Background Briefing

Prisons and aged care providers are sounding the alarm over the growing number of elderly convicted sex offenders and other serious criminals, and the lack of appropriate aged care facilities to take care of them their twilight years. Alex Mann reports.

It was a whisky investment scheme marketed by a famous cricketer and a fast yacht, but it turned into an almighty hangover, with hundreds left wondering where their barrels went. David Lewis investigates.

When local and international aid workers came under attack in South Sudan's capital, why did UN peacekeepers just over a kilometre away fail to respond?

How a series of blunders and the death of an 18-year-old girl have fed a wave of anger over the treatment of suicidal patients in hospitals. Tim Roxburgh investigates.

Top-secret documents exclusively obtained by Background Briefing reveal the extent to which Australia is assisting the United States military in conflicts worldwide. Peter Cronau reports.

Could the political fight over the Adler unravel Australia’s national gun laws? Paddy Manning reports.

Women who say the police have failed to properly investigate their rape cases are taking matters into their own hands, and they have police worried. Hagar Cohen reports.

A radical move to privatise government group homes for people with disability is underway in NSW ahead of the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. David Lewis investigates.

Twenty years after the assassination of Irish crime reporter Veronica Guerin, gangland killings continue in Dublin. The gangs have links across Europe, where authorities are struggling to keep up with an ever-changing drug trade.

As health insurance companies and corporate chains buy up surgeries, some dentists say benchmarks and bonuses are influencing the type of treatment you get when you’re in the chair. Paddy Manning reports.

He warns we're facing an infestation of radical clerics, and he's called for Islamic schools to be shut down. But Mohammed Tawhidi has a mysterious history that sits awkwardly alongside his new image as reformer-in-chief of Islam in Australia.

The global gambling industry is moving in on Australian amateur sport, offering live odds and exotic bets for offshore gamblers on small-time matches that barely draw a crowd.

Australian governments and businesses have finally woken up to the scale of the cyber threats we face. But in the race to snap up computer security experts, we may have started too late.

Newspapers are slashing jobs, and the Senate has launched an inquiry into the future of journalism. But amidst the gloom, some ex-Fairfax journalists are putting everything on the line to launch new media outlets.

It's a long wait to receive a kidney transplant if you're part of an ethnic minority in the UK. Some patients are so desperate, they're travelling to countries like Pakistan for risky operations, and there's evidence that Australians may be doing the same thing.

How did Oakden, a state and commonwealth funded home for the elderly, fail its vulnerable patients and their families? Christine El-Khoury investigates.

As the government talks up its commitment to infrastructure, some experts are querying whether the nation’s biggest transport project will solve the problem it was designed to fix. Paddy Manning investigates.

Should young migrants be deported if they commit a criminal offence? A new federal inquiry is considering just this, and in the frame are Sudanese youth accused of home invasions and car jackings in Melbourne. David Lewis investigates .

On the eve of Anzac day the RSL is facing its biggest test yet, as diggers question whether their leaders have their true interests at heart.

In the last few months there has been another cluster of young doctors taking their own lives. Critics say the culture of medicine and doctors' own fear of being vulnerable is stopping them asking for help. This story was originally broadcast on Feb 15, 2015

Buying a new apartment? Defects are driving many owners to court to get their leaks and defects fixed after they discover changes to insurance law means they are no longer covered. It's you versus the builder, so bring your lawyer. Tim Roxburgh investigates.

Just five years ago this Northern Territory hospital was facing closure. Its doctors were out of their depth and indigenous patients were leaving the wards in droves. This is the remarkable story of how Katherine Hospital turned its fortunes around and the lessons to be learned.

Too many students and not enough classrooms. How did government's get it so wrong? David Lewis investigates.

There's a roaring international racket in hazardous e-waste. This is the story of how one of our biggest banks discovered its e-waste dumped on West Africa's notorious Agbogbloshie dump in Ghana. Rebecca Le Tourneau investigates.

The government's troubled debt recovery system has caused an uproar. Thousands of welfare recipients have been hit with debts which they have no idea how they were calculated. Colin Cosier investigates.