Russell Jackson is an investigative journalist and feature writer at ABC Sport.
His story ‘The Persecution of Robert Muir’ won the Walkley Award for longform feature writing and the Melbourne Press Club’s ‘Gold Quill’ award.
Jackson’s previous work has included extensive investigations of historical child sexual abuse and injustices suffered by vulnerable and marginalised people.
Between 2021 and 2026, his extensive reporting on the historical child sexual abuse epidemic in Victorian government schools contributed to the establishment of the Victorian government’s Board of Inquiry into child sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools.
The Beaumaris inquiry confirmed systemic failures and an institutional culture that "prioritised the reputation of the education system over the safety of children". In response, the Victorian Premier acknowledged the state's "serious and systematic" failure to protect children and announced a $48-million truth-telling process for survivors.
Jackson’s reporting on the system of coverups that shielded the Victorian Education Department from scrutiny foreshadowed the findings of Victorian government’s truth-telling process, which led to a parliamentary apology by the Premier and followed numerous multi-million dollar compensation payouts to survivors.
You can email Russell at [email protected]
Australia shows a needless sense of urgency at the crease on day four and it backfires spectacularly as South Africa takes firm control in Gqeberha.
He may be small in stature, but Temba Bavuma has once again stood tall for his country and taken control away from Australia.
There were some moments of joy for South Africa as they tried to rescue the first innings. But Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc made sure Australia remained on top in the second Test.
Australia started the first Test against South Africa on the back foot, but its 214-run victory has silenced any critics of the selection strategy.
South Africa tried to wrestle back some control of the first Test, but Matt Renshaw again shone to put Australia in sight of victory.
Australia outguns South Africa in the crucial moments, in particular Steve Smith's incredible catches, but time may prove its toughest opponent in Durban.
With his epic 190 in Durban, Matt Renshaw not only changes the game, but shows he is capable of the real Test batting the Australian cricketing public is longing for.
Australia has some positives on day one in Durban, but the makeshift batting order and selection on the fly raises concerns for the series ahead.
Derryn Hinch was not a hero to every survivor of sexual abuse, but in the decades when they lacked allies, he was their fiercest public advocate.
Ian Walker was one of the most promising athletes in the country until his life started to unravel, and the search for the truth in his tragic story has finally come to light.
Dennis Cometti was known to viewers as a wordsmith who rattled off rejoinders with ease, but behind the scenes he worked harder than anyone to carve out a place in Australia's sporting landscape.
As the AFL community mourns the death of one of its most iconic voices, here are some of the most memorable Dennis Cometti one-liners.
Like Donald Bradman’s tank stand, the backyard tennis court of Rod Laver’s youth has survived against the odds, but it is yet to be heritage listed.
As police up the reward to $1 million for information that will lead to the remains of missing school girl Eloise Worledge, questions remain about why police disregarded a known rapist in their investigation.
A school principal accused of child sexual abuse was shuffled onto a series of new jobs, correspondence shows.
After battling alone with the stigma of family sexual abuse, Travis found a community thanks to a new form of group therapy.
A survivor of "shocking" sexual abuse at a Melbourne primary school has received what his lawyer has called "the biggest publicly-known payment to an abuse survivor in Australia" in an extraordinary $8 million settlement with the Victorian Education Department.
A new lawsuit reveals a "psychopathic" paedophile teacher was employed in a Marist Brothers school despite a prior conviction for child sexual abuse and having previously been banished from the Victorian Education Department school system.
A "psychopathic" paedophile, who later boasted of sexually abusing 2,000 boys, was employed as a Victorian Education Department school teacher despite declaring in a 1970s job application form that he was a convicted child abuser.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan acknowledges the state's "serious and systematic" failure to protect children in government schools from abuse, while announcing a truth-telling process for survivors.
The Victorian Department of Education faces several lawsuits from survivors who were sexually abused by a teacher the department knowingly moved to other schools after fielding complaints of abuse.
The release of a 466-page report into historical sexual abuse at a Melbourne primary school will take weeks, perhaps months to fully digest. But for now, there is hope that it could kickstart a reckoning that may last for years, writes Russell Jackson.
The Victorian Education Department sent unqualified teachers into classrooms in the 1960s and then failed to sack them following reports they were sexually abusing their students, according to recently discovered documents.
After six months examining decades of crimes against students in state-run schools, the government-initiated inquiry leading the investigation delivers its findings to the Victorian governor.
Survivors of institutional childhood sexual abuse have launched a class action against one of Australia's most prominent sexual abuse law firms, which they say failed to obtain proper compensation from the institutions responsible for their abuse.
