Background Briefing - ABC RN

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 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.

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Many states have repealed tough laws that put sex workers at risk of prosecution.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.

Background Briefing will be on a break for a few weeks, but we will be back late May with fresh investigations. In the meantime why not check out a new podcast made by our colleagues called Face Value. It takes a closer look at the booming cosmetic enhancement industry in Australia and explores why so many people choose to alter their appearance with injectables or surgical procedures.

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 action Reporter Rachael Brown 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 action. Reporter 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.

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.

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.

Jim works in the control room at Eraring Power Station, where one quarter of NSW's power is produced. But Jim and his 450 colleagues have recently found out that his workplace will be closing down, 7 years ahead of schedule. Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what plans are in place to transition communities away from coal jobs.

Jim works in the control room at Eraring Power Station, where one quarter of NSW's power is produced. But Jim and his 450 colleagues have recently found out that his workplace will be closing down, 7 years ahead of schedule. Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what plans are in place to transition communities away from coal jobs.

Prison authorities know that drugs are constantly finding their way into our prisons. But the most commonly detected drug is one you might never have heard of. And health experts are warning there's a disaster looming for addicted inmates when they get out. Mahmood Fazal reports. This episode contains explicit language.

She was convicted of killing her four children nearly two decades ago. But new scientific evidence has come to light, leading some of Australia's most respected scientists to argue that Kathleen Folbigg was actually the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice. Some of those scientists now say Australia needs to establish a whole new body to review potentially wrongful convictions. Rachael Brown reports. Special thanks to Flinders University Adjunct Associate Professor Robert Moles for his research assistance.

This wave of coronavirus caused more Australians to die in aged care homes than any variant before it. This time we had vaccines and we had time to prepare. Reporter Geoff Thompson investigates how it went so wrong during Omicron.

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.

Why a part of our workforce is afraid to speak up, even if their lodgings have bedbugs, it's hard to get a shower, or their pay is getting docked by random amounts. Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates.

For months the NSW government assured the public that its hospitals were coping through the pandemic. But frontline staff are now speaking out about the barely controlled chaos behind the scenes. Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what really happened during Omicron's peak.

What children experienced inside Tasmania's youth detention centre for a long time remained out of sight, out of mind. But as Mahmood Fazal discovered, the centre's secrets are coming out now, as more former detainees come forward to tell their stories for the first time.

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 investigates why. This is a repeat of a program that aired in July 2021.

A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children online with a mix of racial stereotypes and hardcore shock tactics. With that fame and notoriety, he's become a useful recruitment tool in the expansion of one of the globe's most extreme social movements. Alex Mann reveals Catboy Kami's true identity and how this young live streamer from south east Queensland ended up in the United States mixing with the top ranks of the white power movement. This is a repeat of a program that aired in July 2021.

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 of life's desperate moments, but as Mridula Amin discovers, not everyone wants to leave. This is a repeat of a program that aired in April 2021.

An awkward Christmas lunch conversation sends reporter Sam Carmody on a search for answers about his family history. The stories he finds out about are so disturbing, they have implications not just for his family but for the entire region, where his ancestors have a statue in their honour, a highway and even a town named after them. This is a repeat of a program that aired in September 2021.

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. This is a repeat of a program that aired in June 2021.

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. Ashlynne McGhee investigates whether his disappearance could be linked to the other unsolved mysteries of Victoria's high country. This is a repeat of a program that aired in March 2021.

There's growing community backlash over the locations chosen for a number of massive new windfarm projects in Northern Queensland. And as Mayeta Clark discovered, its coming from unlikely quarters.

A young Melbourne man got ten years' jail after attempting to buy a gun in preparation for a possible terrorist attack. Now his family is speaking publicly for the first time, raising questions about who escalated the plot. Mahmood Fazal investigates.

It's been celebrated as Australia's "millionaires' factory". But Macquarie Bank is now caught up in the mother of all tax investigations. Reporter Mario Christodoulou has seen internal company files that show which executives knew what and when. This is a joint investigation made together with German investigative journalism outlet Correctiv.

Graziers are discovering there's millions to be made from their flat red earth. Taxpayers are funding billions to reduce the nation's carbon footprint. Reporter Geoff Thompson investigates whether carbon farming will really undo the damage we're doing from burning fossil fuels.

Reporter Tracey Shelton spent years as a correspondent giving a voice to people in war zones who'd experienced trauma. When she returned to Australia, she was surprised to find people here suffering similar symptoms, so she set out to investigate the cause.

These people were supposed to be near the front of the queue for Covid vaccines. But in Yarrabah, an Aboriginal community near Cairns, local doctors are still scrambling to get the vaccination rate above 50% With only six weeks until the Queensland borders open, reporter Mayeta Clark went to find out why.

He was sentenced for a crime that shocked Australia: the terrorist plot to attack Sydney's Holsworthy barracks. But Nayef el Sayed's family are still confused about why he's doing so much jail time, and they're not the only ones with questions about the law used to convict him. Mahmood Fazal investigates.

As government investigators close in, Asiaciti realises it hasn't been keeping a close watch on some of its risky clients. In this series finale, Mario Christodoulou traverses from Swiss mountaintop chateaux to a Nigerian coup d'etat, to find out exactly what money was secretly flowing through Asiaciti's products. Then, he takes everything he's found to the man who built up the Asiaciti empire from nothing: Graeme Briggs. The ABC reached out to every person named in this story, we received no response from Du Shuanghua.

A rock concert ticket scalper and a controversial entrepreneur turn to Asiaciti for assistance. Using products from Graeme Briggs' company, they lock away their riches on a small Pacific island nation, out of the reach of authorities. But soon, Asiaciti learns it's got its own crisis to deal with: a global media scandal that threatens the company's very existence. Mario Christodoulou reports.

Graeme Briggs enjoys rugby, collecting Japanese fountain pens, and looking after other people's money. The problem for Graeme and his company Asiaciti is that among the many legitimate clients, some of them turn out to be corrupt politicians, fraudsters, and criminals. If that isn't bad enough, nearly two million files from his company's server have been leaked to journalists. So what's Graeme Briggs going to do now? Mario Christodoulou investigates.

There's a landmark project underway in Melbourne to find out whether psilocybin - the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms - can be used to improve end-of-life experiences. But many Australians have already turned to the underground because they're convinced psychedelics improve their mental health. Geoff Thompson investigates whether it's worth all the risks. This is a repeat of a program that aired in February 2021.

Geoff Thompson follows the dangerous journeys of three Afghan journalists as they attempt to flee the Taliban. Two of them succeed with the help of an Australian man who engineers an escape route for them from his house in Sydney.

An awkward Christmas lunch conversation sends reporter Sam Carmody on a search for answers about his family history. The stories he finds out about are so disturbing, they have implications not just for his family but for the entire region, where his ancestors have a statue in their honour, a highway and even a town named after them.

Since the September 11 attacks, Australia has enacted a staggering number of laws to counter the threat of terrorism. Over one hundred people have been charged with terror-related offences here, but very few have spoken to the media. One Australian man who was charged with offences that can carry up to 25 years in jail, shares his story with Mahmood Fazal for the first time.

As COVID-19 cases surged in Sydney's south-west City of Fairfield, the government enforced tougher restrictions on residents there. But as Geoff Thompson discovers, these constraints have had some devastating repercussions on one of Sydney's poorest areas and where more than half its workers are in industries which can't work from home.

Reality shows are a central pillar of the television industry, but for the people who appear on them, the productions can be a gateway to years of mental anguish. As Naomi Selvaratnam found out, for some reality TV stars their moment in the spotlight nearly cost them their life.

A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children online with a mix of racial stereotypes and hardcore shock tactics. With that fame and notoriety, he's become a useful recruitment tool in the expansion of one of the globe's most extreme social movements. Alex Mann reveals Catboy Kami's true identity and how this young live streamer from south east Queensland ended up in the United States mixing with the top ranks of the white power movement.

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 is estimated that around 900 people have been killed by the military. But some brave, young activists have filmed their acts of resistance. As their options close, what hope do they have to win back democracy? Due to copyright restrictions there will be no Background Briefing podcast or transcript for this program. You can listen to the full episode here: BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Myanmar: The Spring Revolution

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 it for so long.

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 investigates why.

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