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
May 9, 2025 • 42min
03 Agents of Influence | The man whose name is all over Sydney
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.
May 2, 2025 • 42min
02 Agents of Influence | The Billionaire's New Sport
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?
10 snips
Apr 17, 2025 • 36min
01 Agents of Influence | The PM's secret strategists
Tynan King, a savvy reporter, dives into the world of online content creators and their surprising influence on Australian politics. She reveals how millennial influencers are shifting political engagement from traditional media to social platforms, resonating with younger voters. King highlights strategic moves in political campaigns, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and undisclosed relationships between politicians and content creators. Additionally, she examines ethical concerns surrounding media companies and their role in shaping political narratives.
Apr 16, 2025 • 37sec
Introducing... Agents of Influence
They're not household names. But they wield serious power under the radar.
Apr 11, 2025 • 22min
Long Read | How deepfakes, nudes and teen misogyny have changed growing up
This week, Bri Lee investigates tech-assisted gendered abuse by schoolboys against their peers and teachers.
Apr 4, 2025 • 21min
Long Read | The church’s disappearing women
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.
Mar 13, 2025 • 41min
05 The Invisible Killer | Did police miss a murder?
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 someone else had also been killed?
Mar 4, 2025 • 35min
04 The Invisible Killer | Under the bed
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.
Feb 21, 2025 • 42min
03 The Invisible Killer | Reasonable Doubt
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 for the insulin injections?
Feb 14, 2025 • 35min
02 The Invisible Killer | 'Who did this?'
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 more deaths occur?
