Australian Story

Film maker and author Pamela Traynor introduces the story of two amazing and indomitable young Australians, Allana Arnot and Mark Bagshaw. Pamela discovered their stories when her young daughter Jessica was knocked down by a car at a pedestrian crossing and seriously hurt. The accident set Pamela off on a mission to try to discover the crucial factors which enable some individuals to overcome extraordinary trauma and still lead fulfilling lives in circumstances which would crush most of us. She hoped to find clues which would help her daughter’s recovery. She met Allana and Mark in the course of her search and was immediately struck by the power of their experiences and the strength of their characters. Allana was left with paraplegia after a horrific light plane crash in her early twenties. She had to battle fear of flying and severe physical handicaps but has gone on to gain her commercial chopper pilot’s license. She is now in the middle of a solo flight around Australia. A diving accident at the age of sixteen left Mark Bashaw with complete quadriplegia. That means he is paralysed from the neck down with only a little limited movement in his arms. Despite incredible physical limitations Mark has managed a marriage, a highly successful business career and at the age of forty, is IBM’s international marketing manager for Australia and New Zealand. He went for the job without disclosing his handicap. These are stories to rival the saga of Janice Shepherd as recounted in her best selling books “Never Tell Me Never” and “Dare to Fly”.

Another look at the 1997 classic story on Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart.

This week, the story of three young Australians and their mission to rescue an orphaned elephant calf on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. Sumatran elephants are officially listed as critically endangered, driven out of their habitat by encroaching industries – in particular, palm oil production. It is estimated that there are now only two or three thousand left in the wild. But against all the odds, one Sumatran elephant calf has become a symbol of hope in an otherwise bleak situation. The program has the heart warming story of 'Bona' and three friends mobilising to save her. The three are all ex employees of the late Steve Irwin, who had a particular interest in the plight of the Sumatran elephants. As this episode reveals, some of those closest to the 'Crocodile Hunter' played a key role in the saga...

Koby Abberton escapes a troubled childhood to become one of the world's most successful big wave surfers.

In July Heather Osland was released from Victoria's Tarrengower Prison and for the first time tells of the violence and fear that she and her children suffered before her husband died, what happened the night of his death and about taking her first steps in forging a new life...

John Jarratt, veteran of nearly 40 films and TV programs in Australia, is finally hitting the big time with his performance in a small budget horror movie wowing audiences around the world.

Much to the horror of her close-knit family, Kate Holden went from a comfortable middle-class home in Melbourne to the netherworld of drugs and commercial sex.

When a crooked detective rolled over at a major royal commission into police corruption a decade ago, it sent shockwaves through every police force in the country.

Four popular and talented veterans of Australian Story get together to stage a once in a lifetime concert.

Ian Roberts is best known for being the first footballer in Australia to 'come out' as a gay man.

The conclusion to the story of the siege at Jim Hallinan's property at Adjungbilly near Tumut in NSW.

NSW Police involved in the siege at Jim Hallinan's property near Tumut four and a half years ago speak out for the first time.

Twenty-five years after a road accident took the life of her younger brother Ben along with seven other young people, Dani Haski reunited the families of those affected and made the trip back to Bourke for a poignant memorial.

When a light plane crash in 1987 took away Maree Stockman's husband, her son and her father-in-law, she was left with a choice: to take her three young daughters and leave the family farm or stay and plough on.

Dr Lynne Milne has brought forensic palynology to the forefront of Australian crime fighting after helping to solve the murder of Samantha Bodsworth.

Gemma Sisia established The School of St Jude for poor African children in Tanzania, East Africa which was built by Australian volunteers and sponsors and now boasts more than 500 students.

Emmah Money is a beautiful and vital young woman with the world at her feet, on a mission to shape her future despite suffering from the life threatening disease cystic fibrosis.

When Brian and Bobbie Houston established their own tiny house of worship 20 years ago, they didn't dream they would end up at the helm of the biggest independent church in Australia.

Last year Lt Col. Lance Collins emerged as the central figure in a major unfolding controversy about the quality of Australia's overseas intelligence.

Brian Sherman, co-founder of Equitilink, has founded a new organisation with his daughter called 'Voiceless' which advocates for animal rights.

Australian Story follows the extraordinary lives of a Centurion tank crew who last saw each other on a battlefield in Vietnam.

Donna Mulhearn, a 30-something successful journalist and state government public relations officer dropped everything to risk her life as a 'human shield' against the American bombs dropping on Baghdad.

Toni Hoffman is the nurse who lifted the lid on a medical scandal making front page news, not just in Australia, but around the world.

William McInnes is an actor best known for his high profile TV roles in 'Blue Heelers' and 'SeaChange'.

In this concluding episode, eminent national and international scientists agree that Peter Andrews potentially has the solution to alleviating the affects of drought on many parts of the Australian landscape.

Peter Andrews is a racehorse breeder and farmer credited with remarkable success in converting degraded, salt-ravaged properties into fertile, drought-resistant pastures.

Australian Story revisits the program about serial killer Ivan Milat, who was jailed for life eight years ago for the murder of seven young backpackers.

Scott Draper has achieved the near impossible in the competitive world of modern sport.

Earlier this year Australian diver Dave Shaw made headlines around the world when he lost his life in a remote cave in South Africa.

After the sudden death of cricket legend David Hookes in January last year, some of those closest to David Hookes felt shut out.

Every year, on 5th May the family of Caroline Anderson gather to remember her sudden, unnecessary death.

In the 1980s as an unemployed medical scientist, Professor Robert Tindle made a discovery that led to the breakthrough use of stem cells for saving thousands of lives around the world. His discovery was crucial 20 years later in saving the life of his own critically ill daughter.

The dramatic story of a Sydney family forced to flee the city because of fears for the safety of their youngest daughter.

Dick Smith and his friends regroup and visit Ball's Pyramid, the formidable dagger-like rock that spears straight up from the Pacific Ocean, south of Lord Howe Island which they climbed forty years ago.

It's a long way from the paddocks of western Queensland to the palazzos of Florence. Fourth-generation grazier Bruce Tully bridged the gap when he stepped away from his heritage and sold his family farm to follow his seemingly impossible dream of designing and selling Australian opal jewellery to the world.

Dr Glenn Singleman is the world record holder for high altitude BASE jumping, but he is unable to practise his sport in his own country.

Melissa Holland thought she was "lucky" when a last-minute seat became available for a getaway break on King Island with five nursing colleagues. It turned out to be the start of a tragic turn of events that changed her life forever.

Millions of fans around the world know him affectionately as Harold Bishop, the slightly daggy star of the television soapie Neighbours. But until now, none knew Ian Smith's real life story encompasses a drama more remarkable than any script he has ever performed.

Australian Story continues the saga of Beth Heinrich and her involvement from her school days, with a married priest. In this program she tells of the promises that led her to believe she had a future with him and the shock and betrayal she felt when the Anglican Church hierarchy failed to give her a proper hearing.

Beth Heinrich, the woman whose case was central to the controversy that led to the resignation of Governor-General Peter Hollingworth, speaks out publicly for the first time about her 40-year relationship with clergyman Donald Shearman.

Debbie Singh was running a Perth boutique and juggling marriage and three children, when out of the blue in 1998, she discovered that her brother had been locked up in Thailand's notorious hell hole, the Klong Prem prison, or the "Bangkok Hilton".

When Ian Thorpe won his two gold medals at the Athens Olympics, it was a personal triumph for him - and a vindication for a former art teacher called Tracey Menzies. Two years earlier, Menzies was at the centre of controversy when Thorpe appointed her to replace his long time coach and mentor, Doug Frost.

Despite being born with a hare lip and double cleft palate, Wendy Harmer has become one of Australia's best known performers. Last year she was invited by the Interplast organisation to share her knowledge about overcoming a facial deformity by visiting children in Fiji born with the same condition.

A repeat of the program about Australian scientists Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt and one of medicine's holy grails finding a way to treat cancer without toxic side effects and avoiding drug resistance.

Craig Lowndes is the first driver to win the Australian Touring Car Championship on debut, the youngest ever winner and the only driver apart from Peter Brock to win the Triple Crown of Australian Motor Sport - the Australian Touring Car championship, the Sandown 500 and the Bathurst 1000 - in the one year.

The conclusion reveals the devastating impact of one man's crime and manipulations on Kylie Labouchardiere's family, his own wife and child, and an innocent policeman and his wife.

When young trainee nurse Kylie Labouchardiere disappeared from Sydney five years ago, the lives of the people she left behind fell into disarray.

Twins Patrick and Bronwyn O'Gorman lost their parents and younger brother on Black Saturday. The two reflect on the day and life since in a story that is emblematic of suffering and loss in the wake of the fires that swept across Victoria.

When Kerry Tucker was jailed for seven years for theft and fraud she turned incarceration into an opportunity and is now a successful academic with a PhD and a job at a leading university...

After coming out on a national TV reality show in 2006, David Graham is attempting to reconcile his sexuality with his desire to be a farmer, a father and a force within the National Party.

An intimate profile of the enigmatic Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu featuring behind the scenes footage shot by filmmaker Naina Sen, combined with interviews from his family and unofficial spokesperson Michael Hohnen.

Fresh off the plane from the Delhi, Meagen Nay updates our original program to explain how success has changed her...

Jan Cameron has channelled her formidable energies and bank balance towards a new cause in the hope she can influence the way factory farmed animals are treated in Australia.

The conclusion to the story of Andrew Mallard who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Perth woman Pamela Lawrence in 1995.

Andrew Mallard was a young man living homeless on the streets of Perth when he was charged with the murder of Pamela Lawrence. He was convicted of her murder in 1995.

In this compelling conclusion, Michael Ware reveals the real cost to his psyche of all that he's witnessed for so long.

Working in Afghanistan and Iraq for Time Magazine and then CNN, Michael Ware willingly went where no other reporter could or would.

Fourteen years ago Ivan Milat was convicted of one of Australia's most infamous serial killings. His victims were seven young backpackers whose bodies were found in the Belanglo State Forest, south of Sydney.

Jack Heath shocked his family and friends by turning his back on a promising political career to establish an innovative not-for-profit organisation committed to supporting and inspiring troubled youth.

From homeless teenager to the youngest ever leader of Australia's oldest union, Paul Howes is living a life accelerated.

Van Rudd is an artist who ran in Julia Gillard's seat as an independent backed by the new but tiny Socialist Revolutionary Party.

The conclusion to our story about young American bride Tina Watson who died seven years ago during a honeymoon dive trip on the Great Barrier Reef.

It's seven years since a young American bride, Tina Watson, died during a honeymoon scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Her husband Gabe was accused of murder and was eventually convicted and jailed for manslaughter.

Glenn Wheatley is an undisputed legend of the entertainment industry. He's guided the careers of huge stars like John Farnham, Delta Goodrem and the Little River Band.

After her oldest son announced that he was gay, Shelley Argent was spurred to action. Now she's the national spokesperson for the international organisation PFLAG and a 'gay icon' in her own right...

Kiff Saunders had spent most of his professional life airborne at the helm of a hot air balloon. But despite the heights of his success, he was becoming increasingly disenchanted with the air up there.

Wanting to build a better world and keen to offer his skills as a water technician, Shane Dolan signed up with Community Aid Abroad and embarked for the war torn province of Tigray, in Ethiopia.

'Pay it Forward' is a marvellously inspirational tale of sportsmanship, mentoring and redemption across three generations of Australian Rules Football. At the centre of it all is a young man called David Conway.

With prescient timing, an in depth look at the woman who has just made history by becoming Australia’s first female Prime Minister.

Peter Roberts, an accomplished musician, gave up a lucrative career as a businessman to retrain overseas at his own expense to become Australia's only music thanatologist.

When Dianne Brimble died mysteriously aboard the Pacific Sky cruise liner in 2002, her family was left to mourn the loss of a beloved mother, wife, sister and daughter. It also began a seven and a half year battle for answers by the two men who had shared her life.

Part Two explores the ongoing battle Matina Jewell faced at home in Australia once it became clear her days as a career soldier were over.

Part One charts the remarkable in combat experiences of highly decorated female soldier, Matina Jewell, but raises serious concerns about the conditions she faced when wearing the blue beret as a UN peacekeeper.

The murder of one of Australia’s foremost bee experts, Tony Knight, baffled police until a fortuitous event exposed a suspect with a sinister motive.

In August 2008, Bundaberg photojournalist Nigel Brennan was kidnapped in Somalia, along with Canadian reporter Amanda Lindhout. Last year, the Brennan family became players in the shadowy world of international kidnap and ransom.

Chris 'Douggs' McDougall - free spirit, thrill-seeker or lawbreaker? This BASE jumping pioneer challenges convention and embodies the true definition of 'fearless'.

Until last year, Meagen Nay was known as the 19 year old swimmer treading the same path as her Olympian father, Robert. Then fate dealt a second tragic blow in an already painful life story...

Two years ago the harmony of rural life in a small township in Central Victoria was ripped apart after a fatal car accident involving five young friends.

It was hailed as possibly the most inept bank robbery of all time and it made headlines around the world. One of the robbers, Anthony Prince, is back home in Byron Bay, much chastened and speaking for the first time...

Tara Winkler was just twenty-two when she established the Cambodian Children's Trust in Cambodia. She is now 'mother', mentor and older sister to twenty-seven orphans, some as young as two.

Graham Stafford served almost fifteen years in jail for a crime he has always claimed he did not commit. Since his release four years ago, he has continued to argue his innocence and seek redress from the legal system that incarcerated him.

Emerging from a troubled childhood, self-made coffee millionaire, Kenton Campbell has led a life of extremes. He fulfilled the 'rags to riches' American dream here in Australia, only to find that success left him empty.

From Perth policeman to a life of high fashion and celebrity in New York, Russell James is one of the world's most influential fashion photographers who is now working in Australia on an art collaboration with Aboriginal artist Clifton Bieundurry.

Young Sydney musician Lachlan McCarthy's determination to escape the twin demons of poverty and a tragedy involving his father, sees him become the first in his family to finish high school and go to university.

As a little boy, Glenn Scott dreamed of becoming a motorcycle champion… just like his heroes Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner.

The compelling conclusion to our story about a GP and a Sydney scientist who teamed up to investigate a water contamination issue near Tasmania's famous Bay of Fires.

A GP, a group of oyster farmers and a Sydney scientist banded together to investigate mysterious water quality issues in one of the most beautiful areas of Tasmania.

Behind the scenes Red Symons and his family have been on a journey with their eldest son Samuel that no one could wish for.

Ian Conway is a man determined to make a difference. Twenty years ago he made a promise to an Aboriginal elder. It was a big promise and for years he was haunted by the fact that he hadn't delivered.

Dylan Parker makes and flies paper planes and he has become one of the very best in the world.

Ric Richardson is an inventor who took on the might of Microsoft and scored a remarkable victory.

Radio and TV personality Ian 'Dano' Rogerson and his wife Nicole gave up their home, careers and an exciting lifestyle for the love of their son, Jack.

Dr Michael Buist is an intensive care specialist with a unique perspective from both sides of the hospital curtain who's now emerged as a world leader in the push to improve patient care.

Film critic Margaret Pomeranz introduces this encore edition on the very special personal and professional bond shared by filmmaker Sarah Watt and her husband actor and writer William McInnes.

Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman have become two of the hottest young comedians on the Australian comedy scene.

Kristina Keneally made history by becoming the first female Premier of NSW. What few realise is the family experience that she says led her into politics and toughened her for the brutal crossfire of public life.

The conclusion to the program about the notorious case of Jeffrey Gilham, currently serving a life sentence for the murders of his own parents in Sydney nearly twenty years ago.

Part one of the program that centres on the notorious case of Jeffrey Gilham, in jail for life for the murders of his own parents.

Zelie Bullen is stepping into the international spotlight as the woman who trained 'Abraham', the lead horse in Spielberg's production of the Tony award winning play 'War Horse'.

A repeat of the program about Australian scientists Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt and one of medicine's holy grails finding a way to treat cancer without toxic side effects and avoiding drug resistance.

TV Drama legend Sue Masters teamed up with 'Bra Boys' Maccario de Souza and his friends Mark Matthews and Richie Vas to work on a big screen documentary about big wave surfing, alcohol fuelled violence and the sequence of events that finally frightened the young men into cleaning up their lives.

When Catherine Smith was found not guilty of attempting to murder her own husband it was a turning point in one of the most extraordinary cases in Australian criminal history.

Three years ago Gavin Larkin used his marketing nous and high profile contacts to create a national day of awareness called R U OK? Day. But not long after the launch, the super fit indomitable Gavin was anything but okay...

Not since the mighty Phar Lap has a horse captured the public imagination like Black Caviar. She remains unbeaten after thirteen runs and has been declared the best racehorse in the world.

In the space of a few years Jonty Bush lost two of her closest family members in separate and unrelated crimes. Instead of succumbing to grief and anger, she took up the challenge to change the world and in the process changed herself...

In Part Two Ita Buttrose talks candidly about men, dating, loneliness, family, media ethics and grabbing life by the throat, at any age.

Ita Buttrose and those closest to her go on the record with their recollections of a trail blazing career and a momentous period in Australia's social history in Part One of a candid, moving, and surprising double episode.

An encore edition of our bittersweet story of Queensland vet Ben Cunneen and his co-worker, Natalie Beohm who were exposed to the Hendra horse virus with devastating consequences.

Captain Hec Waller and Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean both saw service during the darkest days of the Japanese advance towards Australia during World War II. Despite their heroism neither was ever nominated for the Forces' highest accolade, the Victoria Cross.

International banker Sascha Chandler had a secret he'd been harbouring since childhood. Two years ago he decided to deal with his demons and joined forces with a dogged NSW detective to bring to justice one of the country's most elusive and dangerous predators.

Alisa Latto was born with a life threatening genetic condition – one shared by her two siblings and her mother, Rosemary... This story follows her difficult journey to motherhood.

The conclusion to the story of Penelope Dingle whose untimely death had shattering and unexpected repercussions for those closest to her.

Penelope Dingle was a former model and actor married to TV science guru Peter Dingle. At the age of 43 she was diagnosed with a common cancer regarded as highly curable if it’s caught early...

When Sally Nielsen's fiance Sam Goddard suffered a catastrophic stroke, she ignored the advice of some of those closest to her and stuck by him. Now her efforts have produced an amazing medical breakthrough.

The conclusion of our story on Dr Simon Palfreeman, the Newcastle pathologist on a mission to help his son who's serving twenty years in a Bulgarian jail.

For three and a half years, Newcastle pathologist Dr Simon Palfreeman has been shuttling between Australia and Bulgaria negotiating that country's complex and controversial justice system to try to help his 24 year old son.

Sabina Wolanski was left alone in the world at 17 when her family were killed in the Holocaust. In 2005 she addressed a gathering of state dignitaries in Berlin, received a standing ovation and reduced journalists to tears.

Charlie Teo is a Sydney neurosurgeon, loved by patients but unpopular with some in the medical establishment. He is credited with prolonging the lives of many people with tumours that were considered inoperable.

Brian Sherman rose to great wealth and success as a businessman. His son Emile is a co-producer of 'The King's Speech', winner of this year's best picture Oscar. But what really unites the family is their overwhelming passion for animal welfare.

The conclusion to our celebration of 15 years of Australian Story featuring Gayle Shann, Chris Sarra, Beth Heinrich, Greg Combet, Belinda Emmett, Bob Irwin, Gemma Sisia and Michael Ware.

Part 1 of our celebration of 15 years of Australian Story featuring Ric Birch, Gina Rinehart, John Button and Estelle Blackburn, Pauline Hanson, Sam and Jenny Bailey, Nick Ross and Allan Fels.

On 22 July 2007, Peter Hodgkins threw a rock at a car from an overpass at Kiama, NSW, smashing the skull of beauty therapist Nicole Timbs and changing both their lives forever.

Band manager David Powell took the Melbourne rock band JET from obscurity to ARIA triumph and then onto the international stage. But fate was less kind to David – today he is lucky to be alive to tell his story.

Eight years ago Elizabeth Clayton was living in Fiji when she rescued a young man known as the 'chicken boy'. His name was Sujit and he'd been kept in a hen house as a child and then tied up for 22 years in an old people's home.

The conclusion to our story on Western Australian lawyer and politician John Quigley.

Part 1 of the program about lawyer and politician John Quigley whose three decades in the public spotlight have drawn controversy, enmity and notoriety.

Last year a Victorian court sentenced Robert Farquharson to a minimum 33 years jail for deliberately driving his three sons to their death in a dam on Father's Day.

Two years ago, former Navy clearance diver Paul de Gelder was testing new sonar equipment in Sydney Harbour when he was attacked by a shark and pulled from the water, barely alive.

Jade Hopper is a young woman on the cusp of the toughest decision of her life - to pursue her dream of becoming a world no. 1 tennis player or to court success from her law studies.

On the eve of his retirement from public office, the nation's longest serving Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery, reflects exclusively on his sixteen years in the top job.

Wildlife photographer Jennifer Parkhurst's passion for dingos set her at odds with park rangers - and brought her to the brink of disaster...

For the last 48 years Jacki Weaver has been one of Australia's best loved actors. Now 63, she has achieved a stunning career high by being chosen as one of the Best Supporting Actress nominees for this year's Oscars.

When Doug Sunderland succumbed to the blues after losing his wife and being diagnosed with cancer, his GP told him to 'get back on his bike'. He did... and it 'saved his life', so much so, that he decided to ride around Australia solo, surviving on tinned food and sleeping by the road.

Maggie MacKellar was a city dweller who seemed to have it all – a successful academic career, a devoted husband, a young daughter and another baby on the way.

Zelie Bullen is a former stunt woman, turned world renowned animal trainer who trained Abraham, the lead horse in Steven Spielberg's movie 'War Horse'.

Oscar-nominated actress Diane Cilento left Hollywood at the height of her fame to pursue more creative and spiritual endeavours. Her most enduring love was a theatre she created in the middle of the North Queensland rainforest.

Veteran print reporter Malcolm Brown has covered some of the biggest stories of the last four decades, but now finds himself somewhat out of step with the times in an industry caught on the cutting edge of the digital revolution.

Ben Lewin and Judi Levine are two film-makers whose latest film 'The Sessions' has received considerable acclaim and is now being tipped as an Academy Awards contender.

Part two follows Laver through his marriage to an older American divorcee, raising children, battling a near catastrophic stroke and his return to Australia in circumstances he describes as the supreme highlight of his life.

Exclusive with Rod Laver: the tennis legend is joined by family, friends and a line up of greats including Roger Federer.

Li Cunxin - once one of the world's best known dancers - embarks on a high stakes return to the ballet world after 15 years as a stockbroker.

Nell Schofield and Jad Capelja, the two young girls who starred in the 1981 Bruce Beresford film 'Puberty Blues', found fame and celebrity and looked set for big careers on screen...

Twenty-seven year old John Cantor has devoted the past six years to trying to complete one of the toughest solo expeditions on earth - Brooks Range in Alaska.

It's forty years since a 15 year old Shane Gould created a sporting sensation by winning three individual gold medals at the Munich Olympics.

Ben Quilty is an Archibald prize winning artist with a lifelong interest in concepts of masculinity - from youthful excesses with drugs, alcohol and fast cars to soldiers on the front line.

A recent High Court ruling all but ended the branding of cigarette packets in Australia. The decision and the woman behind it, Federal-Attorney General Nicola Roxon, have generated news headlines around the world.

Torah Bright has lived in the United States since she was fifteen years old when she turned professional as a snowboarder. Since then, she's flown under the radar of many Australians. Her specialty is the half pipe – a winter Olympic event with a huge international following.

Tanya Pearson has shaped the careers of hundreds of aspiring Australian dancers and at 75 continues to teach classical ballet full time.

This program documents Annabelle Sandes' unlikely pathway from the fine art auction rooms of inner Sydney to whale conservation in the Kimberley.

In 2001 Ian and Sandy Johnson adopted two orphaned children, Tigi and Frazer, from Ethiopia. Now with the children 12 and 15, we returned to find out how it's all worked out.

Popular Country singer Beccy Cole has decided she is ready to tell audiences about a personal dilemma which has dogged her for more than ten years.

Next week's program tells the story of a young woman unsettling her middle class Melbourne family by going out on a limb to 'adopt' a fourteen year old Afghan asylum seeker.

It's a time of unprecedented crisis in the newspaper industry. But this week's Australian Story is about a former big city journalist who's bucking the trend. James Clark had been living the dream in Paris when he decided to put his future, his relationship and the family sheep station on the line to chase his dream of running a little local newspaper in outback Cunnamulla.

This week, the conclusion to our story about Diana Bliss whose death earlier this year was reported around the world.

Part One of our two part special where friends and family of Diana Bliss tell her story and reveal the extent of the private torment behind the glittering existence.

In the early hours of Sunday June 24, the unbeaten Black Caviar will take on Europe's best at Royal Ascot, in front of the Queen. This is the fascinating inside story of the making of Black Caviar, stretching back across the generations.

Gurrumul Yunupingu's haunting voice has captivated global audiences, most recently in London for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Actress and playwright Kate Mulvany has experienced more than most people do in a lifetime and speaks candidly about life's many challenges and explains how she found the energy and determination to return to the public spotlight.

Jack Manning Bancroft, was just 19 when he started a plan to help disadvantaged kids finish school. Now at 26 he's one of Australia's youngest CEO's.

From international model via prison to toast of Australian fashion week as a new generation designer: Tovah Cottle.

Triple world champion, Sir Jack Brabham became the first driver to be knighted for services to motorsport and the only Formula One driver to win a world title in a car of his own construction.

Clive Palmer has been described as a generous giver, a national treasure and a major political force. He's also been labelled a billionaire mining magnate who has never mined, a human headline and a manipulator of the media.

Since Half a Million Acres aired, the Pollock's battle to save their property has attracted powerful supporters and a visit by natural landscape ecologist, Peter Andrews who has previously featured on Australian Story.

Risktaker, investigator and troublemaker: animal advocate Lyn White and the images that shocked a nation.

Scott Neeson built a career as a top Hollywood movie executive but after a holiday in Cambodia, gave it all up and now works to help some of the poorest children there.

Ric Richardson is an inventor who took on the might of Microsoft and scored a remarkable victory.

Another look at the 1997 classic story on Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart.

From teenage years marked by delinquency, expulsions from school and several brushes with the law, John Polson became a successful actor and went on to direct some of the world's best known TV dramas.

Leigh Woodgate's journey from young mountain girl to shining racing star, through dark days of hospital and recovery to the triumphant joy of riding a horse for early morning track work.

Daniel Clarke at the age of ten, inspired by the late Steve Irwin, set out to raise funds to conserve habitat for orangutans in Indonesia.

David Pollock, a young man from remote Western Australia and Frances Jones, a young woman from the Melbourne suburbs, battle to save the historic grazing property Wooleen.

Yaron Lifschitz took a small, troubled circus company and turned it into an artistic triumph that now has the world applauding its daring and glamour.

Kath Evans was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to her brain and given only weeks to live. She attributes her sudden, extraordinary recovery to the then Blessed Mary MacKillop and the event was accepted by the Vatican as a miracle.

The conclusion to our story on Di Gilcrist and her fight for justice after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run cyclist incident.

Part 1 of our story on Di Gicrist, the woman taking on the big end of town and changing the face of justice in South Australia after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run cyclist incident.

Annabel Blake grew up with a mother who, as a young athlete, had hoped to represent Australia in the 1988 Winter Olympics. Janine Shepherd's nickname, 'Janine the Machine' reflected the grit and dedication she brought to the ski slopes and it was these traits that helped her recover when a training accident left her permanently disabled. Despite these setbacks, Janine raised her three children to follow their passions and demonstrated through her own challenging life that nothing is impossible. Now, in a surprising twist, her daughter Annabel is hoping to capture a place in the Australian team to compete in next year's Winter Olympics in the new – and dangerous – sport of slopestyle skiing.

Part two of the top rating 'A Feeling For The Water' opens with Murray Rose's move to California to begin a university scholarship. America in the later 1950s was an attractive fit for Rose and his varied interests, including vegetarianism, spirituality and acting. Already a gold medallist three times over in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Rose went on to swim one of his most famous races at Rome in 1960, perfecting his strategy of out-psyching opponents and winning gold again in the 400 metres. Now with a fourth gold medal, Rose looked set to dominate his events for years to come until the controversial decision to exclude him from the Tokyo Olympics team in 1964 – a decision that polarises officials until this day. Before he died, Murray Rose was working on a candid memoir and in this program, some of the sport's biggest names and his close family members offer an insight into a man who, it transpires, was much more than a fast swimmer.

Murray Rose was an inspiration for generations of Australians, in and out of the swimming pool where he won six Olympic medals. Yet despite his role building up the 'golden era' of the Australian swim team in the 1950s and 60s, the stories that emerged last year in the aftermath of his death surprised many younger people who had barely heard of him. Murray Rose personified many of the virtues of the Australian athlete: a good sport, a calm and collected mind under pressure and a consistent race winner. But it was his interests outside the pool that he claimed gave him a winning edge and helped focus his mind. He was a vegetarian and a follower of an Indian philosopher, long before such 'new age' ideas became fashionable. Before he died, Murray Rose was working on a candid memoir and in this program, some of the sport's biggest names and his close family members offer an insight into a man who, it transpires, was much more than a fast swimmer.

As a fatherless child, Johnson Maker-Adeng fled from war-ravaged Sudan with the remnants of his family. For four years they trekked through the African wilderness. Then they spent more than a decade in a migration queue. Finally the family were accepted as refugees and granted entry into Australia and a fresh start. From traumatic beginnings, Johnson Maker-Adeng is now in the process of fulfilling childhood dreams that not so long ago would have seemed preposterous. Australian Story has been filming his progress over the last seven years.

They say every family has its secrets, but in Susan Swingler's case those secrets were buried more deeply than most. Abandoned by her father at the age of 4, Susan Swingler spent the better part of her life seeking out the man who had left her behind. What she discovered along the way shocked her to the core. She uncovered a web of lies that was simply astonishing, all the more so because the woman who had woven it was one of Australia's best known and best loved authors.

The Damiani family's story has been described as a breathtaking example of how medicine can be transformed by the determination of ordinary people. Four years ago, Stephen and Sally Damiani's baby son Massimo succumbed to a mystery disease. In the space of a few weeks, the toddler lost the ability to eat and crawl. The prognosis was bleak and the cause mystifying. Stephen Damiani, who has a background in construction economics and risk management, teamed up with a young geneticist to map the family's genome in an attempt to discover the cause of his son's illness. In the process, his seemingly impossible quest for answers has made a discovery that's astonished the international medical community and has implications for us all.

Three years ago Maggie MacKellar, daughter of a former Federal Cabinet Minister, was living on the family farm in NSW trying to reassemble the pieces of her life. A writer and Sydney Uni academic, Ms MacKellar was left widowed and pregnant in particularly harrowing circumstances. She seemed resolved to raise her daughter and son alone, on her own terms in the country. When her story was aired on Australian Story in February 2011, it drew a big viewer response. Among the emails was a message from a stranger – a divorced 49 year old sheep farmer in Tasmania. What happened next was as unexpected as it was heart warming...

Fred Smith has been described as 'Australia's secret weapon' in international diplomacy. As a career diplomat, he's represented Australia in Bougainville and more recently in Afghanistan. But it's his second career as a musician that came to the fore in Uruzgan province, when he wrote a song about the death of Australian soldier Ben Ranaudo. "Dust in Uruzgan" captured the hearts of many serving in Afghanistan and a second song, "Sapper's Lullaby" has become an anthem for soldiers and their families. Now, with Australian forces about to depart Afghanistan, this is the story of a diplomat with a difference.

Much has changed since Australian Story first explored the private and professional worlds of Clive Palmer sixteen months ago. At the time former Qld Premier Peter Beattie concluded 'you haven't heard the last of Clive Palmer, you're just going to have to get used to bigger screens'. Even he could scarcely have predicted the turn of events now unfolding, with Mr Palmer poised to wield political influence in Federal Parliament The extent of that influence is yet to be determined but it's now clear that the Palmer United Party has secured two Senate seats with a possible third in Western Australia. It's speculated he could even end up holding the balance of power in the Upper House. With so many theories abounding, who is the real Clive Palmer; what can we expect next and what impact might there be on the way the nation's run...

Melbourne schoolgirl Olympia Nelson is only sixteen, but she's no stranger to controversy. She's grown up in an unusual but talented household as the daughter of an art critic and acclaimed photographer Poli Papapetrou. Olympia and her mother have had a long creative partnership. But in 2008 an unclothed photograph of Olympia aged six generated national controversy when it appeared on the cover of the magazine 'Art Monthly'. Even the Prime Minister bought in. Now Olympia has weighed in from an unexpected direction by publicly challenging the popularity of 'selfies' – often explicit self portraits posted on social media. Her robust analysis of the selfie trend and issues around girls, sexual expression and self image was published by The Age Newspaper, setting off a new debate...

In a world obsessed with physical beauty, Robert Hoge is a man embracing 'ugly'. Hoge was born 41 years ago with a massive tumour in the middle of his face. At first his own mother couldn't bear to look at him and the family was advised to 'put him in a home'. There were national newspaper headlines when a pioneering craniofacial surgeon used the cartilage from baby Robert's toe to construct a nose. Hoge grew up to become a journalist and then built a stellar career as a public servant culminating in the job of media advisor to then Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. But he has rejected further surgery that might make him look more conventional. Now a husband and a father himself, he's on a mission to confront us all with some difficult questions and start a new debate about concepts of beauty and ugliness and everything in between...

Australian Story concludes the epic tale of Greg Norman, recognised as one of Australia's best and most flamboyant sports stars. Norman dominated international golf for nearly two decades in the eighties and nineties. He blazed a trail by cannily converting personal sporting success into a multi million dollar business brand. But his approach hasn't always drawn universal admiration and he concedes that his headline grabbing personal life hurt his image for a period of time. This week's episode covers the famous 1996 US Masters loss in which Greg Norman's grace in the face of crushing defeat drew admiration. The loss drove him to tears. But it was finally 'vindicated' earlier this year when Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the elusive trophy and paid emotional tribute to Greg Norman as his mentor. This episode also covers the story of Greg Norman's friendships with two US Presidents. There are candid family disclosures about the break up of his marriage to former world number one tennis star Chris Evert and his subsequent remarriage to third wife Kirsten 'Kiki' Norman.

Includes interviews with President Bill Clinton, Jack Nicklaus, Peter FitzSimons, Morgan-Leigh Norman (daughter), and Gregory Norman Junior (son) and third wife Kirsten in her first television interview. When Adam Scott became the first Australian ever to win the US Masters golf tournament earlier this year, he immediately paid an emotional tribute to his mentor Greg Norman. Norman remains a world sporting icon and is considered by many to be Australia's greatest ever golfer. But his friend, President Bill Clinton, interviewed for Australian Story, says Greg was never universally 'embraced in a way that some great golfers are.' Greg Norman was also a trail blazer off the course, parlaying sporting success into a multi-millionaire dollar business empire built around his moniker, The Great White Shark.

Retiring independent MP Tony Windsor offers a unique insider's account on Australian Story of the last three years of political tumult. After two decades in politics, both state and federal but always as an independent, Tony Windsor shocked many when he announced his retirement two months ago. He played a deciding role in two hung parliaments and helped keep Nick Greiner's NSW Liberal government in power twenty-two years ago. But it wasn't until he backed Julia Gillard's minority government in 2010 that he experienced widespread fallout – including death threats - from those who thought he'd abandoned his conservative New England electorate. From his vantage point in the Simpson Desert, far away from what he calls the 'greasy pond' of Canberra politics, Tony Windsor offers a final – and at times surprising - verdict on Canberra's political leaders.

Chloe Palmer-Simpson was just 18 when she was involved in a head-on car crash near her home in Bargo in New South Wales. The accident left her fighting for her life and dealing with a severe brain injury. Although the elite swimmer was just minutes from death, the efforts of medical staff coupled with her own determination led to a recovery that stunned everyone. Now, just 16 months after the accident, Chloe Palmer-Simpson is attempting to walk PNG's Kokoda Track accompanied by the medical team who saved her life to raise funds for trauma research at St George Hospital. The track is routinely described as 96 kilometres of sheer hell and that's for the able-bodied. Asking a young woman recuperating from traumatic injuries to attempt it is not without risk.

Award winning television journalist Sara James was living the dream as an anchor and foreign correspondent for American network NBC. She'd lived in New York for fifteen years and reported from around the world including the war zones of Somalia, Sudan and in the Middle East. Then she met and married another high flyer, Australian journalist Andrew Butcher, who worked closely with Rupert Murdoch as his corporate affairs manager. But with the birth of their second daughter came a curve ball. Baby Jacqui didn’t cry and was having multiple seizures. 'Your baby has a bad brain' said the medical specialist. A nurse took Sara aside and said 'they don’t always know you know. Your baby has bright eyes. Don't give up.' To the amazement of their friends, the Butchers abandoned Manhattan, scooped up their family and moved to the Macedon Ranges outside Melbourne. There they embraced an entirely new way of life as they started to unlock the mysteries of Jacqui's distressing and taxing condition.

This week we visit a scenic valley where best selling author Di Morrissey and a determined group of rural residents have stared down a corporate giant. The setting is the spectacular Manning Valley in the mid north coast of New South Wales. When the electricity transmission company TransGrid decided to build a high voltage power line through the valley, the community elected to fight. Led by former sports administrator turned farmer, Peter Epov, and including an airline pilot, engineer and a former business analyst, they pooled their expertise and skills to tackle the seemingly impenetrable data of a complex industry. What they discovered has far reaching implications for anybody who pays electricity bills.

August marks the 50th anniversary of one of Britain's most infamous crimes – the Great Train Robbery. Ronald Biggs was sentenced to 30 years gaol for his part in the crime that he once described as 'too good to refuse'. But behind the robbery and Biggs' subsequent escape to Australia, there's an epic saga of a woman's resilience and loyalty. Disowned by her middle class parents, Charmian Biggs and their two children, followed Biggs to Australia in the hope of a fresh start. It was the beginning of a tumultuous three decades marked by discoveries, escapes, betrayals and reunions. Forced to divorce her husband to help him avoid extradition from Brazil, Charmian Biggs raised her sons on her own and studied to obtain a university degree. She became a successful book editor under the new name of Brent. Then in 2001 Biggs finally surrendered to the British authorities so he could receive medical treatment.

This week's program is about a man who's made a big name in London but is little known back in Australia. Richard Farleigh amassed an early fortune as a young gun in the financial markets and went on to star on a top-rating British television program. But what's remarkable about Farleigh is his background. He was one of a family of eleven children born to an itinerant, violent and alcoholic sheep shearer. Farleigh and several of his older siblings were removed by Welfare authorities to an orphanage and he was subsequently fostered. Initially diagnosed as 'backward', his luck changed when a school teacher recognised his abilities and became 'the first person that I felt really cared about me'. He excelled at maths and tournament chess and by his mid-thirties was a multi-millionaire business entrepreneur, moving to the UK five years ago. Now in his fifties, he has been back in Australia, retracing a past that he says continues to haunt him in ways he 'can't control'.

It's said there’s nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come... This week's program is about a psychology student and a brainwave that became a phenomenon. As Tasmania's terrifying bushfires took hold in January, Mel Irons set up a a Facebook page... The spur of the moment decision became the start of a social media whirlwind that provided a helping hand to thousands of people isolated by the fires. From generators for oyster breeders, to tin openers for the local Food Bank and even a small armada of boats to ferry supplies to the needy, Mel Irons was at the helm. She admits she took risks and cut corners. But the essence of her approach is now being embraced by the State Government and Emergency Services.

Singer Jessica Mauboy introduces this updated program on the life of Yothu Yindi frontman Mr Yunupingu. "Growing up in Darwin, everyone looked up to him, and it made me want to do that line of work. I wanted to be just like that," she says. Mr Yunupingu went from school teacher to school principal to international rock star when the song 'Treaty' became a hit around the world. He was named Australian of the Year in 1992. But his health deteriorated in the last 7 years due to a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and alcohol dependence. In 2009 Australian Story documented his battle with kidney failure and his reluctant acceptance of a life on dialysis three times a week. He was awaiting a kidney transplant when he passed away last month, aged 56. The updated program includes new material on Mr Yunupingu's life at his home in Arnhem Land in his final years, as well as fresh interviews with his family, friends and music industry luminaries Molly Meldrum and Michael Gudinski.

This week, the story of a young Adelaide student and the obsession that's made her an international publishing sensation. She's 28 year old Hannah Kent and her novel on an Icelandic murderess sparked a bidding war. Now there is talk of a Hollywood movie. It started with a Rotary exchange visit to Iceland when Hannah Kent was just 17. She felt lonely and claustrophobic in the alien 24 hour darkness of the Icelandic winter. But hearing, by chance, about the execution site she became intrigued by the story of Agnes Magnusdottir, beheaded for murder in Iceland some 200 years ago, and the last woman to suffer that fate. In the program Hannah Kent tells the untold story of her decade long interest in the macabre story of Agnes and how it's taken her to strange and unexpected places.

This week's program is about a fatal plane crash and the disturbing facts that emerged in the aftermath. It started when a young woman called Samantha Hare surprised her partner with the gift of a joy flight off the coast of South East Queensland back in 2008. In the pilot's seat was a well known, colourful and seemingly highly reputable aviator called Barry Hempel. But unbeknownst to Samantha Hare, Mr Hempel had been stripped of his commercial pilot's license - and there were other worrying issues too. Mr Hempel and Samantha's fiance, Ian Lovell, were both killed when their plane plummeted into the sea. This week's episode tells the story of Samantha Hare and her five year quest for answers in the face of a 'smorgasbord' of baffling and worrying questions.

Monday's Australian Story centres on a crime that has been described as one of the 'top five' unsolved murder mysteries in Australian history. Twenty years after the heyday of the Ned Kelly gang, the nation was shocked by the brutal deaths of three siblings on a bush track. A young farmer Michael Murphy and his two sisters were bludgeoned to death near the town of Gatton, 100 kilometres from Brisbane in 1898. The trio were returning from a Boxing Day outing. The savagery of their deaths was all the more puzzling because of the absence of any apparent motive. Retired dentist, turned author Stephanie Bennett has spent years painstakingly trawling through archival evidence and she now believes she's cracked the case. Others are less convinced. But some Murphy descendants are grateful for her efforts. They say the crime scarred the family down the generations, and believe that Stephanie Bennett may indeed have delivered 'the truth'...

Sami Shah has been in Australia for less than one year but he's already making a name for himself on the stand up comedy circuit in Western Australia. Shah was fronting his own groundbreaking satirical show on TV in Karachi; a dangerous line of work in the political environment of Pakistan. After a narrow escape from a devastating bomb attack he and his wife and small daughter applied through the official migration process to settle in Australia. Under the terms of their migration visa they were obliged to settle in a rural area and ended up in the small town of Northam. When Sami Shah took to the stage with his cutting edge stand up routines, not everyone was amused...

When Lisa Poulos stepped into a Melbourne taxi six years ago, she had no idea how her life was about to turn upside down. To that point she appeared to her friends to be the woman who had everything. But when her taxi was involved in a minor accident that day in Melbourne, it set off a dramatic series of events, eventually revealing a dark truth that nobody knew was there. It gave Lisa Poulos the idea to turn her bad fortune into something positive. As a prominent player in the fashion world, she decided to use her contacts to create a project which would help other women facing the same difficulties. But first she had to get used to the idea of laying her life bare...

Australian Story on May 27 will feature an updated edition of the Logie awarding winning episode on former First Lady Hazel Hawke, first aired ten years ago. There will be new interviews and other material from those closest to Mrs Hawke in her final days. The death of the former First Lady is generating a huge groundswell of public affection and mourning. She has been described as Australia's Eleanor Roosevelt. With close cooperation from the family, Australian Story will showcase the highlights of a courageous, groundbreaking and sometimes tumultuous life, marked by public service as well as personal triumphs and hard knocks.

This week's program is about a man recently named by The Australian newspaper as the most influential broadcaster in Australia. He's Radio 2GB 'shock jock' Ray Hadley and his top rating morning radio show is heard all along the East Coast. Hadley was driving taxis when a chance encounter gave him the break he'd dreamed of since he was a kid in a working class suburb. It wasn't long before he toppled John Laws from the number one spot in the notoriously tough Sydney radio market. Ray Hadley is loud, opinionated and controversial. He's a tireless worker for charity. And he's merciless towards politicians. In this program Ray Hadley opens up and reveals some uncomfortable truths about the past and about the temper that's been getting him into trouble.

This week's program concludes the dramatic story of Olympic cyclist Anna Meares. Meares has dominated women's cycling for nearly a decade. Her first big rival was her own sister and then came fierce battles on and off the track with British favourite Victoria Pendleton. The program reveals details of the audacious victory plan devised by the Australian team in the lead up to the London Olympics and the surprising aftermath...

This week's program is about a woman who provided some of Australia's most memorable moments at the last Olympics. Anna Meares, the unflinching 'coalminer's daughter' from Central Queensland, has dominated cycling for nearly a decade. The story of her triumphant return to the track after a catastrophic accident has been well documented. What is less well known is the detail of the psychological struggles she navigated on the road to the London Olympics. Her ascendancy in her sport came at some cost to personal and family relationships. As a consequence of Anna's rise, her sister's dreams were crushed. And then there were her famous on and off track battles with the British favourite Victoria Pendleton which soon became the stuff of tabloid legend. From the UK, Pendleton provides candid new insights into the intense rivalry with Meares. And for the first time, Anna Meares reveals her own inside story.

In a 35-year career, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox has forged a reputation as an officer who goes out of his way to look after victims. He rose to national prominence late last year when he defied police rules and disclosed explosive allegations that the Catholic Church had consistently covered up the crimes of paedophile priests in the Newcastle-Hunter region of NSW. The decision to speak out occurred on the spur of the moment during an emotional public forum. Fox says he thought at the time that the consequences would be 'fairly heavy'. But he walked onto the public stage anyway, and addressed hundreds of abuse victims and their supporters. Other appearances followed and within weeks, the Prime Minister announced a far-reaching Royal Commission into the sexual abuse of children in institutions. Fox, along with others, is credited with helping to trigger it. Call Of Duty features exclusive footage of Peter Fox at the meeting that changed his life.

Monday's Australian Story provides new insights into a saga that's captured the imaginations of all kinds of people all around the world. On Saturday, Melbourne staged a final farewell to Black Caviar. It's been two years since the champion mare first featured on Australian Story. Since then her story has gone global and now rivals that of Phar Lap in terms of regard and recognition.

This week's program concludes the story of Australia II's epic quest to win the America's Cup and end the longest winning streak in sporting history. This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of those nation defining moments. The victory has been listed alongside the Moon Landing and the assassination of President John F Kennedy as one of the events that Australians regard as most memorable. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Syndicate Head Alan Bond and skipper John Bertrand are among those who provide intriguing accounts of what was really going on behind the scenes. We also examine the legacy of the win, and discover what's happened to some of the key players in the decades that have followed.

If you are a certain age chances are you remember exactly where you were in the early hours of September 27 thirty years ago. It was the day an Australian yacht ended the longest winning streak in sporting history, grabbing the legendary America's Cup from the grandees of the New York Yacht Club. Unprecedented and spontaneous celebrations broke out all around the nation from the coastal fringe and deep into the Outback. In this thirtieth anniversary year, with many of the key players now advanced in age, Australian Story revisits those euphoric and nation defining events. There are surprising and entertaining new insights from all the main players, including then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, Alan Bond and his former wife Eileen and skipper John Bertrand. Also interviewed are Australia II crew member Grant Simmer, London Olympics gold medallist Tom Slingsby and Sydney born 2010 America's Cup winning skipper James Spithill.

This week we're returning to Cunnamulla in outback Queensland and the story of a newspaper, an unlikely romance and a grazing property. James Clark left the bush and found success in the city. But he was drawn home and then chased a new dream of running the local paper. In the process, he divided the town. As you'll see, there've been a number of significant arrivals down on the farm since we last visited.

We first profiled official war artist Ben Quilty last September as he worked on portraits of Australian soldiers who'd served in Afghanistan. Quilty spoke then of the strong bonds he'd formed with many of his subjects, including some of the elite special operations troops who he says revealed a depth of emotional distress that shocked him to his core. Six months later, Quilty's exhibition is now on tour and attracting much interest. In the intervening time, his own journey from artist to angry advocate has led him to argue for better treatment for returned soldiers who he says continue to suffer from their time in the war zone.

Monday night's program has the emotional conclusion to our story about former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and his family. This episode has the inside story of a series of dramatic highs and lows on and off the field. On the cricket pitch, Ponting's triumphant century in the 2003 World Cup final, losing and regaining the Ashes, and the PR disaster of 'Monkeygate'. While at home, unfolding behind the scenes, there was a long and private struggle to parenthood, disclosed here for the first time by Ponting and his wife Rianna. When Ponting suddenly decided to retire last year, it was front page news around the nation and even Federal Parliament stopped briefly to mark the occasion. In this program, Ponting, his parents, and wife Rianna tell the full inside story behind the decision...

This week's program has the untold personal story of an Australian cricket captain through the eyes of those closest to him. The cricket captaincy occupies a unique place in the national consciousness. When Ricky Ponting, the first Tasmanian to lead the team, retired from international cricket last December, grown men cried, parliamentary business was interrupted and a gaping hole was left in the once all conquering Australian cricket team. The episode reveals how a prankster from a tough housing commission background in Launceston made the transition to one of the most decorated cricketers of all time and the nation's best batsman after the mighty Sir Donald Bradman. Wife Rianna is credited with being a major influence in the transformation. In Monday's program she provides her first ever extended interview with some surprising, highly personal and candid insights.

This week, the story of three young Australians and their mission to rescue an orphaned elephant calf on the Indonesian Island of Sumatra. Sumatran elephants are officially listed as critically endangered, driven out of their habitat by encroaching industries – in particular, palm oil production. It is estimated that there are now only two or three thousand left in the wild. But against all the odds, one Sumatran elephant calf has become a symbol of hope in an otherwise bleak situation. The program has the heart warming story of 'Bona' and three friends mobilising to save her. The three are all ex employees of the late Steve Irwin, who had a particular interest in the plight of the Sumatran elephants. As this episode reveals, some of those closest to the 'Crocodile Hunter' played a key role in the saga...

This week's program is about a man who's become an international pioneer in a significant but unlikely field. A failed medical school student turned journalist, Peter Ford hit the big time in the US as a CNN anchorman. He travelled extensively and covered many big stories around the world. But beneath the telegenic exterior an 'inner nerd' was lurking. Using his self-taught computer code-writing skills, Peter developed software that enables the most severely disabled people to communicate. His invention has even attracted the interest of Professor Stephen Hawking...

Stevie Wright became a superstar at the age of sixteen, with the iconic 1960s rock band The Easybeats - the first Australian group to achieve chart success in the UK, US and Europe. He went on to win another generation of fans as a solo artist with hits like 'Evie', 'Hard Road' and 'Black Eyed Bruiser'. But along with the exhilarating highs, he has experienced devastating lows - which on several occasions could have been fatal. Now the legend of Stevie Wright is being rekindled with help from fellow musician and lifelong fan, Scott McRae who has created a 'rockumentary' live show of his idol's extraordinary life. Australian Story has recorded Stevie Wright's last public performance - a special poignant encore in Scott McRae's stage show.

Scott Johnson was a young man with everything going for him - a maths genius with a bright future. But on a trip to a Sydney beach one sunny day in 1988, everything changed. The search for the truth of what happened that day has brought together a wealthy internet pioneer, an international super sleuth, and the NSW Police Cold Case Unit. This week, the story of their quest to solve a twenty-five-year-old-mystery.

In 2004 Sam Cullen and his wife Janet bought a rare collection of photographs at a London auction. They were captivated by the haunting faces in the photos. The couple began piecing together a puzzle few thought could ever be solved. Their quest took them to the beautiful Clarence River region of NSW and into some of the most troubling aspects of our history. Now, eight years down the track, the Cullens' labour of love has turned up some astonishing and surprising results which are revealed for the first time on Monday night...

In this final program for 2014, Australian Story visits a remote West Australian cattle station. The story of historic 'Wooleen' and the young couple who live there drew a big reaction from viewers three years ago. Since that time, the big challenges of the property have increased for David Pollock and Frances Jones... Jones arrived at 'Wooleen' from a lush, green suburb in outer Melbourne during a gap year trip. She fell for the station and its owner and has been there ever since. Together, the pair have embarked on a radical venture to return the rangelands to good health by destocking and replicating natural ecosystems. But with drought gripping WA their beliefs are now being put to the ultimate test...

This week's program concludes the story of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke. A generation ago he basked in the kind of sustained acclaim that's become rare in politics. Mr Hawke will be 85 next month. It's a milestone in a life marked by personal drama and four successive election victories. This moving final episode covers the most dramatic years of all including the Hawke ascendancy in the eighties, loss of the Prime Ministership, family breakdown, re-marriage and reconciliation. It includes interviews with closest family members and major political figures and commentators. It sheds new light on a complex man, an intriguing family, and a momentous era...

It's been a while since the words popular and politician appeared credibly in the same sentence. But a generation ago one Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, basked in sustained acclaim. He turns 85 next month. It's a watershed in a life marked by much drama and four successive election victories. This first ever television biography of Mr Hawke features fascinating previously unpublished family photographs and footage. It includes interviews with closest family members and significant political figures and commentators. It sheds new light on a complex man, an intriguing family, and a momentous era...

This week's program reveals the improbable saga of the making of a very modern family. It's a narrative that 'starts at the end - and ends at the beginning'. Advertising executive Aminah Hart lost two baby boys as a result of a genetic disorder passed from mother to son. Anonymous sperm donation and IVF offered a last chance to have a healthy child. Of five possible donors one stood out, a cattle breeder from Phillip Island who, crucially, described himself as 'happy and healthy'. When blue eyed blonde baby Leila arrived two years ago, events took a most unexpected turn...

This week's program concludes the astonishing family crime saga behind the disappearance of Melbourne teenager Prue Bird. Her mother Jenny had long suspected Prue's abduction might be payback for family connections that link back to the notorious Russell Street police bombing. But Melbourne police failed to get a break on the case and Prue's disappearance lingered for years in the missing persons files. A last ditch effort by Jenny Bird led to a reward being offered and a sensational confession from an unexpected quarter. In this compelling conclusion, the schism in Jenny Bird's family is laid bare. There are new answers but profoundly disturbing questions remain...

On a summer's day in 1992 a thirteen year old schoolgirl called Prue Bird vanished without a trace. Her mother Jenny returned from the local swimming pool and found only an open door and an uneaten meal. It became one of Victoria's most enduring mysteries. For Jenny Bird there was an extra twist to the torment. Was the disappearance connected to the underworld links of Prue's doting grandmother - and to the Russell Street police station bombing six years earlier? For the first time all the stakeholders in an astonishing crime saga tell their side of a real life 'underbelly' saga still impacting today on three generations of one family.

More than three-million viewers watched Karise Eden named as 'The Voice Australia' in 2012. One week later, she had four songs in the top five ARIA singles chart, the first artist to achieve that since The Beatles in 1964. But her national tour, a few months later, was cancelled after just four performances. Much has eventuated since then and Karise Eden is gradually coming to terms with her 'turbulent' past. In Monday's moving Australian Story the 22 year old singer finally reveals what happened after The Voice...

This Monday, we find out what's been happening in the lives of a family who featured in one of our most popular programs. It's the story of radio and TV personality Ian 'Dano' Rogerson and his wife Nicole, who gave up their home, successful careers and an exciting lifestyle for the love of their son, Jack. Diagnosed with autism as a toddler, Jack Rogerson was hyperactive, could barely speak and was unable to express ordinary affection. They were determined to do whatever it took to enable their son to lead a mainstream lifestyle. Five years on, the family's determination is being richly rewarded. At 18, Jack has recently graduated from a mainstream high school and is looking forward to a career in the hospitality industry...

Fiona O'Loughlin emerged out of Alice Springs some thirteen years ago as a 'fully formed' 36 year old stand up comedy sensation. She wowed local and international audiences with unconventional stories of raising five children in the outback. Then after collapsing on stage in Brisbane, she confessed she was an alcoholic. But behind the scenes, the drinking got worse. In Monday's program, Ms O'Loughlin and those closest to her candidly confront the darkest demons of an issue that has famously bedevilled many male comedians, but is less acknowledged by women in the public eye. It's been a tough road but she has just achieved her first year in recovery, and is back performing to sell out audiences. She's also returned to Alice and the family home she abandoned three years ago at the height of her problems.

This week’s program concludes the family saga of the woman credited as the ‘silent operator’ of the Australian entertainment industry. Jan Russ helped launch some young stars who have gone on to fame in Hollywood but unbeknown to anybody, her own life was as drama filled as anything on the big screen. Russ’s motto has been ‘the show must go on’ and so it has – not least through the new ascendancy of her son Sam who’s emerged as the king of comedy on South Korean TV. But she never stopped thinking about the earlier baby she adopted out in heartbreaking circumstances five decades ago. In Monday's program we find out what happened when Jan tracked down her lost daughter...

This week’s program looks at the untold stranger than fiction life of a woman well recognised in the entertainment industry for her role in helping to launch the careers of some of Australia's biggest stars. Jan Russ was the initial casting director for Neighbours and remained in the role for nearly 25 years, launching performers like Jason Donovan, Kylie Minogue, Delta Goodrem, Natalie Imbruglia, Liam Hemsworth and Guy Pearce. But until now the Australian star-maker has hidden the private pain of her own tumultuous real life story. Jan Russ's personal story has all the ingredients of a prime time drama playing out over fifty years and several continents. It starts with a teenage pregnancy and a lifelong quest to find a daughter adopted out in particularly harrowing circumstances. There's a stellar career, a doomed marriage and in the last couple of years the unexpected ascendancy of a son who has suddenly become a huge hit on South Korean television...

What happens when a former soldier from Tasmania arrives in Canberra with a potentially vital role to play in governing the nation? Jacqui Lambie is the most outspoken and controversial of Clive Palmer's 'Palmer United Party' senators who hold crucial balance of power votes in the senate. Australian Story has been 'embedded' with Jacqui Lambie as she learns the ropes in parliament and navigates a series of headline-grabbing dramas. We meet her family back in Burnie, Tasmania and track her through Canberra as she deals with everything from deciding what to wear to meet a PM she's just described as a 'political psychopath', to outrage over her 'well hung' and 'Chinese invasion' moments. She also talks candidly about being a single mother, her addictions, despair and her propensity to 'take a swing at opponents'. Her headline-grabbing antics are making news but seasoned commentators suggest she should not be underestimated. So what are her real motives and what about her vulnerabilities?

This week's program looks at the unlikely evolution of an unexpected global comedy hit. Christiaan Van Vuuren was devastated when he was diagnosed with drug resistant tuberculosis and forced into hospital quarantine for six months. To pass the time he started making humorous video clips documenting his experiences in the isolation ward. The videos went viral around the world on YouTube. Now Christiaan and his brother Connor are being courted by some of the big players in the film and TV industry...

This week’s program goes behind the scenes with a tenacious regional newspaper reporter who last year won Australia’s top journalism award. Joanne McCarthy’s exposure of a national scandal emerging in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley region played a large part in the establishment of one of Australia’s biggest-ever Royal Commissions. Her efforts so impressed former Prime Minister Julia Gillard that one of her last acts in office was to send a personal note to Ms McCarthy. As this program reveals, it’s been a marathon effort for both Joanne McCarthy and some of those closest to her, including her parents and ten siblings....

In this week's program, aeronautical engineer Dr Lauren Burns finally finds out the identity of her biological father. To the amazement of all, he turns out to be part of a particularly distinguished Australian family. We join Lauren as she meets him for the first time – and gets to know her half siblings. At the same time two other young women, also created from donor sperm, have been trying desperately to determine their biological inheritance. But for them, it's a world of pain and no easy answers. Together their stories raise challenging ethical, medical and legal issues that few would have envisaged a generation ago.

At the age of 21, aeronautical engineer Lauren Burns was told a family secret that turned her world upside down. Barbara Burns revealed that Lauren was conceived in a Melbourne clinic using donor sperm. The man she knew as her father was infertile. Mrs Burns says the culture at the time was to 'take the child home and forget how it was conceived. Just pretend it was your child and nobody knew.' Helped by her mother, Lauren embarked on a long and arduous search to discover the identity of her donor father – a man she knew only as 'C11' – from the first letter of his surname and his height, 5'11". Four fruitless years later, Lauren had one final card to play. What she managed to finally discover was truly astonishing. 'Searching For C11', a two part Australian Story special, untangles a complex ethical and emotional web involving not just Lauren Burns but two other young women...

This week we meet an 'ageing' activist who admits he's spent close to fifty years tilting at windmills without a lot to show for it... until now. Drew Hutton seems as surprised as anyone that nearing seventy, he masterminded 'Lock the Gate' a big and effective people power campaign against coal seam gas. And he's done it by uniting former sworn enemies – the farmers and the greens. He's also mobilised the support of his old school teacher, influential 'shock jock' Alan Jones. But as we reveal, this late life 'success' has come at a high cost to his health and his personal life.

This week's Australian Story is proof that from little things big things can grow. Three years ago we told the story of emerging young comedians Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman who were making a big impact on the Australian comedy circuit with their provocative satire. In Divide and Conquer we discover how Aamer Rahman has since become an internet sensation, making news around the world and how Nazeem Hussain got the opportunity of a lifetime; his very own TV show. And apologies to their female fans, one of the men has even found love; growing up, moving out of the parental home and getting married.