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Background Briefing

ABC Australia

300 episodes

Background Briefing is the ABC's flagship investigative journalism podcast. Its award-winning investigations and documentaries expose cover-ups, corruption, real-life mysteries, whistleblowing, crime, fraud and miscarriages of justice — often before these stories receive mainstream attention.

More about the show

The Background Briefing podcast brings you true stories not everyone will want you to hear, told by trusted reporters across Australia.

This Australian podcast makes investigative journalism bingeable. From scams and fraud to schooling and health scandals, tech and social media digs, police exposes and various unsolved cases, each episode of the Background Briefing podcast is a must-listen.

Recent series include:

Hometown Boys exposed how a terrible crime fractured a local community around a local football club.

The Invisible Killer: a forensic investigation into unexplained deaths in aged care after a doctor makes an unusual discovery.

The Favourite: how a schoolyard secret stayed hidden for years.

Stop and Search, which uncovered the mechanics of power and police accountability.

Before and After investigated medical hype, telehealth, body image, cosmetic procedures and consumer risk.

Beef: how small feuds escalate into serious disputes.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. 02 The Unbreakable Cult | The recruiter

    · 34 min

    Helen doesn't know her psychologist is devoted to the cult of Universal Medicine. So when she finally seeks help for her childhood trauma, she thinks she can trust this registered health professional. Soon, she's been…

  2. 01 The Unbreakable Cult | Hands on

    · 36 min

    When Serge Benhayon had a spiritual epiphany sitting on the toilet nearly 30 years ago, he says he became possessed with all the knowledge of the universe. With these secrets at his fingertips, Serge invented four…

  3. INTRODUCING... The Unbreakable Cult

    · 2:36

    Serge Benhayon has been leading a cult out of the Byron Bay hinterland — just south of the Queensland border — for more than a decade. He was found by a jury to be a charlatan who swindles cancer patients. Yet every…

  4. 03 Dark Menace | Operation Queenstown

    · 39 min

    Before police raided Mark Dennis’s Sydney terrace, two tradies saw something inside that left them rattled. At the front door, a doormat told visitors to “come back with a warrant”. But it was what covered the interior…

  5. 02 Dark Menace | What Happened At Sunrise

    · 38 min

    As the founder of a famous Cambodian orphanage rubbed shoulders with Hollywood stars, like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, a Sydney barrister was quietly becoming one of the charity's most powerful backers. To staff,…

  6. 01 Dark Menace | The Chairman's Secrets

    · 42 min

    He was a silk at Sydney's most prestigious criminal defence chambers. And the former chairman of a celebrated charity protecting vulnerable children, where some called him "godfather". But he went by the alias of "Dark…

  7. INTRODUCING — Dark Menace

    · 1:24

    When police raided a terrace in Sydney's inner west, they found an iPad with a note: if this device connects to the internet, its contents will delete. That house belonged to one of Sydney's top criminal barristers. A…

  8. 03 'This Bloody Machine' | The Empty Chapel

    · 32 min

    It would be a game changer if it happened. But the challenges facing a proposed proton cancer treatment centre in Sydney are stacking up. It begs the question: why are an unpaid volunteer and private developer stepping…

  9. 02 'This Bloody Machine' | The Other Plan

    · 32 min

    The public plans for a half-a-billion-dollar Sydney development have proton therapy all over them. But they're not the only set. As Australian families continue to fly overseas to get the life-saving treatment their…

  10. 01 'This Bloody Machine' | Jewel in the Crown

    · 31 min

    Sue Bleasel is running out of time. Her life's work has been to bring a life-saving proton therapy machine to Australia. But with construction about to start, big questions remain.

  11. TRAILER – Introducing 'This Bloody Machine'

    · 1:25

    It's a plan so good that everyone wants to believe it. Bring a life-saving cancer machine to Australia so desperate families don't have to travel overseas for treatment. But the plan keeps failing. The latest idea is…

  12. Long Read | The Girl Who Vanished From Her Bed: Part Two

    · 15 min

    A missing child, the botched police investigation case, and the aunt who never stopped asking why — this is part two of Maddison Connaughton's long read investigation into the disappearance of schoolgirl Eloise Worledge.

  13. Long Read | The Girl Who Vanished From Her Bed: Part One

    · 21 min

    Could new leads solve one of Australia’s most haunting cold cases, the disappearance of Eloise Worledge? This is part one of Maddison Connaughton's investigation, a collaboration with ABC Long Read.

  14. Beef | Battle for the Blue Zones 2

    · 35 min

    You may have heard the strange story about the man who cheated death. Diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and given just months to live, he moved home to die in peace on the idyllic Greek island of Ikaria. But he…

  15. Beef | Battle for the Blue Zones

    · 33 min

    You've heard there are these enchanted places around the world where people often live past 100, thanks to lifestyles the rest of us envy. They're called Blue Zones, and over two decades the idea has grown into a…

  16. The dark reality of Australia's AI dream factory

    · 33 min

    It’s been billed “the Netflix of AI.” A little-known Australian startup running an online service, boasting more than 20 million users worldwide. It promises to bring your fantasies to life with realistic AI companions…

  17. 03 Tammy's Story | New Asylums

    · 33 min

    For a while, Tammy's death looks like a one-off. Then an email lands in Kirstie Wellauer's inbox that changes everything.

  18. 02 Tammy's Story | Searching for Safety

    · 32 min

    Tammy Shipley walked into a police station and asked to be locked up. She just wanted to be safe.

  19. 01 Tammy's Story | The Red Cup

    · 30 min

    Tammy's under 24-hour surveillance. Her family can't reach her. Then she starts drinking water from a red cup — and nobody understands what they're watching until it's too late.

  20. Introducing | Tammy's Story

    · 1:19

    Tammy Shipley asked to be arrested so she could feel safe. After she was placed under 24-hour surveillance, something terrible took place. A new three-part series by Kirstie Wellauer and Joanna McCarthy investigates…

  21. 03 In Search of the Missing Artist | The Name

    · 33 min

    Jean Paul Mangin is a nom de plume, an alias, a fake name. But no one seems to know that. So why would a commercial gallery – a family-run business – go to such extreme lengths to protect the identity of its artist?

  22. 02 In Search of the Missing Artist | The Plastic

    · 34 min

    The only clue to Jean Paul Mangin's true identity is hiding in his art. Unlike everything else about the elusive French sculptor, the material he works with is right there for anyone to see — giant, flat sheets of…

  23. 01 In Search of the Missing Artist | The Sculptor

    · 40 min

    The sales pitch goes that Jean Paul Mangin is a reclusive Parisian sculptor whose works are internationally acclaimed. His pieces sell quickly through one particular Australian gallery, sought after by trendy interior…

  24. Introducing | In Search of the Missing Artist

    · 1:41

    For years, art buyers have been told that this man is an internationally acclaimed, intensely private Parisian sculptor. His bold, brightly coloured plastic works are available through one Melbourne gallery, and…

  25. 03 The Road to Bondi | Deepfake

    · 35 min

    How did a wounded Bondi survivor become the face of a global deepfake conspiracy in less than 24 hours? Arsen Ostrovsky was celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach when the first shots rang out. A bullet grazed his head,…

  26. 02 The Road to Bondi | A Test of Character

    · 33 min

    This man fled Iran after being imprisoned and tortured for protesting the regime. Known only as AB, he came to Australia hoping to start again — and, in many ways, he did. He found love and started a family. But he…

  27. 01 The Road to Bondi | Father and Son

    · 42 min

    You think you know the story. You know how it ended. But you don’t know how it began. In the first episode of The Road to Bondi, reporter Josh Robertson traces the decades-long path that led a father and son to carry…

  28. TRAILER — Introducing The Road to Bondi

    · 1:42

    In an ordinary Australian suburb, a father and son are secretly planning something terrible. One fateful summer evening, their path brings them crashing into the lives of strangers from around the world whose own…

  29. 06 Hometown Boys | Not the only one

    · 39 min

    Insiders from the Harrow-Balmoral football club decide to break the code of silence. For Elise, it’s time to rebuild her life. But her story inspires other women to emerge with their own troubling accounts of the…

  30. 05 Hometown Boys | 'Luke, Maybe'

    · 31 min

    A key witness submits a startling new statement that topples the guilty verdict and forces a retrial. This time, the men accused will not give evidence. But Lisa Hutchins, the trusted bush nurse will take the stand…

  31. 04 Hometown Boys | The Trial

    · 27 min

    As the criminal trial unfolds, witnesses from Balmoral waver on the stand, and the judge is "taken aback". The courtroom is heaving with supporters of the accused but the verdict is not what they're expecting.

  32. 03 Hometown Boys | The 'Mayoress of Balmoral'

    · 32 min

    A respected bush nurse with close ties to the accused becomes a key police witness. As the investigation quietly gathers pace, locals start to choose sides and the family of the victim feels ostracised.

  33. 02 Hometown Boys | In the caravan

    · 33 min

    A 21st birthday party becomes a crime scene, but some locals carry on like nothing’s happened.

  34. 01 Hometown Boys | Welcome to Balmoral

    · 30 min

    In this one-street town of 280 residents, there’s an unspoken code: don’t rock the boat, or risk being cast out. Balmoral is a small Victorian town built on tradition, loyalty and knowing your place. For newcomers, the…

  35. TRAILER — Introducing Hometown Boys

    · 2:15

    When a young woman accuses a talented local footballer and his friend of rape, the town reveals where its true loyalties lie. The beating heart of Balmoral, a tiny Victorian town in Australia, is the football club.…

  36. Long Read | How social media algorithms decide who you are

    · 24 min

    This week, Prianka Srinivasan arms herself with a burner phone and a fake name, and sets out to learn how Instagram’s algorithm really works.

  37. 04 Before and After | Behind the sunscreen

    · 35 min

    When the founder of a skincare company discovers his zinc sunscreen product potentially isn't achieving the protection it's supposed to, it doesn't take long before he realises the problem is far bigger than he first…

  38. 03 Before and After | Under your skin

    · 37 min

    The injectable industry is booming, but behind the glossy ads and plump looks, some patients are discovering filler that doesn’t dissolve. This week reporter Gina McKeon reveals the hidden risks of chasing an…

  39. 02 Before and After | For a couple extra inches

    · 33 min

    For young men struggling with body image, social media offers a radical solution: get taller by breaking your legs. As the cosmetic limb-lengthening industry booms worldwide, Emilia Terzon explores the secretive online…

  40. 01 Before and After | The cost of keeping your hair

    · 37 min

    Hair loss ads are everywhere. Telehealth clinics with thousands of five-star reviews promise fast consults and discreet delivery to your doorstep. But what happens when the treatment messes with your brain chemistry?

  41. Introducing... Before and After

    · 1:00

    Before and After is a new series by Background Briefing that exposes how medical hype spreads online, who profits, and who pays.

  42. The secret teacher blacklist

    · 40 min

    Kim saw a teacher’s aide laughing at a video of a vulnerable student and reported it to the principal. She had no idea it would come to define the next seven years of her life.

  43. 05 The Favourite - A Day in Court

    · 32 min

    After years of manipulation, Alliyah is determined to see justice done. When Kellie appears in the dock, what will she say? And how will the judge respond?

  44. 04 The Favourite | Full Disclosure

    · 35 min

    Alliyah steps into a police station on the outskirts of Brisbane, and says: “I want to report a crime.” After keeping the so-called relationship with Kellie secret for almost a decade, Alliyah is finally ready to tell…

  45. 03 The Favourite | Alliyah's choice

    · 40 min

    A new job and a surprise encounter show Alliyah that another way is possible. Will they manage to slip out of Kellie's control?

  46. 02 The Favourite | A marriage proposal

    · 35 min

    When the principal discovers Alliyah and their teacher Kellie are exchanging secret messages outside class, Kellie is warned — but not fired. Then, on the last day of Alliyah’s graduation, another message arrives:…

  47. 01 The Favourite | Secrets after school

    · 31 min

    12-year-old Alliyah’s clowning around in science class, testing the waters to see how the new teacher will respond. An unusual bond grows between them — and what starts with a death stare and a smirk, soon slips into a…

  48. Introducing... The Favourite

    · 1:39

    She's every student’s favourite teacher — warm, funny, the kind who bends the rules. But for one 12-year-old, Alliyah, her attention goes far beyond the classroom. The Favourite is a five-part series by Background…

  49. The invisible stuff on your blueberries

    · 32 min

    When a marine scientist starts picking up traces of pesticides in oysters, she follows a trail that leads inland — to NSW blueberries carrying a poison not permitted for use in Australia.

  50. Long Read | The smart kids who can’t afford to succeed

    · 20 min

    Catherine Taylor investigates how money, disadvantage and resources risk holding back our brightest students.

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