Shows / Background Briefing
Background Briefing
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…
Episodes
Background BriefingPredatory publishers criticised for 'unethical, unprincipled' tactics
Junk science journals. Who knew? Increasing numbers of academics are being lured by 'predatory publishers' with flattery and incredible promises. Hagar Cohen…
Background BriefingShenhua's mine: is it worth the risk?
The huge Chinese owned Shenhua coal mine on the Liverpool Plains has unified farmers and environmentalists in opposition to it. The government says if the…
Background BriefingWhat's sacred now?
How does a sacred site get knocked off the heritage list? Reporter Sarah Dingle investigates how ancient rock carvings on the Burrup Peninsula in WA and…
Background BriefingOdds on you lose
Young men have taken to sports betting apps like ducks to water, and this addictive and easy way of betting is fuelling a whole new group of problem gamblers…
Background BriefingThe big disconnect
An over-investment in poles and wires means that ‘network charges’ on Australian electricity bills are among the highest in the world. But by charging these…
Background BriefingThe donor detectives
Their identities were meant to be kept secret, but now $100 DNA tests are allowing donor conceived people to track down their donor dads and half siblings…
Background BriefingA city like Logan
Sandwiched between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Logan is trying to come terms with savage federal budget cuts to vital community services, which has left this…
Background BriefingAnti-Muslim extremists: how far will they go?
Even before the Paris terrorist attacks, far-right groups in Europe were capitalising on anti-Muslim sentiment. In Australia there's been a surge in support…
Background BriefingBig trans fat
They're the worst of the food fats, increasing the risk of heart disease and strokes. Around the western world they are banned and tightly controlled, but not…
- Background Briefing
The big disconnect
An over-investment in poles and wires means that ‘network charges’ on Australian electricity bills are among the highest in the world. But by charging these…
Background BriefingTurnbull's faster, cheaper NBN
When Malcolm Turnbull dumped Labor's fibre optic NBN, he pledged it would be replaced with a faster, cheaper broadband network. But the project is already…
Background BriefingCold comfort: is the fertility industry misleading women?
Freezing your eggs is a hot topic for women in their thirties, and more of them are doing it. But is the IVF industry giving women false hope about their real…
Background BriefingInside the Matildas' strike
The Matildas are our most successful football team ever and they're also the first national team to go on strike. Sarah Dingle investigates why the women…
Background BriefingInto the arms of terrorism
After a 15-year-old schoolboy shot dead a police accountant at Parramatta police centre in Sydney last week, there's greater demand for answers as to why some…
Background BriefingThe sand mining mayor who loves a deal
A divisive, sand mining mayor has clashed with locals over an unusual sand mine tender. Ann Arnold heads to the Port Stephens region, north of Newcastle, where…
Background BriefingThe welfare-to-work trap
Thousands of single parent families have been pushed into poverty after having their payments reduced under the welfare-to-work policies of successive…
Background Briefing'Paperless arrests'
Police in Darwin have jailed nearly 1,000 Aboriginal people under new public order laws that allow detention without an arrest warrant. Following a black death…
Background BriefingThe vanity presses
Hundreds of Australian authors pay thousands of dollars to 'vanity publishers', often based on unfulfilled promises that their books will be widely promoted…
Background BriefingWA's stolen wages shame
Up until the 1970s, generations of Aboriginal workers in WA had their wages systematically stolen over decades, and only a small minority received…
Background BriefingRivers of red threaten the future of the reef
It's going to take the reinvention of 10,000 farms to improve water quality and repair the Great Barrier Reef, and there's new evidence that sediment from…
Background BriefingThe possum or the timber industry
Victoria's state emblem, the Leadbeater's possum, is one of the most critically endangered animals in Australia. Fire and logging have decimated its habitat…
- Background Briefing
Odds on you lose
The explosion of online and mobile sports betting is producing a new cohort of problem gamblers, largely younger men who are being given inducements, free…
- Background Briefing
Shenhua's mine: is it worth the risk?
The federal government says a huge Chinese coal mine it has approved on prime NSW farmland can be stopped at any time if it damages the underground water…
- Background Briefing
Predatory publishers criticised for 'unethical, unprincipled' tactics
They create copycat 'science journals', exploit academic authors and publish junk 'peer reviewed' science. Hagar Cohen investigates one of the biggest of the…
Background BriefingISDS: The devil in the trade deal
ISDS, a provision in trade agreements that allows foreign investors to sue host governments, has become a ticking time bomb inside trade agreements like the…
Background BriefingA burning question
Burning native timber for renewable energy could prop up an ailing native forest industry but the forests could earn millions in carbon credits if they’re not…
Background BriefingTicket to hide
While Italy and Greece struggle with waves of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, further north many are trying to make it to the UK. Jane Deith follows their…
Background BriefingFair game
Gambling techniques are permeating free online and mobile app games. Social casino games that mimic real slot machines are among the most popular, with no…
Background BriefingStuck in God's waiting room
More than 7,000 disabled Australians under 65 languish in nursing homes because of a lack of proper housing, leaving them isolated from loved ones and…
- Background Briefing
What's sacred now?
Ancient rock carvings on the Burrup Peninsula are among more than 1,000 sites the WA government removed or blocked from its Aboriginal heritage register in the…
Background BriefingIn the child's best interests
In a number of Family Court cases, where claims of child sexual abuse have been made against a father, the court has switched care from the mother to the…
Background BriefingOn thin ice
The government has declared an ice epidemic, but users who want to go to rehab face long waiting lists unless they can afford costly private treatments…
Background BriefingAfter the boom
The height of the coal boom has passed and Background Briefing returns to the Queensland mining town of Moranbah to find local job losses, collapsed house…
Background BriefingIslamic State: the social media war
As governments step up efforts to counter IS propaganda, Dominic Casciani travels to Canada and Jordan to find out how the online threat is being met there. He…
Background BriefingEducating Jake and Cooper
Many children are being let down by the education system as the rise in autism and behavioural disorders strains the resources of mainstream and special…
Background BriefingField of tainted dreams
Homophobia is rife in Australian sport. Whether playing at the local park or representing their country, gay and lesbian athletes routinely hide their…
Background BriefingA cycle of violence
A man bashing a woman is the domestic violence stereotype, but just as typical is the man who uses other forms of abuse to exert control over his partner. Jess…
Background BriefingHave I got a hearing aid for you!
The financial links between audiologists and hearing aid manufacturers are so common in Australia, there’s a good chance the audiologist testing your hearing…
Background BriefingLiving in the bite zone
The huge jump in Ross River virus cases in Queensland and NSW is a sign of things to come, as climate change extends the mosquito breeding season and new…
Background BriefingWhen a surgeon is not a surgeon
Surgical work done every day in cosmetic and skin cancer clinics does not require specialist training and the victims of poor surgery are left with little…
Background BriefingThe trouble with quad bikes
They’re called the farmer’s friend, but research indicates that 15-20 people are killed and more than 1,000 are seriously injured each year in quad bike…
Background BriefingDe-radicalisation and the ‘authentic voices’ of reason
How do you turn people away from joining extremist groups like Islamic State? In the second of a two-part special investigation Sarah Dingle reveals the…
Background BriefingRadicalisation and the 'sweet talkers' for IS
What makes young men and women from the suburbs of Australia decide to go and fight for Islamic State? In the first of a two-part special investigation Sarah…
Background BriefingCruising's dirty secret
Cruise liners berthed near homes on Sydney harbour are burning a carcinogenic fuel banned in US and European ports. Residents say they’re getting sick but the…
Background BriefingLeft in harm's way
The prime minister has called for an urgent national approach to tackle domestic and family violence and yet crucial services for victims are being cut. The…
Background BriefingTurf war at the fire front
The NSW Rural Fire Service is the biggest volunteer fire-fighting force in the world and enjoys hero status in the community but the RFS is facing serious…
Background BriefingCaught in the stigma trap: the cost of mental illness in the workplace
As part of a Background Briefing series on mental illness in the work place, Di Martin spoke to Justice Shane Marshall of the Federal Court. In an Australian…
Background BriefingDoctors in distress
The sudden deaths of four young doctors have raised serious concerns about the mental health of medicos working in an overloaded health system. And many…
Background BriefingThe brutality and bureaucracy of Islamic State
While Western countries urge their Muslim citizens to embrace the secular values despised by Islamic extremists, the self-declared Islamic State is using…
Background BriefingHome ownership dreaming
As of 1 January 2015 residents of Indigenous towns in Queensland have the option to buy their homes and convert communal land to freehold. Many want ‘the great…
Background BriefingFeral cats rewrite the Australian story
Twenty million feral cats are behind a deadly second wave of extinctions in Australia. Can they be stopped or will they finish off what 230 years of settlement…
Background BriefingThe Salvos: a matter of trust
As it embarked on its annual fundraising weekend, one of our oldest charities faced claims of child sexual abuse. The Salvo's had at least one known paedophile…
Background BriefingDeath in the line of duty
Traumatised police are shunned, isolated and put under secret surveillance. They lose their careers, friendships and often their homes, marriages and children…
Background BriefingThe concussion games
With growing evidence that concussion is linked to long term brain injuries, collision sports are on notice. But the AFL's concussion experts have attacked the…
Background BriefingClive's Territory tilt
Away from the Canberra spotlight the Palmer United Party made an audacious play for power in the NT, shaking up the status quo and a lot more. Ann Arnold…
Background BriefingThe secret life of Monika Chetty
Monika Chetty died from severe chemical burns three weeks after she was found in bushland. The identity of her attacker is not yet known, and the police are…
Background BriefingAsbestos: The Mr Fluffy fiasco
Forty years ago highly dangerous asbestos insulation fluff was pumped into Canberra and NSW homes by a contractor known as 'Mr Fluffy'. In Canberra houses are…
Background BriefingThe childhood obesity time bomb
Obesity is now the leading cause of premature death and disease and doctors are commonly seeing obesity-related illnesses in children that they didn’t see 20…
- Background Briefing
Have I got a hearing aid for you!
If you have a hearing test in Australia there’s a good chance your audiologist is on a bonus to sell you a hearing aid. So why has a practice that’s not…
Background BriefingDear world, please help save us from Ebola
Ebola had crippled three African nations before the world woke up when it reached the US and Europe. Wendy Carlisle charts the rapid spread of the virus and…