Background Briefing

Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.

In part two of the investigation into the deaths of Ray and Jennie Kehlet, reporters Rebecca Trigger and Ash Davis examine the story of the last man to see the couple alive.And they speak to a police insider who raised concerns about the direction of the investigation back in 2015.

Two campers go missing while prospecting for gold in the Western Australian outback.

Australia's migrant workers can wait for years to find out whether they can stay here, and while they do they can become targets for opportunistic operators offering a short cut.

As a teenager, Remy learnt to survive by hustling on the streets of Parramatta.

The consumer genetic testing industry has become big business.

In a nursing home lives an elderly man who is being held against his will.

Reporters Geoff Thompson and Annika Blau investigate how Australia became the first country to give scripts for trips.

In the second and final episode of Dead Man's Secrets, reporter Josh Robertson investigates the grisly murder of the powerful Papuan executive who negotiated one of Australia’s biggest foreign assistance packages.

A shocking murder takes place in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

When two infants die after being left inside a hot car, their family seek answers to how this could have happened.

Queensland authorities failed to heed multiple serious warnings that a young pair of sisters were in danger, before it was too late.

Kate thought she'd finally found a psychiatrist who cared about her.

Massoud was heading to a protest outside Tehran's embassy in Canberra when a phone call confirmed his worst fears had come true.

Protesters say they're being ordered to read false confessions and their activities are under surveillance.

It's one of the most effective forms of contraception available.

There's a violent territorial dispute between rival gangs in Sydney’s west.

Charles Batham has been in hiding for years, and after two narrow escapes the trail goes cold. Then, reporter Erin Parke gets a tip-off that that brings the global investigation back from the brink – but will the truth ever come out about Batham’s dark past?

A tall, eccentric Englishman with a secret double life flees Australia. For nine years he remains on the run. What he doesn't know is that two Australian women are tracking his movements from afar. Reporter Erin Parke was one of them.

When Jordan wanted to treat his insomnia, he turned to an experimental therapy: medicinal cannabis.

Precious artefacts looted from Cambodia and Thailand made their way into prominent collections here in Australia, and around the world.In the second and final episode of his investigation, Mario Christodoulou investigates why it’s taking so long for these precious works to be returned to their rightful home.

Many ancient Cambodian artifacts arrived in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s, when the south east Asian country was in turmoil.Mario Christodoulou investigates how some had come from looted historic sites or passed through the hands of suspected smugglers, and now feature in major galleries around the world.

Did you know that some of Australia’s largest public hospitals are run according to a religious code of ethics?

There’s new mind-bending technology that creates immersive media from scratch.

Five years ago, a confronting video of a violent police encounter shocked the Byron Bay community.

In one dark Byron Bay back alley, a series of baton strikes changes a teenager's life.

Protesters say they're being ordered to read false confessions and their activities are under surveillance.

It's one of the most effective forms of contraception available.

AFL superstars like Cyril Rioli and Michael Long forged their talents there.

Note: this episode was originally broadcast in July 2021 and it contains explicit language and confronting themes.

When Jordan wanted to treat his insomnia, he turned to an experimental therapy: medicinal cannabis.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following program contains references to a deceased Indigenous Australian.

From piles of rubbish to leaking sewers, rats, and gas leaks.

There's a violent territorial dispute between rival gangs in Sydney’s west.

When protesters disrupted one of Australia’s largest container facilities, the NSW Government responded with new broad-sweeping laws that carried 2 year jail terms.

The mysterious discovery of the Alsehli sisters, who were found dead in a Sydney flat after more than a month, has shocked Australians.But who are they? What were they doing here? And most chillingly - why are they dead?Reporters Rachael Brown and Mahmood Fazal investigate.Please note this story contains disturbing themes including discussions of suicide.Listen for free on your mobile device on the ABC listen app, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favourite podcast app.

A special investigation by Rachael Brown and Mahmood Fazal into the shocking deaths of two women in Sydney's inner west.

When the pandemic pushed university assessments out of the exam room and into the bedroom, many Australian students turned to powerful new allies to help them get good grades.Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates.

There's a big nature tourism project about to take off in New South Wales, but many locals aren't all that happy about it.Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates why.

Victoria is marketed as an exciting culinary destination. But organic farmers say they're facing draconian rules that prevent consumers from accessing the ethical food they want.Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates.

Worried about racial inequities in the health system, First Nations women are fighting for culturally safe birth options. But as Quandamooka woman Carly Williams finds out, not everyone in the mainstream healthcare service is on board.

Being one of Australia’s cutest animals hasn’t prevented its slide towards extinction. Reporter Rachael Brown investigates what is being done to try to curb the koala's declining population.

Thousands of Australians are finding they still feel ill several months after contracting coronavirus.They're experiencing a new and little understood condition called long COVID.As Geoff Thompson discovered, the demand for medical treatment is now overwhelming.

Precious artefacts looted from Cambodia and Thailand made their way into prominent collections here in Australia, and around the world.In the second and final episode of his investigation, Mario Christodoulou investigates why it’s taking so long for these precious works to be returned to their rightful home.

Many ancient Cambodian artefacts arrived in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s, when the south east Asian country was in turmoil.Mario Christodoulou investigates how some had come from looted historic sites or passed through the hands of suspected smugglers, and now feature in major galleries around the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged schools across the country like never before, but it's also shone a light on existing issues within the profession such as a chronic shortage of specialised teachers and growing workload stress. Reporter Mayeta Clark follows teachers in public schools in NSW as they struggle to cover classes and keep their students engaged.

Many states have repealed tough laws that put sex workers at risk of prosecution.But so far, Queensland hasn't followed suit.Now, the state government is looking at introducing new safeguards to protect those in the industry.Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates.

IVF has grown into a huge industry, with companies competing to provide fertility services.But in the quest to innovate and gain an edge, one Australian company may have taken things too far.Now hundreds of those who used a controversial new genetic test are taking legal actionReporter Rachael Brown investigates.

Reporter Geoff Thompson followed several residents of Lismore as they tried to recover from February's monster flood in Northern NSW. But before they'd finished the clean-up, the waters started to rise again.

An almost unimaginable crime: two women accused of poisoning their own children at the same Sydney hospital.Both were charged and spent years separated from their families, but both say they were falsely accused.Reporter Hannah Ryan investigates whether the system has failed these families.