Australian Story

Australian Story aired an episode on 13 January 2006 entitled 'The Road to Kerobokan'.[18] It detailed the story of Scott Rush, a 20-year-old Australian male who was on trial in Bali, Indonesia for his part in a heroin smuggling attempt.[18] The episode aired only hours after Rush received a life sentence.[18] Producers Helen Grasswill and Ruth Dexter chose not to disclose Rush's previous criminal misdemeanours in the episode per legal advice.[18] This was because such information could damage Rush's appeal process.[18] The episode still acknowledged that Rush had previous misdemeanours but did not detail them.[18] The following morning on 14 February, the day after the Australian Story episode aired, the Queensland Courier-Mail published a front-page story with the headline 'Mule had history of crime'.[18][22] This article exposed in more detail Rush's prior drug offences.[22] In response, an episode of ABC's program Media Watch exposed that a negative sentiment was shared among many Australian Story viewers because the program had chosen not to disclose such information.[18][22] As reported by Media Watch, Paul Toohey of Australian Magazine The Bulletin said 'whatever that Australian Story was, it was not journalism'.[22] Such backlash has contributed to the idea that Australian Story is too soft on its subjects.[1]

In 2010, Australian Story aired a two-part profile entitled "Something in the Water", broadcast on 15 and 22 February.[2] The profile was on Alison Bleaney, a doctor and member of local council in the Tasmanian town of St Helens.[2] Bleaney raised concerns about links between forest industry practices and the supposed presence of toxins in Tasmanian waterways.[2] The episodes aired during the Tasmanian State election campaign, and garnered political attention.[2] Accusations arose after the episodes aired, that they had been deliberately broadcast during the 2010 Tasmanian State Election campaign, in order to influence the result.[2] Deborah Fleming who was Australian Story’s executive producer at the time responded to such criticism by saying that the program had sought only to report concerns rather than facts.[2] Although past public surveys have revealed that Australians rely on the ABC News and Current Affairs Department as a source of trustworthy political information.[2] It is expected that when this department gives an issue in-depth attention, it will become legitimated and treated as a current affair rather than solely a human interest story.[2] Because of this, "Something in the Water" came under scrutiny with critics arguing it should have been more scientifically credible.[2]

In 2002, Australian Story aired a profile on the former Australian Governor-General and Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane Dr Peter Hollingworth.[1][8] The episode was entitled "The Gilded Cage".[23] This was a notable episode because Australian Story had the exclusive interview with Hollingworth after a major school sex abuse scandal he had inadvertently played a part in.[1] Whilst Hollingworth was Archbishop there were two serial pedophiles active in three Brisbane Anglican schools and the way he handled the situation was widely deemed across Australia as inappropriate.[24] In "The Gilded Cage" Hollingworth implied that a 14-year-old girl was the one to initiate the sexual relationship she had with a Priest.[25] These comments were met with controversy from the Australian public and he eventually resigned from his position as Governor-General over the matter.[1][25] The candid and confessional nature of the interview served Australian Story's reputation as being a provider of real and personal stories.[1]

"Murder He Wrote" is a notable Australian Story profile as it was the program's first ever two-part profile, spanning over two episodes.[5] Prior to this profile Australian Story had never dedicated more than one episode to a story.[18] The episodes were broadcast respectively on 29 July 2002 and 5 August 2002.[5] They detailed the story of John Button, a man from Western Australia who was wrongfully convicted of murder.[5] Button had been convicted of killing his girlfriend Rosemary Anderson, but the case was reopened when he appealed the conviction and attributed her death to the very high-profile serial killer Eric Edgar Cooke.[5] Producer of these episodes, Wendy Page, had researched the case for 6 years before pursuing the story.[18] Herself and Ian Harley won the Walkley Award for 'Current Affairs, Feature, Documentary more than 10 minutes' with this profile.[18] Australian Story interviewed members of the Button, Anderson and Cooke families throughout the appeal process.[5] The profile concluded with Button's exoneration, his case was one of the longest-standing convictions to be overturned in Australia's legal history.[18]

Australian Story made "Into the Forest" after additional human bones had been found within Belanglo State Forest in 2004. This was where Milat buried his victims in the 1990s.[26]

In 2004 on 1 November, Australian Story aired the first episode of a two-part profile entitled "Into the Forest".[27] This two-part profile explores the crimes of infamous Australian serial killer Ivan Milat.[27] In Part 1, Australian Story spoke to Milat's younger brothers Bill and Richard, older brother Boris and sister-in-law Caroline as well as Clive Small who was the NSW Police Superintendent whilst Milat's case was open.[26] According to Screen Australia this episode was the number 1 top rated Australian documentary on television in 2004.[28] Producers Ben Cheshire and John Stewart won the TV Week Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Public Affairs Programme' for this profile.[18]

"Beyond Reasonable Doubt" was Australian Story’s first ever three-part profile with three episodes broadcast in 2006 on 17 July 24 and 31 July.[5] The case generated heated public debate and was of great interest to The Australian public at the time.[5] It followed three men, Fazzari, Pereiras and Martinez who had been convicted for the murder of Phillip Walsham in 1998.[5] The episodes focus heavily on Mirella Scaramella, the girlfriend of Fazzari and her efforts to fight the verdict.[5] A year following this Australian Story profile, the three men were exonerated by the Western Australia Court of Appeal.[5]

For the episode "Unbreakable" Australian Story spoke exclusively to Prince Harry ahead of his appearance at the 2018 Sydney Invictus Games[29]

The Australian Story special entitled "Unbreakable" detailed the experience of competitor Garry Robinson who managed to survive a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2010 and went on the compete in the Invictus Games.[30] The episode is notable because it attracted a complete audience of 2 million people.[17] Most episodes generally garner an audience of 1 million people.[2] "Unbreakable" aired on Monday 15 October 2018[30]. Australian Story spoke exclusively to Prince Harry throughout this episode, as he is the founder of the Invictus Games.[30] He was interviewed from inside Kensington Palace.[30]

In April 2014, Australian Story broadcast a two-part profile on Australian media mogul Kerry Packer.[31] The profile detailed the life of Kerry Packer who had died in 2005 after a long and highly influential career.[31] Part two of this profile garnered the highest average audience for 2013–14, with 1.6 million viewers.[12] The profile was of great interest to Australians as it included interviews with particularly powerful men such as John Howard, Malcolm Turnbull and Richard Walsh.[31] The profile also included an interview with Jodhi Meares, Packer's former daughter-in-law, who had never before spoken out about her experience being a part of the Packer family.[31]