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Program: 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. 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.

Airs Sunday at 9am Repeated: Sunday 11pm and Tuesday 2pm

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.

Episodes

Sorted by latest

02 The Road to Bondi | A Test of Character

This man fled Iran after being imprisoned and tortured for protesting the regime. Known only as AB, he came to Australia hoping to start again — and, in many ways, he did. He found love and started a family.

Published: FriFri 20 Mar 2026 at 5:30am

Duration: 32 minutes 30 seconds

01 The Road to Bondi | Father and Son

You think you know the story. You know how it ended. But you don’t know how it began. In the first episode of The Road to Bondi, reporter Josh Robertson traces the decades-long path that led a father and son to carry out their plan.

Published: 13 Mar 2026Fri 13 Mar 2026 at 6:00am

Duration: 42 minutes 21 seconds

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.

Published: 5 Mar 2026Thu 5 Mar 2026 at 1:00pm

Duration: 1 minute 42 seconds

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.

Published: 20 Feb 2026Fri 20 Feb 2026 at 6:00am

Duration: 38 minutes 40 seconds

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.

Published: 13 Feb 2026Fri 13 Feb 2026 at 4:00am

Duration: 30 minutes 30 seconds

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.

Published: 5 Feb 2026Thu 5 Feb 2026 at 5:00am

Duration: 27 minutes

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.

Published: 26 Jan 2026Mon 26 Jan 2026 at 1:00pm

Duration: 31 minutes 32 seconds

02 Hometown Boys | In the caravan

A 21st birthday party becomes a crime scene, but some locals carry on like nothing’s happened.

Published: 16 Jan 2026Fri 16 Jan 2026 at 6:05pm

Hometown Boys. A white and teal campervan parked on a grassy field

Duration: 32 minutes 36 seconds

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.

Published: 16 Jan 2026Fri 16 Jan 2026 at 6:00pmwith Andy Burns and Charlotte King

Duration: 30 minutes 10 seconds

TRAILER — Introducing Hometown Boys

When a young woman accuses a talented local footballer and his friend of rape, the town reveals where its true loyalties lie. The beating heart of Balmoral, a tiny Victorian town in Australia, is the football club.

Published: 9 Jan 2026Fri 9 Jan 2026 at 1:00pm

Duration: 2 minutes 15 seconds

Features

He risked his life at Bondi. But this Iranian refugee failed our character test

AB ran into danger during Bondi's terrorist attacks to save lives. Four months on, he faces deportation after failing Australia's refugee character test. His family is urging the Albanese government to reconsider.

A father can be seen from behind, carrying his two young children in suburban Australia. One child points towards the distance.

Published: ThuThu 19 Mar 2026 at 6:43amby Josh Robertson

When a young woman is raped by two friends, her small town turns against her

A local footy star and his mate are convicted of raping their friend. In the tiny town of Balmoral, where the footy club reigns, the town makes it clear whose story they believe.

The walls of the Western Hotel in Balmoral is lined with photos from local football teams dating back centuries.

Published: 22 Feb 2026Sun 22 Feb 2026 at 10:59pmby Charlotte King, Andy Burns, Danielle Bonica and Loretta Florance

Have you got a story about culture at a country footy club?

Do you have a story about the culture at a footy netball club in your community? ABC Regional Investigations wants to hear from you.

The back of a young boy wearing a blue jacket sitting on the edge of a green football oval players can be seen in the background

Published: 20 Feb 2026Fri 20 Feb 2026 at 6:47pmby Charlotte King and Andy Burns

More SPF50 zinc sunscreens under the spotlight after preliminary testing shows lower protection

It's been almost two years since Craig Jones first ran preliminary tests on his zinc sunscreen. When he discovered it wasn't providing the SPF it was supposed to he threw it out and set out on a quest to find out why.

A graphic showing 31 bottles of sunscreen against an orange tile background.

Published: 8 Dec 2025Mon 8 Dec 2025 at 8:06amby Loretta Florance, Rachel Carbonell and Ninah Kopel Ninah Kopel

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