
Trace
Multi-award-winning Australian true crime. Trace examines the fractures in Australia's criminal justice system, and the decades-long ripples they've caused. An investigative podcast hosted by Rachael Brown.
ABC Australia
Show overview
Trace has been publishing since 2017, and across the 7 years since has built a catalogue of 23 episodes, alongside 2 trailers or bonus episodes. That works out to roughly 10 hours of audio in total. Releases follow an irregular cadence, with the show now in its 2nd season.
Episodes typically run thirty-five to sixty minutes — most land between 26 min and 40 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language True Crime show.
The catalogue appears to be on hiatus or wound down — the most recent episode landed 1.9 years ago, with no new episodes in over a year. The busiest year was 2020, with 10 episodes published. Published by ABC Australia.
From the publisher
Multi-award-winning Australian true crime. Trace examines the fractures in Australia's criminal justice system, and the decades-long ripples they've caused. An investigative podcast hosted by Rachael Brown.
Latest Episodes
View all 23 episodes
S1 Ep 11S1 BONUS | A million-dollar reward
Victoria Police is set to announce a one million dollar reward for information that finally solves the case of Maria James, who was murdered in the back of her bookshop 44 years ago. And for the first time in seven years of investigating this case, police grant an interview to Rachael Brown.

S1 Ep 10S1 Bonus | Maria James inquest finding
A Victorian Coroner has failed to name a killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James. Her sons are devastated. But there's still hope, in leads yet to be chased by police.
S1 Ep 9S1 Bonus | The Inquest
The new coronial inquest into the murder of Maria James has wrapped up. Will the Coroner be able to name her killer? And of the police exhibits that haven't disappeared, what DNA testing can be done? This episode nears us closer to the end of the James brothers' 41-year-fight for answers for their mum.
S1 Ep 8S1 Bonus | Breakthrough in Maria James cold case
The discovery of a police exhibit - thought to be missing for around three decades - could finally help unmask the killer in the 1980 cold case of Maria James.

S2 Ep 9S2 BONUS — The Price
The Royal Commission has released its final report into defence lawyer turned police informer Nicola Gobbo.

S2 Ep 8S2 08 | End game
We reveal the story of Nicola Gobbo's audacious bid to return to Australia.
S2 Ep 7S2 07 | Reckoning
Everything unravels, for Nicola Gobbo and Victoria Police. Their secret is out.

S2 Ep 6S2 06 | Whatever it takes
Nicola hits rock bottom, but Victoria Police wants her to take on a new role ... as a witness.

S2 Ep 5S2 05 | Glittering prize
Nicola wants to be the best source ever, and she leads police to the biggest target of all: the mafia. Her double life is getting riskier, but she can't stop. This episode charts an addiction and a crash.

S2 Ep 4S2 04 | Rubicon
Nicola crosses the point of no return and becomes a police informer. She'll represent clients, while passing on the underworld's secrets to Victoria Police.

S2 Ep 3S2 03 | The darkest night
A drug house burglary smells of police corruption and a police informer is executed.

S2 Ep 2S2 02 | One of the crew
As the gangland war explodes, both police and criminals start questioning Nicola's allegiances. Where do her loyalties lie?

S2 Ep 1S2 01 | Nicola
We meet Nicola Gobbo in a secret location, in hiding, now that her double life as a police informer is out, and she begins telling us her full story.

INTRODUCING Trace season 2 - The Informer
trailerLawyer Nicola Gobbo represented some of Australia's most dangerous criminals, all the while secretly working as a police informer. Why did she do it, and how was it allowed to happen?When her cover was blown, the story garnered media interest from around the world. In Victoria's justice system, all hell broke loose.Questions started to be asked about whether her clients received a fair trial. One man has walked free from jail, and more appeals are pending.Did Victoria Police - the organisation entrusted to uphold the law - end up undermining it, in a desperate bid to put criminals behind bars?Whose side was Nicola Gobbo on? Did she break the rules by giving up the secrets of her clients?The only media interview she's done since going into hiding is with Rachael Brown.Join Rachael and her co-reporter Josie Taylor for the second season of Trace. They'll explore the extraordinary story behind why Nicola Gobbo became an informer, exposing the secrets of criminals and the police along the way.Multi-award-winning Australian true crime. Trace examines the fractures in Australia's criminal justice system, and the decades-long ripples they've caused. An investigative podcast hosted by Rachael Brown.

S1 Ep 7S1 07 | Hope
More than a year on from their plea for a new coronial inquest, the James brothers get a decision.Will they finally get answers to the burning questions they've carried for 38 years about the murder of their mother?And what about those items Trace has been given that might have DNA on them?Can they identify the killer?We take them to one of the world's best DNA labs, with some of the most sensitive equipment, to find out.

S1 Ep 6S1 06 | Limbo
New evidence has been found. So can police test it for a trace of the killer? What happened to crucial documents? And a new confession.It is nearly a year since the James brothers applied for a new coronial inquest into their mum's murder, but the case hangs in legal limbo.

S1 Ep 5S1 05 | Wait
The fall-out from major revelations in the Maria James cold-case continue, as her sons make a desperate plea to the Coroner.

S1 Ep 4S1 04 | DNA
There's a major break in the case, as Trace uncovers a police bungle in the murder of Maria James. But it only serves to throw up more questions than answers, as the James brothers continue their desperate search for justice.

S1 Ep 3S1 03 | Sins
A second person of interest emerges within the church. Rachael Brown investigates their past and discovers a dark and disturbing history.

BONUS | How your leads are helping the investigation
Since Trace was first released, the ABC has received over 50 emails from the community with leads and tip offs. In this bonus update, reporter Rachael Brown follows up with two women who got in touch to say they saw men acting suspiciously around Maria's bookshop at the time of her murder. Send us your tips: [email protected]