Australian Story

Described as more like a “rock star” than a painter, Sophie Cape never wanted to be an artist. A former elite athlete, she was destined for the Olympic Games in two separate sports — first as a downhill ski racer and then as a track cyclist — but her sporting career was shattered after suffering catastrophic injury and undergoing controversial “experimental” body-modification surgery intended to ease her pain and help her performance. Left physically and psychologically traumatised, Sophie Cape then transformed herself into one of Australia’s most celebrated young artists. It’s a profession she has long resisted, as both her mother Ann Cape and her grandmother the late Gwenna Welch are highly regarded artists. But now Sophie Cape has no doubt about becoming the third generation artist in her family: “Art saved me.”

Claudine and Dave Fitzgibbon always planned for a big family. But after giving birth to a healthy girl in 2013, those plans went awry. Over the next three years they fell pregnant three times and each time their unborn baby was found to have spina bifida, a congenital defect of the spine that can lead to serious problems with mobility and brain function. They reluctantly discontinued the first two pregnancies and by the time of the third diagnosis they were shattered. In desperation they turned to their doctor, asking: “Is there nothing else that we can do?” This time the doctor held out a sliver of hope. A ground-breaking in-utero surgical procedure had just been performed in Australia for the first time. While not a cure, it had been found in the US to improve the quality of life for babies suffering spina bifida. Australian Story has followed the couple over the course of their journey. Claudine became the second person in Australia to undergo the complex operation and they now have their desperately wanted baby, Harvey – the miracle they prayed for.

Critics have heralded Melody Pool as one of the best singer-songwriters in Australia. She has been chosen as the support act for recent Australian tours by the Eagles and Rodriguez, and played alongside the Milk Carton Kids in the United Kingdom and Europe. But the 25-year-old singer from Kurri Kurri in New South Wales struggles with demons that threaten to derail her blossoming career. Five years ago Melody met singer Harry Hookey at the Tamworth Country Music Festival and fell in love. The romance ended when Melody discovered the man of her dreams was also involved with someone else. She broke down and put her heartbreak on the page. Her songwriting has been compared with that of Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell. Despite the accolades for her music, Melody’s turmoil continued. She was eventually diagnosed with depression. According to Beyond Blue, depression affects one in sixteen young Australians, anxiety affects one in six, and suicide is the biggest killer in that age group. Unchained Melody provides a rare insight into an illness that is at epidemic proportions.

With early signs the Great Barrier Reef may be bleaching again, this episode tells the timely story of a scientist’s passion and determination to save some of the world’s great coral reefs from extinction. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg is at the forefront of a bold new global plan, funded by US philanthropy, to combat the devastating effects of climate change on coral reefs. A marine biologist and underwater adventurer, Professor Hoegh-Guldberg has been captivated by the ocean and coral reefs since childhood when he would play with real fish instead of toys in his bathtub. He created controversy 18 years ago by predicting the death of many of the world’s coral reefs if sea temperatures continued to heat up from climate change. At the time his projections were met with scepticism and he was accused of being alarmist. But since then Professor Hoegh-Guldberg’s overall predictions about the impact of climate change on coral reefs have proved correct. His work in preserving coral reefs is supported by many in the international community including Sir David Attenborough, who is featured in this program.

The unsolved murder of Perth brothel madam Shirley Finn is one of Australia’s most notorious cold cases. For Shirley Finn’s daughter, Bridget Shewring, it is a personal tragedy. In June 1975 her mother’s body was found slumped in the front seat of her Dodge, four bullet holes to the back of the head. From the outset rumours of police and political involvement swirled around the case, many believing that Shirley Finn was silenced to stop her revealing the secrets of powerful figures in Western Australia. For the past decade Bridget and former journalist Juliet Wills have been seeking an inquest into the murder. Last year, after discovering significant new evidence, they achieved their goal. With that inquest expected later this year Bridget and Juliet take us behind the story of Shirley Finn’s murder, in the hope of encouraging anyone who has further information to come forward.

Mojgan Shamsalipoor came to Australia in 2012, aged 17, after fleeing terrible abuse and trauma in her home country, Iran. The young asylum seeker found sanctuary in Brisbane, living in the community while her application for a protection visa was assessed. She fell in love and married a young Iranian refugee, Milad Jafari, and attended a supportive high school where she regained her self-confidence and became a popular student. But her dreams of a happier future came crashing down. When Australian Story first told of the challenges Mojgan faced, in July last year, she was in immigration detention with no prospect of release. A lot has changed since then. Mojgan has been released back into the community on a bridging visa, but it will expire this month and her future remains uncertain.

One morning in October 2015, two police officers knocked on the door of writer and newspaper columnist Nikki Gemmell. They were there to inform her that her mother Elayn had been found dead in her apartment. An apparent suicide. Did she know of her mother’s plans? Had she inadvertently contributed to her death in some way? Blindsided by shock and guilt, Nikki was left not only devastated but desperately searching for answers. Alarmed, too, that she was suddenly part of a police investigation. A vibrant and independent woman, Elayn had been suffering from chronic pain after a failed foot operation and had subsequently become addicted to painkillers. With four children and a busy career, Nikki had struggled to deal with her mother’s increasing dependence. Now, like a detective, she began to piece together her mother’s secret life. Who had she told of her plans, if not her family? How had she fed her opioid addiction? Recognising that her mother had been forced to die a lonely death to protect her loved ones, Nikki dived down the rabbit hole of the euthanasia debate and unexpectedly found herself an advocate for change.

Tyler Wright was destined to be a future world champion surfer. At just 14 she overtook multiple champions, some twice her age, to become the youngest-ever winner of a Championship Tour event. But the pressure of growing up "on tour" took its toll. Were it not for a timely conversation with her older brother Owen, also a professional surfer, she may have quit her career at just 18. Over the following three years, Tyler developed a reputation for her carefree attitude to competing. Then, after a semi-final loss in 2015, she had an epiphany: she did want to win. But her quest for a world title was thrown into turmoil when Owen Wright suffered a serious brain injury at the treacherous Pipeline break in Hawaii. At 21, Tyler became her brother’s primary carer. She felt at a crossroads: should she quit the tour to be by her brother’s side, or leave him to chase her dream of the world title?

Mal and Mike Leyland were pioneers of outback documentary-making, first setting off to Central Australia in 1960. Mal was just 15 and Mike 19. Their television shows in the 1970s and ’80s were so popular that their theme song, “Ask The Leyland Brothers”, remains familiar to millions of viewers today. But when Mal and Mike decided to branch out into the tourist industry by building their own theme park, Leyland Brothers World, disaster struck and both were bankrupted. The brothers fell out and went their separate ways. Sometime before Mike Leyland’s death in 2009, they reconciled but Mal Leyland continues to have regrets. Sourcing rich archival footage, this program tells the inside story of the Leyland’s rise and fall, and of their final days together.

Peter Lyndon-James is a former ice addict and criminal who now runs ‘the nation’s strictest’ drug rehabilitation centre. At Shalom House in Perth, addicts agree to go ‘cold turkey’ off all drugs including cigarettes, get their heads shaved and go to Christian church services three times a week. The program, which gets no government funding, is proving successful, turning seemingly intractable criminals and addicts into ‘geeks’ – upstanding, productive members of society. Peter Lyndon-James ran a big drug-dealing operation in Western Australia and went to jail on drugs charges until radically changing his life in 2000. In the past four years, Shalom House has seen rapid growth from just a few men to now nearly 80 residents. But not all of them are happy with the strictness of the program.

On the eve of ANZAC Day, Australian Story revisits the secret weapon behind an audacious and top secret World War II mission – a rickety old fishing boat. The inconspicuous MV Krait ferried 14 commandos thousands of kilometres behind enemy lines into Singapore harbour in 1943. The mission? To blow up enemy shipping right in the heart of Japan’s wartime stronghold. The men involved in this extraordinary raid included some from the top secret, so-called ‘Z Special Unit’. For ‘Z Special’ veteran Douglas Herps, telling the story of MV Krait, and preserving the boat for future generations, became his final mission. The Story of the Krait also features Roma Page, whose husband Bob Page was on board MV Krait. It was only when the secret exploits of ‘Z Special Unit’ were finally revealed many years after the war that she came to understand Bob’s bravery and ultimate fate.

When it came to a career, Eddie Woo could have done anything. But, in defiance of social convention and his parents’ wishes, he chose to go into education. From humble beginnings as the child of migrant parents to an internet sensation, he is arguably now the most famous maths teacher in Australia. His freely accessible website, “Wootube”, boasts more than 38,000 subscribers and has attracted nearly 3.8 million views worldwide. And counting. “Wootube” was created to help a pupil who was missing a lot of school due to illness. For Eddie Woo, that student’s experience resonated with memories of his own childhood. Promising to change education forever through sheer drive and compassion, he personifies the term, “the power of one”.

This week Australian Story returns to one of our most popular rural programs – the story of a young pastoralist whose dream is to restore his beloved land back to nature after a century of over-stocking for the wool market. David Pollock’s radical project to remove income-earning livestock from his historic property, Wooleen, shocked his neighbours. And it might have failed but for the unexpected arrival of Frances Jones, a young woman on a gap year from Melbourne. Together, David and Frances concentrated on creating a tourist ecology haven and finding a non-destructive way to run cattle. In the decade since they started their regeneration project, the grass on Wooleen’s semi-arid mulga country, traversed by the Murchison River, is now greener and the river gums are growing for the first time in a century. It made a stunning setting for family, friends and neighbours who came to celebrate the couple’s wedding last month. However, some of their regeneration methods are not without controversy, and their latest strategy risks pitting the newlyweds against their neighbours and ostracising them from the community where David grew up.

The global success of hit movie Lion has made screenwriter Luke Davies one of Hollywood’s hottest properties. But the path to success has not been an easy one. An unhealthy fascination with drugs in his teens turned into an obsession by his early 20s. He and partner Megan Bannister plunged into a decade of heroin addiction, a terrible chapter in their lives that Luke would later immortalise in the novel, and then movie, Candy. Megan – the real Candy – gives her account of those years for the first time on camera. Luke’s parents also speak for the first time about their anguish at their son’s decline. In 1990, after a decade of despair, Luke Davies gave up heroin – a decision that probably saved his life and allowed him to realise his childhood dream of being a writer. Then in 2007 he left Australia to try his luck in Hollywood. After years of financial struggle he struck gold with his script for Lion, winning a BAFTA award and being nominated for an Oscar. This remarkable story of redemption also features candid interviews with actors Dev Patel (Lion), Joel Edgerton, Jacki Weaver and Alex O’Loughlin, directors Neil Armfield and David Michod, and producer Emile Sherman.

This week concludes the two-part exclusive story about Luke Davies – poet, novelist and Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the hit movie Lion. Having pulled himself from the depths of heroin addiction at the beginning of 1990, Luke set about rebuilding his life and career. He wrote Candy, a semi-autobiographical account of his relationship with Megan Bannister and their years of addiction. A film adaptation followed, starring Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish. Luke then gambled everything on a move to Los Angeles. However, he struggled to find work and became increasingly debilitated by the effects of Hepatitis C, a legacy of his heroin addiction. In the past two years, however, Luke has experienced a dramatic change of fortune both personally and professionally. With his Oscars nomination for Lion, a film about motherly love, there was no question who he would take to the ceremony – his own mother Joan, who had supported him unfailingly through all his highs and lows. Australian Story accompanied Luke and Joan to the Oscars and filmed with him extensively in Los Angeles and Sydney. Featuring candid interviews with Luke’s parents and former partners, as well actors Dev Patel (Lion), Joel Edgerton, Jacki Weaver and Alex O’Loughlin, directors Neil Armfield and David Michod, and producer Emile Sherman, this is a remarkable story of redemption.

Anyone who lives in the bush knows it’s nearly impossible to get the same level of medical care as you can in the city. In fact, if you suffer from heart disease and live regionally, you’re 44% more likely to die than your urban counterparts. Australian Story catches up with the latest on Dr Rolf Gomes, the engineer-turned-cardiologist who came up with an ambitious idea to ‘revolutionise’ rural medicine. Last year, Australian Story first followed Dr Gomes’ mobile cardiology clinic as it travelled across Queensland, meeting and treating many of the local characters whose problems might otherwise have gone undiagnosed. Back then, his ‘Heart Bus’ hit a roadblock when the state government rejected his offer to partner to expand the service. Rather than retreat, Dr Gomes fought back and has now ‘risen from the ashes’, thanks to a seven-figure donation from a like-minded philanthropist. Now the ‘Heart Bus’ is set to service even more people, treat more diseases and and travel to more places.

The unsolved 1973 murder of young Sydney mother Lynette White terrified the community and has baffled police for more than 40 years. Lynette’s husband Paul discovered her body when he returned home from work and has lobbied tirelessly in the years since to have the murder re-investigated. When he joined forces with an old friend, former ABC journalist Bob Wurth, those efforts began to bear fruit. Two years ago a cold case investigation began and vital new leads are now emerging. Australian Story was granted rare access to this ongoing investigation, going behind the scenes with homicide detectives as they search for a breakthrough in the case.

Sam Goddard’s story is one of determination and a family’s love in the most devastating circumstances. Australian Story first shared Sam’s journey in 2011 and the story received an overwhelming reaction in Australia and overseas. At the age of 23, a series of strokes had left Sam completely incapacitated and unable to communicate. Seeking a miracle, his family and partner Sally Nielsen searched the internet and stumbled upon the controversial sleeping tablet Stilnox, which they learned was being used overseas to treat people with brain damage. Contrary to medical advice, they took a risk and trialled Sam on Stilnox. The drug had a remarkable effect. Within 15 minutes, Sam was able to talk and express his feelings. Now, six years later, we find out what happened next for Sam Goddard and his family in their search for a miracle.

At 31, Vincent Shin is Australia’s first dedicated in-school lawyer, providing students at The Grange P-12 College in Melbourne’s outer west with advice on everything from fines for fare evasion to the legalities of sexting and how to deal with domestic violence. Vincent is well placed to understand the challenges faced by the school’s students, who come mainly from low socio-economic backgrounds. His childhood and adolescence were blighted by family violence, he mixed with the wrong crowd and failed year 12. He turned his life around, enrolling in TAFE and eventually getting a law degree. On graduating he worked in family law and his new role also provides an opportunity to help children deal with the sorts of experiences he and his family went through. Vincent started opening up about his experiences with domestic violence a few years ago but for the first time he reveals a family secret that shook him to the core. For Vincent Shin, speaking openly about his past is a way to heal.

When Mayor Chagai was six years old he fled civil war in South Sudan, becoming one of Africa’s “lost boys”. In 2006 he came to Australia as a refugee, 19 years old and penniless. A decade later he is a community leader in Western Sydney, drawing on his love of basketball to change the lives of young Sudanese men. Thursday nights in Blacktown used to be called “fight night” as young men from different ethnic groups clashed but Mayor realised sport could heal the trauma of war and keep wayward Sudanese youth out of trouble. He started a basketball program that is turning out the champions of tomorrow. American coaches regularly attend tournaments here to scout for talent and 14 of Mayor’s players have been recruited to the USA. But just as Mayor’s efforts achieve international recognition, family responsibilities weigh heavily and without funding he fears he may have to abandon his program.

As we celebrate NAIDOC Week, Australian Story delves into the largely untold story of Uncle Ossie Cruse, a driving force for Aboriginal rights for more than 50 years. With only a primary school education and having lived as an itinerant worker for years, Uncle Ossie stepped into the world of politics after the 1967 referendum, which saw Indigenous Australians counted in the census for the first time. He was a quiet but persistent negotiator with a knack for getting politicians to come to the table and to listen to the concerns of his people. He took his advocacy all the way to the United Nations and became a member of the World Council of Indigenous People. Now, at 83, Uncle Ossie is seeing a long-held dream come to fruition – the re-establishment of an ancient Aboriginal pathway stretching from the Snowy Mountains to the coast at Eden. It was where Aboriginal people first showed white settlers the safest way to the high country. Uncle Ossie describes it as a shared pathway that will bring divided cultures together in reconciliation – something he has been fighting for all his life.

When Rosie Ayliffe’s only child, Mia Ayliffe-Chung, was murdered last August in a Queensland backpacker hostel it made headlines around the world. The 20-year-old was killed along with fellow British backpacker Tom Jackson, who heroically came to Mia’s aid. Both had embarked on the 88-day farm work scheme in order to secure a second year in Australia on their 417 visa. Not long after Mia died, Rosie discovered widespread sexual, financial and psychological exploitation on the scheme and felt the need to act. She does not want Mia’s death to be futile and is campaigning to make the 88-day farm work scheme safe for backpackers. She wants to ensure that no other parent lives through what she and the Jacksons have endured. We follow her story from the rolling hills of Derbyshire in the UK to the tiny Queensland town of Home Hill as she makes an emotional return to the hostel where her daughter died.

This week concludes the two-part story of Englishwoman Rosie Ayliffe, whose 20-year-old daughter was murdered last year in a Queensland backpacker hostel. Mia Ayliffe-Chung was stabbed to death as was fellow British backpacker Tom Jackson, who heroically came to Mia’s aid. Shortly after Mia’s death Rosie Ayliffe became aware of widespread sexual and financial exploitation of workers involved in the 88-day farm-work scheme that Mia and Tom had embarked upon. Both Mia and Tom were involved in the scheme to secure a second year in Australia on their 417 visas. Rosie does not want her daughter’s death to be in vain so she is on a mission to protect the lives of other young travellers she feels are in danger. In this week’s episode she travels to Australia to find out more about the 88-day farm-work scheme, hearing first-hand accounts of the kinds of exploitation she is determined to stamp out. She also makes an emotional return to the place where her daughter died.

Sydney GP Dr James Best was prepared to throw out the rulebook on autism as his son Sam entered adolescence. Rather than keeping him to routines and “wrapping him in cotton wool”, he wanted to expose the 14-year-old to uncertainty and unpredictability. So Dr Best decided to take a year off work, sell the family house and take his son on a backpacking trip across Africa. It was based on the idea that adolescence represents a particular opportunity for learning, similar to the period during infancy when the brain is highly receptive to change. Although the plan left the parents of some autistic children aghast, it has been hailed as “ground breaking” by researcher Dr David Trembath of Griffith University. But nine days before he was due to leave for Africa, there was a knock on the door that turned Dr Best’s life upside down …

Labor Senator Sam Dastyari was a rising star in the halls of Parliament House, until a political donations scandal brought him undone last year. The colourful 34-year-old Senator came to Australia as a four-year-old, having fled the religious regime in Iran with his sister and parents. He was a gifted student and joined the Labor Party at just 16, enjoying a meteoric rise through the party all the way to the Shadow Ministry. But when news broke that he had asked a business with links to the Chinese Government to pay an office travel bill, the Senator became embroiled in a deepening scandal which cost him his spot on the Opposition Frontbench. Sam Dastyari talks exclusively to Australian Story, answering lingering questions about his conduct.

On a Sunday afternoon in 2012, Donna Thistlethwaite told her partner she was going out to buy groceries. Instead she drove to Brisbane’s Story Bridge and tried to end her life in the wintery waters of the Brisbane River. Donna was a popular, positive-thinking, successful career woman with a loving partner and a young son. She had no history of the mental illnesses that are commonly associated with risk of suicide. Her world unravelled in about 10 days. Donna was lucky enough to get a second chance at life, thanks to a confluence of ‘miracles’ that helped her survive. Australian Story tells a cautionary tale which shows that, with the right set of circumstances and the wrong kind of thinking, suicidal thoughts can happen to just about anyone and how seeking help can save a life. By sharing her story, Donna hopes that anyone feeling suicidal will see that life can be ‘great’ again and reach out for help.

Supermodel Robyn Lawley and her agent Chelsea Bonner live on opposite sides of the world but they’re united in their mission: they want to change the way women are represented in the fashion industry. As teenagers, both were rejected by mainstream model agencies for being too curvy. Robyn Lawley, from Sydney’s western suburbs, had almost given up on her dreams of modelling when she crossed paths with agent Chelsea Bonner. Nearly a decade later, the two have blazed a trail for curvier models through the international houses of high fashion, with Lawley becoming the first plus-size model to feature on the covers of Italian Vogue and in the pages of Australian Vogue and land a contract with a top-end label Ralph Lauren. These two women are changing the face of an industry and challenging deep-seated ideas about beauty.

Australian Federal Police Commander Grant Edwards was once Australia’s strongest man. He was able to pull massive locomotives, aeroplanes and semi-trailers with his brute strength. But no amount of physical power could protect him from psychological injury. Grant was at the coalface of the AFP’s most difficult work, heading up a team investigating child exploitation. The thousands of images and videos he was exposed to took their toll. But as one of those charged with protecting society, he’d always been taught to harden up, close those boxes in the mind and move on. After a highly-charged year training police in Afghanistan, things began to unravel. It took a breakdown for Grant to understand he was injured in ways not seen by the naked eye. After the suicide of an AFP colleague, he decided to go public with his own struggles, becoming a lightning rod for change inside the AFP. Now Commander of the Americas, Grant is on a mission to remove the stigma of mental health not just in policing, but society-wide.

This week we remember Fiona Richardson MP, the Victorian Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, who died of breast cancer on Wednesday. Introduced by her friend Rosie Batty, and with the blessing of her family, we revisit the story in which she revealed that her family had been subjected to shocking violence at the hands of her father. This award-winning story followed Fiona, her mother and brother as they went back to Tanzania to try to understand the enduring scars of their long-held secret. When Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews asked Fiona to become Australia's first Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence, he had no idea of her troubled family history. Using her own experience, Fiona fought to raise awareness of the issue and implement changes in government policy.

Gavin Larkin was the ultimate alpha male: a highly successful advertising executive with friends in high places. But there was a problem with his seemingly perfect life. He was, as he says himself, 'a bit of a prick' and he was deeply unhappy. Gavin decided to change, and in 2009, he used his marketing nous and his high-profile contacts to create R U OK? Day, a national day of action to prevent suicide. But not long after the launch, the super-fit, indomitable Gavin was anything but okay. He died of cancer just after marking R U OK?’s third successful campaign. R U OK? Day has become one of the nation’s most embraced days of action. Six years after we first aired the story of Gavin Larkin, we return to his family to see how Gavin’s extraordinary legacy has helped sustain them through their grief.

John Guthrie and Dennis Cash never wanted kids. In fact, they had never even discussed the idea. But 20 years ago, an ad in the local paper made them stop and think – did they have what it takes to foster a child? Ignoring the doubts of friends and overcoming their own misgivings about how they may be perceived as a same sex couple, they decided to become foster parents. And, despite a rocky start and some bumps along the way, ‘the daughters’ and ‘their Dads’ have morphed into a remarkable 21st-century family. After two decades of fostering and mentoring teenage girls from diverse backgrounds, including Africa and Afghanistan, John and Dennis are the proud fathers of a growing family. In this intimate tale of domestic life, we hear what it’s like to foster and be fostered – the pratfalls, the pitfalls and the complicated joys that only family can bring.

Born with a rare form of dwarfism, actor and dancer Kiruna Stamell has faced ridicule and discrimination all her life. But her determination to be a performer has never wavered and she has overcome every hurdle with dignity and grace. Roles for short-statured actors tend to be one-dimensional and often demeaning but Kiruna refuses to be defined by her height. She chooses to play the kind of roles she might perform in real life – a mother, a lover, a lawyer or a nurse – and by doing so hopes to challenge perceptions of people with dwarfism. For the past 15 years she has worked consistently on stage and screen. Her roles include the film Moulin Rouge, the soap opera EastEnders, the Ricky Gervais comedy Life’s Too Short and three plays at London’s prestigious National Theatre. Australian Story filmed with Kiruna, her family and her husband, actor Gareth Berliner, while she was involved in an Australian production of The Rover.

Is Asperger's syndrome the next stage of human evolution? Professor Tony Attwood believes the "out of the box" thought processes of people on the autism spectrum will solve the world's big problems. He is credited with being the first clinical psychologist to present Asperger's syndrome not as something to be "fixed " but as a gift, evidenced in many of the great inventors and artists throughout history. Professor Attwood is highly regarded for his ability to connect with and bring out the talents of people with Asperger's. He describes himself as a translator between the "neurotypical" and Asperger's worlds. But while Professor Attwood has reached the top of his field, he reveals on Australian Story the personal cost of a missed diagnosis in his own family. Early in his career, he didn't see the signs of Asperger's in his son Will. The consequences were devastating for everyone.

For Belinda Green, beauty was a ticket out of a difficult childhood. She was crowned Miss World in 1972 and was Australia's "It Girl" during the '70s. But something was missing in her life. She began caring for injured wildlife and eventually met an extraordinary vet, Dr Howard Ralph, who inspired a new career path. Now in her sixties, Belinda Green is studying to become a veterinary nurse while volunteering with Dr Ralph in his remarkable wildlife surgery in Braidwood.

Waverley Stanley was a 12-year-old Indigenous student at a country Queensland public school when his teacher Rosemary Bishop spotted "something special" in him. Determined to get Waverley a better education, Mrs Bishop arranged a scholarship at an exclusive private school. Waverley says it changed his life. Nearly 40 years later, Waverley is paying it forward through Yalari, a scholarship program he set up to provide the same opportunity for other Indigenous kids. Yalari, meaning 'child' in the Birra Gubba language, now helps 170 indigenous students a year gain an education at some of Australia's top boarding schools. Behind the success of Yalari is the love story of Waverley Stanley and his wife Llew Mullins, surrogate parents to more than 300 students who’ve been through the Yalari program over the past decade.

Australian Story goes behind-the-scenes with boxing's Mr Nice Guy Jeff Horn and his meteoric rise from bullied teen to welterweight champion of the world. The unknown teacher shot to international fame in July when he beat Manny Pacquiao, an 11-times world champion with $500 million in earnings to his name. It was an unexpected takedown from an unlikely opponent. In a brutal, bloody sport, Jeff Horn is a polite, gentle man who loves nothing more than playing board games with friends or honing his magic tricks on nieces and nephews. Few people thought he was up to the challenge of beating Pacquiao and even Jeff admits he had to fight off negative thoughts about "getting flogged". Now with a new baby on the way, Jeff Horn is looking to prove he’s more than a one-hit wonder as he prepares to defend his title and cement his reputation as a legend of the sport.

Will he stay or will he go? It’s the biggest question in Australian football right now. After weeks of criticism, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has sat down for a one-on-one with Australian Story to address the intense speculation surrounding his future. Critics are calling for Postecoglou to be sacked over his high-stakes tactics and his failure to address media reports that he is going to resign after Australia’s do-or-die World Cup qualifying matches against Honduras next month. Postecoglou answers questions about his relationship with his team and the Football Federation of Australia (FFA), his strategy, and whether he will stick with the Socceroos if they make it to the World Cup. Despite being at the centre of a media storm, Postecoglou is resolute and unfazed, saying he’s always done things his own way "and always will".

Elisha Rose has lived with the shame and stigma of her father’s actions since she was 13 years old. In 1998, Lindsey Rose was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences, never to be released. The revelation that her father had murdered five people was a huge shock for Elisha, who had only known Lindsey Rose as a loving father. But rather than being consumed by trauma, Elisha chose to rise above her father’s reputation. She became a lawyer, striving to atone for his sins through charity work in her spare time, all the while never revealing the true story about her father to anyone. She maintained a bubble of anonymity for years, until one day a phone call from an author changed everything.

After a career spanning 50 years, legendary broadcaster Mike Willesee is facing his greatest challenge –throat cancer. Mike was diagnosed 12 months ago and has been through radiation and experimental drug treatment. He is determined to fight it. Mike launched his television career with the ABC’s ground-breaking current affairs program This Day Tonight. He moved to Four Corners before producing the template for commercial current affairs when he created A Current Affair for Channel Nine. He went on to present top-rating programs on channels Seven and Nine throughout the 1970s and 80s, displaying an uncanny knack for knowing what viewers wanted. Despite a stellar career, Mike has not always enjoyed a happy domestic life. He has been married and divorced three times, which is a source of great regret. He is, however, the father of six children, who he counts as his greatest achievements. Part one concludes with Mike’s infamous appearance as guest host on A Current Affair in 1989, when he slurred his way through two episodes before being replaced. It was the wake-up call he needed, forcing him to acknowledge a problem with alcohol that he continues to deal with. He speaks candidly about this and the impact it has had on his life.

We continue our two-part special with legendary journalist Mike Willesee as he faces the fight of his life — throat cancer. The episode begins in 1993 when Mike returned to A Current Affair for a year, conducting some of his most memorable interviews, including the infamous "birthday cake interview" that changed the course of the 1993 election. Tiring of nightly current affairs, Mike turned his attention to documentary making. It was while filming in Kenya that he had a premonition that the small plane he was boarding would crash. Shortly after take-off, it did. Although Mike was unhurt, the experience had a profound impact on him and led him on a back to the Catholic faith of his childhood. It is Mike's strong religious faith, along with the support of his family, that has helped him since being diagnosed with cancer in October last year. The prognosis was six to 12 months, yet Mike is still upbeat about his prospects as he faces his greatest challenge yet.

Sydney woman Justine Damond Ruszczyk was living in Minneapolis and weeks away from her wedding when she was shot dead by a US police officer in shocking circumstances that are yet to be explained. On the night of July 15, the former vet-turned-meditation teacher was home alone when she called 911 to report what she thought was a sexual assault taking place in the laneway behind her house. When the police car arrived, she went outside - only to be shot dead by one of the police officers, Mohamed Noor, who was seated inside the vehicle. In this Australian Story exclusive, we meet Justine’s Australian family and travel to Minnesota to speak to her fiancé Don Damond, and her friends and neighbours, as they search for answers and seek justice for Justine.