Background Briefing
ABC Australia
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.
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.
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
Mentioned books
Mar 27, 2026 • 35min
03 The Road to Bondi | Deepfake
Arsen Ostrovsky, a Jewish lawyer who survived the Bondi shooting, gives a first‑person account of being injured and photographed while trying to reassure his family. Josh Robertson, an investigative reporter, traces how that photo was weaponised into a global deepfake conspiracy across Telegram, Reddit, Russian outlets and social platforms. Multiple short scenes follow the spread, the actors who amplified it, and Arsen’s response.
Mar 20, 2026 • 33min
02 The Road to Bondi | A Test of Character
Josh Robertson, an investigative reporter, tells AB's fraught journey from fleeing Iran to building a family in Australia. The conversation traces imprisonment, trauma, substance use and family violence. It then follows the night AB ran toward the Bondi shooting, his attempts to help the wounded, and the legal and immigration fallout that now threatens his place with his family.
Mar 13, 2026 • 42min
01 The Road to Bondi | Father and Son
Dr Andrew Abood, forensic psychiatrist who decodes behaviour and family dynamics. Josh Robertson, investigative reporter who traced the decades-long path to the Bondi attack. They unpack video analysis, the disarming moment and the father and son relationship. They probe migration, secrecy, recruitment, ASIO inquiries and the clandestine preparations that led up to the attack.
Mar 5, 2026 • 2min
TRAILER — Introducing The Road to Bondi
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 stories haven’t yet been told. You might think you know the story, but there's so much more to tell. In a new three-part series, Background Briefing investigates how the road to Bondi began long before the first shots rang out.
Feb 20, 2026 • 39min
06 Hometown Boys | Not the only one
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 town’s club culture. When the convicted men were freed, Balmoral threw them a hero’s welcome; after everything, what was actually learned?
Feb 13, 2026 • 31min
05 Hometown Boys | 'Luke, Maybe'
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 again — now for the defence.
Feb 5, 2026 • 27min
04 Hometown Boys | The Trial
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.
Jan 26, 2026 • 32min
03 Hometown Boys | The 'Mayoress of Balmoral'
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.
Jan 16, 2026 • 33min
02 Hometown Boys | In the caravan
A 21st birthday party becomes a crime scene, but some locals carry on like nothing’s happened.
Jan 16, 2026 • 30min
01 Hometown Boys | Welcome to Balmoral
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 fastest way in is the football club. It’s where friendships are forged and status is earned.
