Australian Story is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. As of 2013, it attracted an average audience of more than one million viewers each week, making it one of the most popular programs on ABC Television.
Format
Australian Story is a weekly half-hour program which airs on Mondays at 8pm (AEST). The program is categorised as a documentary style current affairs program. This hybrid categorisation Profiles account for both Australian celebrities and lesser known more ordinary Australians. It quickly started focusing on one single story for each episode, this is the format it still uses today.
Caroline Jones was previously the program's presenter and would introduce the subject at the beginning of an episode. Occasionally a high-profile person would fill this role, such one off presenters included the likes of Matt Damon, Elton John and Dawn Fraser.
Episodes of Australian Story have always aired on a Monday night at 8:00pm (AEST) on ABC TV.
|-
! 2013–14
| 1.3 million
|-
! 2014–15
| 1.3 million
|-
! 2015–16
| 1.2 million
|-
! 2016–17
| 1.1 million
|-
! 2017–18
| 976,000
|-
! 2018–19
| 999,000
! 2025
| 1.38m
|}
Recognition and awards
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! Year !! Awards
|-
! 1997
| Walkley Award for 'Best Current Affairs Report, Feature, Documentary or Special' to Ben Cheshire and Sophie Emtage for "Valentines Day"
|-
! 1998
|Walkley Award for 'Coverage of Indigenous Affairs' to John Millard for "Camilla's Conversion"
Australian Sports Commission Award for 'Best profiling of an Athlete, Team or Coach' to Wendy Page and Ian Harley for "Man of the Century"
2024
TV Week Logie Awards: Best Current Affairs Program
2025
TV Week Logie Awards: Best Current Affairs Program
2026
Australian Screen Editors Guild Ellie Awards
Best Editing in News & Current Affairs
Winner: Andrew Cooke ASE (Australian Story Making Lachlan Murdoch – Part 2: Money)
Highly commended: Angela Leonardi (Australian Story The River – Part 1 and 2)
NSW and ACT Current Affairs
GOLD Tom Hancock (Australian Story “Betrayal -- The Story of Hannah Grundy”)
Criticism
Australian Story has received criticism due to the fact that it does not belong solely to one genre. as well as a documentary series. This article exposed in more detail Rush's prior drug offences. This was a notable episode because Australian Story had the exclusive interview with Hollingworth after a major school sex abuse scandal he had inadvertently played a part in. In "The Gilded Cage" Hollingworth implied that a 14-year-old girl was the one to initiate the sexual relationship she had with a Priest. These comments were met with controversy from the Australian public and he eventually resigned from his position as Governor-General over the matter.|alt=]]
In 2004 on 1 November, Australian Story aired the first episode of a two-part profile entitled "Into the Forest". This two-part profile explores the crimes of infamous Australian serial killer Ivan Milat. Producers Ben Cheshire and John Stewart won the TV Week Logie Award for 'Most Outstanding Public Affairs Programme' for this profile. The episode is notable because it attracted a complete audience of 2 million people. The profile detailed the life of Kerry Packer who had died in 2005 after a long and highly influential career.