to a religious code of ethics?
Jul 06, 2023•39 min
Fashion victims
Kym Ellery, the founder of collapsed Australian fashion label Ellery Land, tells reporter Rachael Brown that business collapses are sometimes the price of working in the fashion industry.
Jun 29, 2023•38 min
Inside the battle to keep cocaine out of Australia
Reporters Ty King and Mayeta Clark are granted a behind-the-scenes look at the dangerous game of cat and mouse played by cops and cartels.
Jun 22, 2023•30 min
False Witness
Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.
Jun 16, 2023•37 min
Grim Prospects | 02
In part two of the investigation into the deaths of Ray and Jennie Kehlet, reporters Rebecca Trigger and Ash Davis examine the story of the last man to see the couple alive.And they speak to a police insider who raised concerns about the direction of the investigation back in 2015.
Jun 08, 2023•37 min