Katrina Gorry was a key part of the Matildas line-up that captured Australia’s imagination during last year’s women’s football World Cup. But the road to glory hasn’t been an easy one for the 31-year-old mid fielder.
Just a few years before, she was struggling with an eating disorder and considering walking away from the game.
All that changed with the birth of daughter Harper in 2021, which re-ignited Katrina’s love for the game and gave her a new-found respect for her body.
As the Matildas prepare for the Olympics in Paris, Katrina Gorry is at the top of her game.
When Mechelle Turvey's 15-year-old son Cassius died following an attack on the way home from school, she could have succumbed to the sense of rage expressed by many at rallies and vigils across the nation.
Instead, she called for calm and unity, determined that her son’s legacy would be a positive one. She has taken a job with the WA police and was named WA of the Year in recognition of her community work.
Perth siblings Minjee and Min Woo Lee are golf stars on the rise, driven by a friendly rivalry to become the world’s No 1 female and male golfer, respectively.
But they couldn’t be more different in personality and how they approach the game.
Minjee is an introvert by nature, happy to shun the limelight, while the extroverted Min Woo is considered a breath of fresh air in the staid world of golf, with his swashbuckling style and huge social media presence.
Australian Story followed Minjee and Min Woo as they competed in the Women’s and Men’s Australian Open late last year, giving a rare glimpse into the lives of the sibling superstars and the extraordinary pressure that golfers endure at the highest levels of the game.
Anjali Sharma is not your average climate activist – instead of chaining herself to machinery or unfolding banners on landmarks, the 19-year-old is taking her fight for a cleaner future direct to the lawmakers in federal parliament.
Her work is the cumulation of a four-year journey, which started on the streets of Melbourne protesting climate inaction, then to the Federal Court to sue the Minister for the Environment, and now lobbying politicians for legislative change to ultimately end fossil fuel production in Australia.
In the first of an occasional series of Australian Story specials, Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett sits down for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation with Leigh Sales.
The activist, singer and former politician looks back over the highs and lows and of a life well lived. He talks about losing both his parents when he was young and how that instilled in him a desire to always keep moving forward and creating. He looks back with pride on his decades with Midnight Oil and talks movingly about the importance of family, especially his relationship with Doris, his wife of nearly 40 years.
With the release of his second solo album, Garrett shows no sign of slowing down.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bon Scott joining AC/DC, Australian Story repeats its hugely popular profile of the band’s late, great frontman. Featuring a wealth of archival material, On the Brink covers the highs and lows of a remarkable life.
Bon honed his skills in bands such as The Valentines and Fraternity before being introduced in 1974 to AC/DC, who were unhappy with their singer at the time. He joined them on stage for a few songs and the rest was history.
By the late 70s the band was on the brink of world domination and Bon was fulfilling his wildest dreams. But years of excess were catching up with him and in 1980 he died in London from acute alcohol poisoning. He was just 33.
Family, friends and fellow musicians provide insights into Bon’s passions and demons and his state of mind at the time of his death. The episode includes the first and only interview with Bon’s brother Derek and a rare interview with Bon’s replacement in AC/DC, Brian Johnson.
Australian Story goes behind the scenes with the 2024 Australians of the Year as they reach a remarkable milestone, even they never thought possible.
Professors Richard Scolyer and Georgina Long made headlines last year after trialling a groundbreaking protocol they’d devised for melanoma patients on Richard’s incurable brain cancer.
Now, 10 months since Richard was first diagnosed, our cameras travel alongside him once more as scientists scan his brain for any signs the aggressive cancer has returned.
When Gina Chick won the first season of the television survival show Alone Australia, having lasted 67 days in the Tasmanian wilderness, her life changed forever.
In a wide-ranging conversation with Leigh Sales, filmed before a live audience, Gina talks about how overwhelmed she has been by the outpouring of love and support she has experienced since Alone Australia and her 2023 episode of Australian Story aired. She explains how that affirmation has helped her make peace with her big, wild personality, something that made life difficult for her socially when she was a child.
Gina discusses her 35-year friendship with actor Hugh Jackman, her extraordinarily close relationship with her ex-husband Lee and, most movingly, how sharing the loss of her three-year-old daughter to cancer with a national audience has helped her.
Arnold Dix became a hero to millions of people across India when he helped rescue 41 men from a tunnel collapse high in the Himalayas.
Man Underground explores the bizarre and circuitous career path that culminated in this moment of international recognition. For Arnold Dix wears many hats – barrister, scientist, flower farmer, truck driver, engineer and tunnelling expert.
Dix explains the difficult situation that faced him at the site of the collapse and the pressure he felt as the whole of India became transfixed by the unfolding drama.
“We showed the world that good people working together can do the impossible,” he says.
When Federal Labor Minister Tanya Plibersek learned her daughter Anna had been abused during a high school relationship, it was the beginning of the family’s brutal fight for justice. Now Anna Coutts-Trotter is on a mission to support other survivors grappling with the aftermath of abuse.
Off the page, Leila McDougall’s life reads like a blockbuster, full of obstacles, adversity, triumph, loss and love.
When the young farmer from Victoria wanted to draw attention to the issues her rural community faces, she struck a cunning plan, bluffing her way into acting school, then making her own feature film with ‘Chopper’ actor Simon Lyndon, who has also battled his own demons.
Modelling agent Chelsea Bonner has been at the forefront of the fight to change perceptions of beauty.
As the daughter of Tony Bonner, who played Jerry the helicopter pilot in Skippy, Chelsea grew up in a family where both parents were revered for their looks.
Australian Story first met Chelsea in 2016 when, as a modelling agent, she was fighting to change the industry to be more inclusive.
Now Chelsea is taking on an even bigger battle — artificial intelligence — where algorithms are creating fake models and alarming beauty standards.
Josh Niland is arguably Australia's hottest chef right now, but it was a fear of failure that pushed the young chef to wild experimentation.
To save money, he began using parts of the fish he'd been throwing away, making bold culinary concoctions – think ice cream from eyeballs — with stunning success.
The genesis of his drive and love of hospitality: a life and death battle when he was just eight years old.
Shaun Christie-David runs a restaurant empire like no other.
While he may be Australia's 'most unlikely' restaurateur — he can't cook, stuffs up orders, swears when excited (which is often) and doesn't care about making money – he's found the recipe for success with an open mind and big heart.
In the second instalment of Australian Story's restaurateur trilogy Shaun and his team show how they're changing lives one meal at a time.
In the third and final instalment of Australian Story’s series on restaurateurs, Kylie Kwong looks back on her stellar 30-year career and reveals why it is time to embark on a new direction in life.
Kylie reflects on the pivotal moments of her life, including the trauma she and her wife Nell endured when their son Lucky was stillborn in 2012 and how she channelled that grief into something positive.
Other interviewees include friend Nigella Lawson and friend and mentor Maggie Beer.
As legendary rock band Cold Chisel prepare for their 50th-anniversary tour, Australian Story looks back over the band's colourful history and examines why they have become such an essential part of Australian culture.
All four surviving members – Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss, Don Walker and Phil Small – recount how the band rose from industry outsiders playing rough suburban pubs to arena-filling rock royalty.
The episode looks beyond the band's history to explore the enduring impact and appeal of their songs.
"The songs start as hits and then they become anthems," says journalist, writer and fan Trent Dalton. "And then, with time, they become sacred."
Quaden Bayles is no stranger to public attention.
He was only nine when a video of him crying after being bullied over his dwarfism went viral and captured international concern and condemnation.
Now four years later, 13-year-old Quaden is back in the spotlight, this time for a happy reason.
Legendary Mad Max director George Miller reached out after seeing the video and gave him the opportunity of a lifetime.