Podcasts · News · Society & Culture

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 2 of 6

  1. Long Read | The fight over your backyard

    · 19 min

    The Yes In My Backyard movement is lobbying for denser cities and more housing in places people want to work and live. The YIMBYs want these homes built yesterday, but as Gina Rushton explains, the NIMBYs haven’t given…

  2. PRESENTS — Criminal Psychology from All in the Mind

    Fascinated by true crime? Or intrigued by what drives people to break the law? Criminal Psychology, a gripping series from All in the Mind, takes you deep inside the minds of those who cross the line into extreme…

  3. Long Read | The Summer of Trump

    · 22 min

    This week, Nick Bryant returns to the US for the first time in four years, finding a country that doesn't want to talk about politics, despite being in the eye of the Trump storm.

  4. Dr Mo: The Beast from the Middle East

    · 42 min

    An Australian doctor sells his car and writes a will — unsure if he’ll ever make it back home. He crosses the concrete walls that surround the Gaza Strip and begins work inside the last functioning hospital in the…

  5. 04 Beef | YouTube detectives uncover PlayStation guru’s shocking secret

    · 39 min

    It started with a bizarre customer-service experience and soon transformed into something darker. Outrage rippled across Youtube, spurring an army of online vigilantes into action. But as reporter Maddison Connaughton…

  6. 02 Beef | Who would shoot a wombat?

    · 37 min

    Most Aussies see wombats as an iconic native. But reporter Tynan King discovered one regional NSW town where farmers see them through a scope.

  7. 01 Beef | Big Rob versus just about everyone in town

    · 43 min

    Big Rob has gone from online vigilante to censured politician, starting little fights that have become big problems for his divided city.

  8. INTRODUCING — Beef

    · 0:37

    A new series by Background Briefing investigates when small feuds take on a life of their own. First episode coming June 28.

  9. Long Read | The hunt for the next pandemic is on our shores

    · 19 min

    This week, reporter Catherine Taylor investigates a new strain of avian flu virus that's running rampant across Europe, Asia, South America and the US. How long can we keep it from reaching us?

  10. Long Read | Can Wikipedia survive the rise of AI and Trump?

    · 25 min

    Rhiannon Stevens investigates the existential threats facing Wikipedia from artificial intelligence and Trump’s America.

  11. Long Read | Australia: burnout capital, or how to get a career break right

    · 21 min

    This week, Annie Louey discovers what happens when your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing means your career is no longer worth the money.

  12. 05 Agents of Influence | The letters journalists fear

    · 37 min

    There’s something shaping what appears in your newsfeed that you might not be aware of. Reporter Gina McKeon investigates.

  13. 04 Agents of Influence | The powerbroker unseated by ‘traitors’

    · 37 min

    This week, reporter Annika Blau gets the inside story of a union powerbroker’s rise, and the people who risked it all to stop her

  14. 03 Agents of Influence | The man whose name is all over Sydney

    · 42 min

    Take a stroll around Sydney and you'll find his name on many venerated buildings. But this man, a 101-year-old billionaire, has also created machines that risk ruining their users' lives.

  15. 02 Agents of Influence | The Billionaire's New Sport

    · 42 min

    A former oil tycoon has just bought the streaming rights to Australia’s great homegrown sports, the AFL and NRL. This week, reporter Marty Smiley investigates one of the richest men in the world - who is Len Blavatnik?

  16. 01 Agents of Influence | The PM's secret strategists

    · 36 min

    Millennial content makers can influence election outcomes from their home studios. After witnessing the power of podcasts in the US election, our political leaders are lining up to get a piece of the action.

  17. Introducing... Agents of Influence

    · 0:37

    They're not household names. But they wield serious power under the radar.

  18. Long Read | How deepfakes, nudes and teen misogyny have changed growing up

    · 22 min

    This week, Bri Lee investigates tech-assisted gendered abuse by schoolboys against their peers and teachers.

  19. Long Read | The church’s disappearing women

    · 21 min

    Three decades after the first ordinations of women to the Anglican priesthood, women are still struggling to reach leadership — and now the congregation is changing too.

  20. 05 The Invisible Killer | Did police miss a murder?

    · 41 min

    A court found that Garry Davis injected three victims with lethal doses of insulin during a 48 hour period. But what if there was another victim? Is it possible police failed to collect crucial evidence to prove…

  21. 04 The Invisible Killer | Under the bed

    · 35 min

    When reporter Anne Connolly discovers that Garry Davis had a collection of strange items under his bed, it changes the course of her investigation, and raises new fears about the true scale of his crimes.

  22. 03 The Invisible Killer | Reasonable Doubt

    · 42 min

    Garry Davis has now been convicted of murdering two residents at SummitCare and attempting to murder a third. But all the evidence against him is circumstantial. Is it possible someone else could have been responsible…

  23. 02 The Invisible Killer | 'Who did this?'

    · 35 min

    Someone injected three residents with lethal doses of insulin at an aged care facility in Newcastle. Now, the race is on to catch the killer. Will the police find the clues they need to catch the culprit before any…

  24. 01 The Invisible Killer | Doctor’s discovery

    · 33 min

    When residents start falling ill at a nursing home in Newcastle, the workers don't think much of it. After all, people die in aged care all the time. But then, one eagle-eyed doctor finds something that makes him…

  25. More to the story... Kathy Jackson’s missing millions

    · 14 min

    It looked like the Health Services Union might finally be returned millions of dollars owed by the whistleblower turned convicted fraudster, Kathy Jackson. Then, the money went missing again.

  26. More to the story... Who controls the Murdoch empire?

    · 12 min

    Lachlan Murdoch is caught in an ongoing court battle with his siblings to maintain control of the family empire when Rupert Murdoch dies. Now there’s been a judgement.

  27. More to the story... Meeting your mum as an adult

    · 12 min

    After Background Briefing's investigation, Anna was flooded with messages from Korean adoptees all over the world. The overwhelming response prompted her to embark on an emotional journey to South Korea, where she…

  28. More to the story... Sex, lies and 'big coconut balls'

    · 11 min

    When Background Briefing last investigated testosterone salesman Michael Farrelly, he was nowhere to be found. Then, a few weeks ago, came a surprising phone call.

  29. More to the Story... My friend, the cop killer

    · 15 min

    Police and politicians labelled the Wieambilla killers evil terrorists. But what really went on inside their heads?

  30. More to the story... Inside a scam factory

    · 8:26

    Scam baiter Jim Browning recently helped bring down a multinational scam syndicate in Dubai. His next target is a scam with potential links to the Russian mafia.

  31. 03 Births, Deaths, and Marriages | ‘Horror stories’ from inside the funeral industry

    · 39 min

    Ani Valatava went to see her sister’s body at a funeral home in suburban Sydney. She could never have prepared for what she saw next. Reporter Gina McKeon investigates what goes on behind the scenes of Australia’s…

  32. 02 Births, Deaths and Marriages | Facebook's sperm marketplace

    · 37 min

    When a couple are quoted $13,000 to access a sperm donor through a clinic, they decide to take matters into their own hands. On Facebook, they find a thriving sperm exchange, where they hope they'll have more control…

  33. 01 Births, Deaths and Marriages | The Wedding Celebrant

    · 29 min

    When Becc and Nathan decided to get married, they wanted something intimate — a small ceremony at home with just their closest friends and family. There was just one problem — the celebrant wasn't who he appeared to be.

  34. The inconvenient patients

    · 38 min

    Michelle went to hospital on three occasions, complaining of searing chest pains. She was told to go home and seek therapy for her "anxiety issues". It would not be until months later that she was diagnosed with…

  35. The cop accused of sharing a suspect's explicit video

    · 34 min

    After a police squad stages a tense siege against a dangerous fugitive, a phone is recovered from the crime scene, carrying vital information. But the detective in charge soon finds himself accused of a serious crime…

  36. 03 | Murdoch's Endgame

    · 33 min

    Will Lachlan Murdoch succeed in brushing his rival siblings aside to command control over the future of his family’s media empire? Or could we be looking at the end of the century-old family dynasty that runs the…

  37. 02 | Murdoch's Endgame

    · 34 min

    For much of his youth, Lachlan Murdoch seemed ambivalent about being next in line to control the family’s global media empire. So why is his father Rupert now fighting a high stakes battle against three of his other…

  38. 01 | Murdoch's Endgame

    · 42 min

    Are we looking at the end of the Murdoch family's global media empire? That's the question journalists Paddy Manning and Alex Mann investigate in this special three-part series. This week, they take you inside the…

  39. Introducing... Murdoch's Endgame

    · 1:19

    The Murdoch family is locked in a secret court battle.

  40. Has dot art spread too far?

    · 37 min

    Dots are so strongly associated with traditional Aboriginal visual language that Shane gets asked why he doesn’t paint them.

  41. 'This must be a joke': the homes for sale without owners' knowledge

    · 40 min

    In a caravan park in central NSW, a group of grey nomads were sold a Utopia - a “home base” to hang up the keys and enjoy “real estate security”. They sunk their life savings into houses in the park, with the ads…

  42. Stop and Search | 04 The Botched Backyard Operation

    · 27 min

    There are only two witnesses to Brad Balzan's final moments: the two officers who chased him into his backyard. But their accounts of what happened don't match up.

  43. Stop and Search | 03 The Numbers Game

    · 35 min

    As the investigation into Bradley Balzan's death continues, serious questions are raised about how the country’s largest police force uses its search powers.

  44. Stop and Search | 02 Last Moments Before Gunshots

    · 28 min

    Brad Balzan is shot dead in his own backyard after a police encounter goes wrong. In episode two of Stop and Search, a new mini-series by Background Briefing, reporter Paul Farrell asks why was he running away, and why…

  45. Stop and Search | 01 Where's Brad?

    · 40 min

    A 20-year-old is chased by four plain-clothes police officers into his western Sydney backyard. But he hasn't committed a crime. He hasn't even done anything wrong. He's shot twice, and then dies. In a special…

  46. Dancing with Bulls

    · 35 min

    Ruby's barely a teenager, and already she's become a champion bull rider. She's also had eight concussions and multiple brain bleeds. Reporter Tynan King investigates how this extreme sport became her obsession — even…

  47. Finding Jean Nassif

    · 36 min

    He left a trail of defect-riddled apartment buildings across Sydney and debts exceeding $600m to his creditors. Police have issued a warrant for his arrest. The NSW Premier has even offered to pay for his flight back…

  48. Sex, lies & 'big coconut balls' — the clinic that sold a fix to getting old

    · 40 min

    Testosterone is often marketed as a silver bullet that can help you build muscle mass, improve your energy levels and fix your sex life. But as reporters Tynan King and Maddison Connaughton discover, the reality…

  49. The agency accused of paying bribes for babies

    · 40 min

    Anna grew up believing she was an orphan. But she later discovered she’d been lied to. And that she's one of many Australian adoptees who has been misled.

  50. Notorious 08 | My friend, the cop killer pt 2

    · 40 min

    Nathaniel Train was renowned as a distinguished principal who could deliver impressive results for disadvantaged schools. His childhood friend, reporter Josh Robertson, investigates what fateful events led to…

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