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Australian Story: Aug 25

Australian Story profiles a journalist whose fearless work helped bring about a Royal Commission into abuse within the church.

2014-08-21_1935Monday’s Australian Story profiles Newcastle Herald journalist and Gold Walkley winner Joanne McCarthy whose fearless work helped bring about a Royal Commission into abuse within the church.

This episode is introduced by Caroline Jones.

Joanne McCarthy loves to run ultra marathons. It’s a welcome way to escape from her work as a journalist and the years she’s spent piecing together evidence against paedophile priests in the Hunter.

Last year her work was recognized with a Gold Walkley award, the highest accolade possible for an Australian journalist.

Joanne McCarthy’s acceptance speech piqued the curiosity of many people who wanted to know more about the woman who helped expose the culture of silence and cover up in the Catholic Church over sexual abuse matters.

Before the Storm tells the story of an intrepid and fearless journalist who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer as she followed up on the cases of many victims ignored or summarily dismissed by the Church.

The eldest child of a Catholic family of eleven children, Joanne’s work took its toll on relatives and the community networks she’d been part of for many years. But despite the personal cost, her commitment to the victims didn’t waver and the support of her newspaper never faltered.

As the Newcastle Herald’s advocacy for a Royal Commission reached its peak, political leaders around the country sat up and took notice. Joanne McCarthy’s pivotal role was acknowledged in a letter penned by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who announced a Royal Commission shortly before she left office.

In a note to Joanne she wrote that “Thanks in large measure to your persistence and courage, the NSW Special Commission of Inquiry and the federal Royal Commission will bring truth and healing to the victims of horrendous abuse and betrayal.”

Monday August 25, 8pm on ABC.

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