‘Oh Jesus’: When Claudia Karvan agreed to go on Australian Story, she didn’t expect this

After three decades as a TV news and current affairs fixture, the secret sauce behind Australian Story’s long-running success might be the way viewers see themselves reflected.

“We do this deep-dive into the reality of what people’s lives are really like,” says Leigh Sales , who has anchored Australian Story since 2023. “You see people who have been able to adapt to things you would never imagine or want to adapt to, and audiences feel, ‘I can connect to that person on a human level’. And also, ‘Wow, people are amazing.’

“The way each Australian Story is told means you are seeing the richness of people’s lives and the fact that joy can coexist with grief – that wonderful things can happen at the same time as terrible things are happening.”

Executive producer Greg Hassall says the program, which has won eight Logie Awards and ten Walkley Awards and aired more than 1400 episodes since beginning in 1996, is also unique for its formula.

“Having people tell their story in their own words is very powerful,” he says. “When the program started, that was quite unusual, almost innovative, and there is an intimacy in that. It’s now pretty much the default for documentary making but, when we started, it was quite a different thing.”

Actor Claudia Karvan , who was featured in a 2023 episode, Making A Scene , says she trusted the program to talk about her unconventional childhood, her close, supportive relationship with her older brother, Rupert, who has schizophrenia, and managing her late father’s mental illness, while showing her life and career at 50. “I’ve grown up with Australian Story ,” she says. “I’ve watched it for 30 years and wept at so many episodes.

“But you always trust the storytellers. The tone is always consistent, it’s respectful and there’s depth and intelligence and sensitivity. It’s always inspiring. It was the perfect platform, and I’m really glad I did it.”

Karvan says the most eye-opening daunting aspect of being part of the program was watching her then 21-year-old daughter, Audrey’s, interview.

“Greg [Hassall] wasn’t necessarily planning on interviewing her,” Karvan says. “But he said she ended up being one of the most valuable interviewees because she managed to string everything together.”

Karvan asked her if she wanted to participate and was surprised when Audrey said yes. “She’s never been one to want to be in the public eye,” Karvan says. “So that, firstly, was amazing. Then, before she did the interview, I said, ‘How are you feeling?’

“And she’s like, ‘Uh, I don’t know. I can’t really think of any story that doesn’t make you out to be a total bitch and a jerk.’”

“I thought, ‘Oh Jesus, OK, this is a bit of a worry.’ I told Greg that afterwards and he said, ‘She’s amazing. She just blew me away. She was just so articulate and had so much perspective and context.’ He said, ‘I wish she had told us some stories that made you out to be a bitch. It was all very glowing.’

“So that was the biggest surprise. How I was just so proud of my daughter, how self-possessed she was because you don’t really have those sorts of conversations with your children.