Jaspan wrote today that Aly had joined Global Roaming as one of five co-hosts, while Kylie Morris has resigned as executive producer but is staying on as a co-host. The ABC is interviewing for a new EP and supervising producer.
The Radio National Hour host Fran Kelly has been named an Officer of the Order Australia (AO) in the 2026 King’s Birthday honours, for service to broadcast journalism, advancing social justice and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community.
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Background Briefing statement
The ABC has removed from digital platforms the May 2023 Background Briefing audio program “Remy was 12 when she became a drug dealer”, in addition to two episodes of Four Corners, “Cocaine Nation” and “Meth Highway”, which were removed on 24 July. The action has been taken following concerns identified about the veracity of sources used in the three programs.
The ABC Ombudsman is already conducting an independent review of whether the Four Corners programs complied with the ABC’s editorial standards. All three stories were reported by the same journalist, who ceased employment with the ABC in May 2026. The ABC continues to review other content involving the journalist to ensure it meets the ABC’s editorial standards.
The ABC is committed to the highest standards of editorial integrity. Maintaining the trust of Australians depends on upholding those standards, and we take any concerns about our journalism seriously. Where necessary, content is corrected, amended or removed, and audiences are informed of those actions.
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Vote now for Australia’s most amazing wildflower this Science Week
To celebrate National Science Week, ABC Radio National is calling on audiences to vote for Australia’s Most Amazing Wildflower. Voting is open now and the winner will be announced live on air on ABC Radio National on Friday 21 August, from 12pm AEST.
With the help of native wildflower experts, ABC Radio National’s science unit has curated a list of ten remarkable flowering plants from across the country. Not just another banksia or waratah, but the unsung blooms that also do something unbelievable. Each contender is more than just a pretty face — every one hides a surprising superpower.
The ten wildflowers vying for the title are:
- Bladderwort (Utricularia)- Traps and digests insects inside tiny floating “bladders”
- Star flower (Calytrix) - Changes colour like a traffic light to direct pollinators
- Flannel flower (Actinotus) - Blooms from bushfire ashes like a floral phoenix
- Flying duck orchid (Caleana) - Traps insects for pollination and looks like a duck!
- Mulla mulla (Ptilotus) - Thrives, and flowers, in tough, hot arid environments
- Murnong/yam daisy (Microseris) - Provided a significant year-round nutritious food for Indigenous people
- Richea scoparia - Survives extreme cold and feeds snow skinks
- Creamy candle (Stackhousia) - Looks like a candle and emits a sweet fragrance at night
- Triggerplant (Stylidium) - Hits insects with pollen using a catapult-like trigger
- Underground orchid (Rhizanthella) - Lives underground and looks like a tiny demogorgan
Dr Ann Jones from Radio National podcast What the Duck?! said: “Flowers are often the showiest bit of the plant - but they’re also hard workers - they’ve gotta look pretty, maybe feed the insect multitudes, produce powdery stuff, and then transform themselves into the seeds of life - literally.
“And more than that, flowers carry cultural weight for us humans - they mark seasons, symbolise love and mourning and celebrate birth. Not to mention the fact we can eat some of them and also extract medicinal compounds.
“They’re the little engine that could - propping up global ecosystems and humanity all while looking fabulous. It’s time to give our wildflowers the attention they deserve.”
ABC NEWS, ABC Radio National, ABC Local, ABC iview and ABC’s social media accounts will be sharing lots of fascinating interviews and stories about our native wildflowers between 5-22 August.
Let’s celebrate the strange, spectacular and surprising side of Australian nature this Science Week.
To cast your vote or find out more about these unsung blooms, head to the ABC Website or ABC Science Facebook and ABC Radio National Instagram.
Tracey Holmes takes on Friday’s Radio National Hour
Tracey Holmes has returned to the ABC to host the Radio National Hour on a Friday. Each week Tracey will look at the peacemakers of our world: the diplomats and negotiators working hard and often out of sight to ease the globe’s sharpest tensions.
Monday, 31 August — voting opens at 8am (so be prepared!)
Update
ABC Radio National opens voting for the Top 100 Australian Books countdown
ABC Radio National is calling on book lovers across the country to vote for the Australian books they believe belong in this year’s Top 100 Australian Books countdown.
Across Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October 2026, Radio National will reveal Australia’s Top 100 Australian Books, counting down the titles that have informed, entertained and inspired generations of readers!
The theme for this year’s Top 100 Books celebrates works that reflect Australian life in all its forms, from beloved classics to contemporary bestsellers, and across all genres.
The countdown promises to be an unmissable weekend of listening, featuring authors, readers and Radio National hosts discussing Australia’s most-loved books.
"Everybody has a prediction for number one, but that’s half the fun,” says The Book Show host Claire Nichols. “Whether you’re voting for a beloved classic or a recent discovery, this countdown is a chance to celebrate the books that have shaped us and to discover the titles that matter most to readers around Australia.”
Voting is open now and closes at 11:59pm on Thursday 1 October.
Can you proudly say you helped decide Australia’s number one book?
Vote now via the Top 100 Books website and help decide which title will be crowned Australia’s favourite Aussie book.
Readers can also join the ABC Book Club Facebook Group to connect with fellow lovers and share their picks using #Top100Books.
ABC Radio National is home to the ABC’s weekly flagship book programs The Book Show (Mondays at 10:00am) and The Bookshelf (Saturdays at 10:00am) featuring author interviews, reviews, and bookish commentary.
I reckon the new music show presenter has to be someone like Zan Rowe, but she’s got multiple shows currently on air (Take 5 and Race Around the World) and a weekly music show might be too much of a commitment.
I’d say she lacks the intellectual edge for Radio National. The Music Show is very different to just hitting go on the JJJ/JJ playlist and Take 5 is very middle brow.
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Hilary Harper will host a special broadcast on Top 100 Australian Books from ABC Southbank studios in Melbourne this Thursday (September 17) from 10.30am to midday AEST. Entry is free but registration is required.
Register via the link below.
So this is just going out to Victoria I think on local radio. The broadcast time listed is 11-12 which is Conversation Hour. Doubt they would disrupt the regular RN schedule of Global Roaming and Breakfast Wrap.
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Posted by the ABC Comms team yesterday, 14 September 2026:
Sam Roggeveen to deliver the keynote in the 2026 ABC Boyer Lecture Series
Program Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, Sam Roggeveen will deliver the keynote address in the 2026 ABC Radio National Boyer Lecture series.
Roggeveen’s keynote will open a four-part lecture series exploring the opportunities and challenges of Australia’s engagement with Asia in the 21st century. The series will consider how Australia’s changing demographics, economic and political future, geographic position and connections with Asia will shape the nation’s long-term outlook, and why these factors require sharper policy focus, better planning and deeper integration with Asia in Australian thinking.
“Four forces are transforming Australia’s position in its region,” Roggeveen said.
“The decline of one empire; the rise of another; the emergence of a powerful neighbour on our doorstep; and at home, an unmistakeable change in the character of our democracy. How Australia responds to all four will determine its future.”
Roggeveen’s keynote will be recorded on Wednesday 14 October in front of a live audience in ABC Ultimo Studio 22. This will be followed by a discussion moderated by Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald, hosts of ABC Radio National’s Global Roaming program. The keynote will air on ABC News Channel on October 17 and on ABC Radio National on October 18. Each subsequent lecture in this series will be broadcast on the ABC News Channel as well as ABC Radio National’s Sunday Extra program.
About the speakers:
Sam Roggeveen
Sam is Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute.He is the author of The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and Peace and Our Very Own Brexit: Australia’s Hollow Politics and Where it Could Lead.
Before joining the Lowy Institute, Sam was a senior analyst in Australia’s peak intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments. Sam also worked in Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and as an analyst in the Defence Intelligence Organisation.
Louisa Lim
Award-winning journalist, academic and author of Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong, and The People’s Republic of Amnesia: Tiananmen Revisited. Lim is an Associate Professor of Journalism at the Centre for Advancing Journalism in the University of Melbourne’s School of Culture and Communication.Dr Mari Pangestu
Economist and former World Bank Managing Director, currently Special Envoy of the President of Indonesia for International Trade and Multilateral CooperationSenior Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Senior Minister of Singapore; Served as Prime Minister from August 2004 to May 2024ABC Chair Kim Williams said of the series: "Over the decades Australia’s relationship with Asia has too often been undermined by misunderstandings and by its secondary status to the relationship with the US. But, as alliances shift, the need to build durable reliable bridges with our neighbours is urgent and necessary.
“So what might that look like - culturally, economically, politically and militarily - in the 21st century? In these Boyer lectures four thinkers across different fields put the case for better relevant engagement with Asia.”
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The Age/SMH’s On Background column today briefly mentions that speculation is hot that current affairs shows The World Today and PM could be on the chopping block. The ABC’s 2027 upfronts (content showcase) will be held on October 21.
I also found it amusing that they always call the ABC Radio current affairs programmes Radio National’s, particularly if it’s about to be axed or has low ratings. AM, World Today and PM are on Local Radio also. PM is also broadcast on News Radio. If anything it is owned by the News department.
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Probably because most people hate Radio National’s demo.
that doesn’t even make sense
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the average RN listener is not an ordinary person.
Define “ordinary”. Define “average”. No such thing exists.
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