Background Briefing
Episodes
A far-right troll's journey from an Ipswich bedroom to global infamy
24 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children onl...
Myanmar: The Spring Revolution
17 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In Myanmar, after a military coup in February this year, mass protests were met with brutal force. Borders were shut, the internet was blocked and it...
Unmasking Monsters
10 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bob Montgomery was one of Australia's most famous psychologists.But he was hiding a dark secret.Josh Robertson has the story of how he got away with ...
Her name was Mhelody Bruno
03 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
She died in tragic circumstances, but it seems that the public, her family, even the court may not have been given the full story.Elise Kinsella inve...
The death Uber Eats disowned
26 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Relatives of a dead food delivery rider say he was at work when a truck hit him. Uber Eats says he wasn’t. Patrick Begley investigates
The death Uber Eats disowned
26 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Relatives of a dead food delivery rider say he was at work when a truck hit him. Uber Eats says he wasn’t. Patrick Begley investigates
The killer we've invited into the lounge room
19 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When winter arrives there's nothing like curling up in front of a fire heater with a glass of wine. But there's something disturbing in this cosy pic...
How Australians are escaping India's Covid catastrophe
12 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of Australians went to India back when it seemed like coronavirus was under control. Some went to care for elderly parents. But, as Alex Ma...
The rural stoush fuelled by our chicken meat obsession
05 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As Australians eat more and more chicken, we need to find places to raise the animals. But as broiler sheds pop up across rural Victoria, the neighbo...
The memo that erased a scandal
24 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ballarat orphanage superintendent Hylton Sedgman was due to face nine child abuse charges. Buried in a 1964 file is the reason he never stood trial. ...
The Archbishop, the luxury pad, and the COVID-ravaged aged care home
17 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It was the site of Australia's deadliest coronavirus outbreak. This week, Ashlynne McGhee investigates how Melbourne's St Basil's Homes for the Aged ...
The hidden park of last resort
10 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s one of the last affordable caravan parks near Sydney's CBD where people can actually make a home.Many of the residents were driven here in one...
The Base Tapes | Part 2
03 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the second and final episode of his investigation, Alex Mann tracks down the two youngest candidates who applied to join the neo-Nazi group and tr...
The Base Tapes | Part 1
27 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Secret recordings reveal how a global white supremacist terror group dedicated to inciting a race war recruited young Australian men.Alex Mann invest...
The small town torn apart by big bets
13 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Peter and Kath were investors in a secret punters' club that turned out to be a multi-million dollar scam.When the kingpin pleaded guilty, there were...
The place where people mysteriously disappear
06 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Warren Meyer was a keen bushwalker who always came prepared for a hike. When he vanished in the wild terrain of the Yarra Ranges, police were baffled...
The chilling secrets of a Melbourne guru
27 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For decades people have flocked to a bucolic ashram in one of Melbourne’s most exclusive suburbs to hear Russell Kruckman spin his folksy brand of ...
A nearby nurse and the firefighter left to wait in agony
20 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Volunteer firefighter Rodney O'Keeffe survived a fire tornado, but it left him with broken ribs and severe burns.A mere 800 metres away, there was a ...
The fight to stop a tiny battery from killing kids
13 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Andrea and Allison formed an unlikely friendship after their daughters died in remarkably similar circumstances.Annie Gaffney investigates how they t...
The scientists and shamans of psychedelic retreats
06 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's a landmark project underway in Melbourne to find out whether psilocybin - the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms - can be used to imp...
Summer Season: how one school failed its students
02 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kimberly's sunny, athletic and inquisitive about everything. But for years she harboured terrible secrets about what happened to her. This week, Jani...
Summer Season: This judge’s unfair decisions upended people’s lives. What can be done about it?
26 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
These Australians were denied a fair hearing by one controversial judge. Now, for the first time, they're speaking out about their experiences.Hagar ...
Summer Season: He wanted an ambulance. He got a police "dog box".
19 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tristan was a kind and gentle 23-year-old surfer from Byron Bay.One night he suffered a drug-induced psychotic episode.And ended up driven to hospita...
Summer season: Inside the brazen tax scam where the homeless are made company directors
12 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's a long-running ‘dummy director’ scam that’s siphoned tens of millions of dollars from workers, small businesses and the taxpayer.In Victor...
Buyer Wanted - Mothballed Oil Rig
05 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know you're the lucky operator of a rusty oil rig floating in the Timor Sea? You, along with 25-odd-million others, that is. This week, repor...
The billion-dollar sports industry that can't keep up with the cheats
28 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's got audiences bigger than the Superbowl. Its star players earn more for a single tournament than the winner of the Australian Open. Mario Christ...
450 days trapped on a cargo ship
21 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ronbert has sailed into bustling ports all over the world. But he can't get home or even set foot on dry land. Geoff Thompson investigates how the cl...
How contact tracers confront lies on the COVID frontline
14 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
They helped stamp out coronavirus by relying on human intelligence.But as Rachael Brown discovered, there was a weakness in the system.Sometimes peop...
Introducing: Thin Black Line
07 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On a spring afternoon in Brisbane's Musgrave Park, 18-year-old traditional dancer and amateur boxer Daniel Yock is drinking with his mates. But when ...
The Ponzi scheme that preyed on faith
31 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bhavesh was in trouble. His wife had just suffered three heart attacks and he couldn't afford treatment.So he turned to trusted members of his spirit...
Welcome to Tent City, the underside of WA's coronavirus success story
24 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The thin walls of Neville Riley’s makeshift tent do little to block the constant sound of passing cars and trains. And if he was living in a differ...
A horrific playground incident: how one school failed its students
17 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kimberly's sunny, athletic and inquisitive about everything. But for years she harboured terrible secrets about what happened to her. This week, Jani...
Are these two scholars really a threat to Australia's security?
10 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One's a former translator for Bob Hawke, the other loves Henry Lawson's poetry. So when Professor Chen Hong and Li Jianjun got caught up in a police ...
How banks help criminals get rich: Part 2
03 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The FINCEN Files have revealed how Australian businesses are involved suspicious transactions worth billions of dollars.This week, Mario Christodoulo...
How banks help criminals get rich
26 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An unprecedented leak of secret US Government reports has revealed how two trillion dollars of suspected dirty money snakes around the globe. This we...
Assange's extradition: what's really at stake?
12 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Human rights advocates describe the pursuit of the Wikileaks founder as "a threat to global media freedom".But when a magistrate decides whether he'l...
Response from Falun Dafa Association of Australia
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this podcast extra, Hagar Cohen interviews John Deller from the Falun Dafa Association of Australia about the allegations raised in the series.
The Power of Falun Gong, Part 3
08 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fledgling media organisations affiliated with Falun Gong have formed strange alliances with far right movements overseas.But what about here in Austr...
The Power of Falun Gong, Part 2
01 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Secluded in dense forest, two hours north of New York City, there's a hidden headquarters for a new religious order.This otherworldly place is called...
The Power of Falun Gong, Part 1
25 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When you think of Falun Gong – you might think of quiet groups meditating or silently protesting in city parks. But a joint investigation by Backgr...
No one told these country mums why their babies died
18 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Claire doesn't know if her daughter's death could have been prevented - and she's not alone. Today, babies are more likely to be stillborn in Austral...
Meet the debt monster
11 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In little over two months' time, the support payments keeping millions of Australians afloat through the pandemic are due to end.Banks' deferrals on ...
Why was this woman sent to a men's prison?
04 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As she entered one of Australia's largest male prisons, Mara Ellis was strip-searched by four prison guards: two men and two women.She says it was th...
The rallying cry heard the world over
27 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Could Australia's Black Lives Matter movement bring about real world change? Jared Goyette, Bridget Brennan and Allan Clarke trace how the brutal dea...
Who seeks to profit from the trauma of abuse survivors?
20 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Uncle Justin has waited a long time for an acknowledgement that he has survived institutional child sexual abuse.When the National Redress Scheme was...
Why Australia's spies think the far right could find a foothold during coronavirus
13 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Since Australia's coronavirus shutdown began, there's been a spike in reports of racist attacks, where people are targeted because they just happen t...
The controversial push to rebrand raw milk
06 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Advocates of raw milk say its safe for people to drink the stuff, so long as dairies take proper precautions.But Australian health authorities are wa...
How were the kids in this town contaminated?
30 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For children in Port Pirie there is no 10 second rule. When you grow up in a “lead town” eating off the floor is forbidden, and could be harmful ...
Having a baby alone: How the pandemic has changed how we give birth
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pregnancies and births around the world have been radically changed by the spread of COVID-19. Background Briefing reporter Katherine Gregory is 39 w...