Australian Crime Stories

In 1980, nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from a campsite at Airs Rock. Her mother claims a dingo had taken her. Two years later, the question of what happened was tested in court. Told through the witnesses and evidence presented at trial, this episode follows how the infamous case unfolded before a jury. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sydney, December 1988. Twenty-seven-year-old American mathematician Scott Johnson is found dead at the base of cliffs at North Head. He had moved to Australia to build a life with his partner, splitting his time between Canberra and Sydney while completing his PhD. His clothes are discovered folded near the cliff edge, and within months his death is ruled a suicide — but over the decades that follow, questions about that conclusion refuse to settle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Police have unearthed a total of seven bodies when they conclude their search at Belanglo State Forest. Attention now turns away from the forest and toward finding who is responsible. Thanks to Paul Onions, a survivor of an earlier attack in the same forest, Task Force Air gets its breakthrough. On the 5th of May 1994, police fly Paul to Australia and show him a series of images. He identifies the man he says attacked him. His name is Ivan Milat. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For decades, the road between Sydney and Melbourne has been a trusted passage — a route taken by families, freight drivers, and young travellers chasing work or experience. In the late 1980s, hitchhiking along this corridor is common and unremarkable. But when multiple travellers vanish without witnesses, a forest just off the highway begins to emerge as something more than a place on the map. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1977 Collingwood was a dense, close-quartered neighbourhood in Melbourne's inner-north. Its narrow terraces lived in by factory workers, students, artists and independent women carving out their own lives in the inner city. On Easey Street, two such women share a small terrace, but in January the home sits unusually still for days, with only the faint cries of a child breaking the silence. What begins as a simple welfare check quickly turns into a case that will haunt Melbourne for decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of child sexual assault and murder. Mr Cruel has been keeping Melbourne’s North-East suburbs in a tight grip of fear. This is now his third confirmed home invasion and second kidnaping, with no sign of his attacks slowing. His awareness of forensics makes the police investigation near impossible, but with building pressure from the public, Victoria Police will go on to form one of the largest manhunt's in Australia's history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of violence against women.In 1942, wartime Melbourne lived under the dim, uneasy glow of the brownout; a city cloaked in half-darkness to hide from Japanese bombers. By day it bustled with soldiers, trams, and factory workers, but by night the familiar streets turned dark and silent. Within the shadows, crime escalated with one predator in particular. Three women were found strangled to death within days of each other. What was implemented for safety quickly became the advantage of a killer. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence, child murder and domestic violenceIn March 2004, Anna Kemp and her toddler daughter, Gracie, vanished from their home in Mornington, Victoria. The case began as a simple missing persons report assigned to Detective Narelle Fraser but would quickly became her most haunting case. Over the weeks that followed, the search revealed a trail of strange messages, hidden evidence, and a mystery that would shock the community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warning: This episode contains descriptions of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, drug use, torture and mutilation.Only meters from his home, 15 year old Richard Kelvin is hastily abducted by several people. Being the son of a local news presenter, the media is quickly overrun by the story, and with it, police are pressured to make serious progress with their investigation. They close in on an ongoing suspect, Bevan von Einem, but will the other members of the sadistic network known as “the Family” be held accountable? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Warning: This episode contains themes of pedophilia, sexual assault and mutilation.In Adelaide, following the notorious murder of criminal lawyer Derrance Stevenson, dubbed “body in the freezer”, a series of even more horrific murders would occur. This time the victims were young boys and men - drugged, abused, killed, mutilated and discarded. A trail left behind by an underground world of sadism, pedophilia, pornography and exploitation on Adelaide’s most vulnerable. Despite the unrelenting efforts to keep this story hidden, it’s one that continues begging to be heard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On a cool spring night in September 2012, a young woman named Jill Meagher vanished from the streets of Brunswick, just minutes from her home. In a city known for its safety and vibrant culture, her disappearance struck a nerve. As days passed with no sign of her, the public watched in growing horror. What began as a missing persons case soon spiralled into a national reckoning—exposing deep failures in the justice system, igniting outrage, and leaving a community forever changed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the 1st of January, 1915, in the remote mining town of Broken Hill, New South Wales, a New Year’s Day picnic train was ambushed by two armed men. The attackers opened fire without warning, killing four civilians and wounding at least seven others. The men were later pursued and shot dead by police and civilian riflemen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Before the infamous Port Arthur Massacre, an often forgotten massacre took place in the quiet suburb of Strathfield Sydney on August 17, 1991. In just minutes, Wade Frankum killed seven people and injured six others before taking his own life. The Strathfield Massacre stunned Australia and became a pivotal moment that helped spark national conversations about gun control, mental health and public safety. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.