Gina Rushton

Victims speak out about Tyson Vacher, the Perth man accused of being a fake psychologist.

Australia’s public broadcaster has been forced to apologise after it distributed to journalists a documentary about the #MeToo movement that identified survivors of rape and assault without their consent. The names, images and harrowing stories of two women were clearly visible in a preview copy of Silent No More, a three-part documentary series produced for the ABC by Southern Pictures, and presented by journalist and author Tracey Spicer.

NOW was the Australian version of Time’s Up, the organisation started by Hollywood celebrities in January 2018 that has raised more than $22 million for its legal defence fund, and connected thousands of men and women to lawyers. But in its first 18 months, NOW Australia has built up no such momentum. Launched hastily and with much fanfare, the organisation has failed to live up to any of its lofty promises. In an era where tweets have launched social movements, NOW offers a cautionary tale: how a well-intentioned group lacking infrastructure and experience can collapse under the weight of its own expectations. Elsewhere, #MeToo movements have turned momentum into action and legislation – but the Australian iteration has struggled to lock in its cultural gains. Glowing media coverage of NOW promised a triage service that would direct survivors to legal support, counselling and journalists. But behind the scenes tensions were running high between Spicer and board members over what they could realistically achieve.

Up to 80 women on surgical abortion lists around Australia could be left in limbo as doctors fight to be exempt from the new coronavirus travel restrictions to provide vital sexual and reproductive healthcare. Australia's largest abortion provider Marie Stopes Australia (MSA) is desperately seeking clarity from various state health departments as to whether eight of its surgeons who need to travel interstate in the next fortnight to provide abortions will be exempt from travel restrictions.

Two contestants set to appear on the next season of My Kitchen Rules were filmed being sexually intimate without their knowledge, and the footage then allegedly shared among Channel Seven staff. In the upcoming season of the cooking show, contestants are split into two teams, one lead by chef Manu Feildel and the other by chef Colin Fassnidge. Each team lives together in a separate house. The footage, taken in mid-2019, shows a male contestant consensually digitally penetrating a female contestant on a couch in one of the houses.

Dr Martin is the most senior official deployed on Nauru to speak publicly about Australia's offshore detention regime. His allegations are backed by an extensive cache of leaked documents obtained as part of a joint investigation between 7.30 and BuzzFeed News. They show that Dr Martin is not alone, with his concerns widely shared by other medical practitioners on Nauru contracted by the Australian Government.

Marie — a pseudonym to protect her privacy — is a cautious online dater. “I usually go through a long vetting process of talking with them online first,” the 32-year-old told BuzzFeed News. “I like to think I’m really careful with people and I don’t do one-night stands.” Marie lives in a sharehouse of single women who always share a man’s details, sometimes even licence plate numbers, with each other before going on dates. But safety measures were of no use to her when she was allegedly sexual

Sydney model agency owner Brigitte Warne’s health rapidly deteriorated after she came off the oral contraceptive pill to start a family. She developed cystic acne, her hair began falling out, and “vicious cycles of severe anxiety” made her withdraw from her friends and family.

BuzzFeed News broke the story that White Ribbon had withdrawn a statement that said “all women should have complete control over their reproductive and sexual health”. The retracted statement was first issued in February 2017 during a previous push to decriminalise abortion in Queensland and highlights that research indicates unplanned pregnancy is more common among women experiencing domestic violence. White Ribbon Australia did not announce the initial retraction, but BuzzFeed News understands members of the organisation contacted a number of pregnancy option counselling and sexual health providers to notify them of the shift on Thursday, the morning after politicians voted to decriminalise abortion in Queensland. The anti-domestic violence charity’s (then) new chief executive Tracy McLeod Howe told BuzzFeed News the organisation had withdrawn the statement because "we are agnostic until our stakeholders tell us it is important to most of them". The story was then covered by Fairfax, ABC, Women's Agenda, Guardian, News Corp and Ten Daily. There was a big public backlash, McLeod Howe issued a mea culpa, the organisation then reissued the statement and McLeod Howe ultimately left the organisation claiming she was "pushed out".

Hundreds of women seeking surgical terminations in regional New South Wales will now have to go to Canberra, as the service they were accessing in Victoria will no longer take them as patients.

Australia's largest abortion provider says its supply of face masks and hand sanitiser for carrying out surgical abortions will only last two more weeks after a number of orders from private personal protective equipment (PPE) providers were cancelled or refused in the coronavirus pandemic. In one instance, a private company cancelled an order from Marie Stopes Australia (MSA) on the basis it was reserving supplies for "health professionals". The Australian government has also refused to suppl

Nikita’s partner stabbed her 35 times, an ambush as she slept, before calling the police to turn himself in in the early hours of Jan. 9, 2015. Tarang Chawla remembers there was a breaking news story “within hours” of his sister’s death. “At that stage I didn’t even believe it, I was still in shock and it was a bit of a blur,” Chawla told BuzzFeed News. “She was killed on a Friday, and people were ringing non-stop all weekend.” He didn’t know whether to answer the phone. Was it a relative call

The journalists at BuzzFeed News are proud to bring you trustworthy and relevant reporting about the coronavirus. To help keep this news free, become a member and sign up for our newsletter, Outbreak Today . An advisor to New South Wales police minister David Elliott who shared an anti-abortion meme on Facebook trivialising deaths from the new coronavirus has kept his job, while a second Liberal staffer who shared the same meme last week resigned.

Multiple state health departments have confirmed that abortion doctors will be exempt from travel restrictions if travelling interstate to carry out surgical abortions, as the procedure is essential, not elective. BuzzFeed News this week revealed up to 80 women on surgical abortion lists around Australia could be left in limbo as doctors fought to be exempt from new coronavirus travel restrictions requiring self-isolation.

"I learnt that one of the things they do is specifically target people of colour and migrant patients who are trying to access the clinic," the 24-year-old Chinese-Australian told BuzzFeed News. "[The patients] are told that if they keep their baby, they get free legal services and immigration help and, in some cases, free visas." So she decided to see if it was true.

“They’re not going to believe me because I’m a sex worker.” This is what Nikki Cox — a pseudonym she works under — thought to herself when she drove to a police station after she was sexually assaulted by a client, who booked with the name Alex, in February last year. But Alex was on Tuesday handed a partly suspended sentence of 15-months in jail — of which he must serve two months — for one count of aggravated sexual assault, to which he pleaded guilty in April.

Fiona had just survived a brutal bushfire season and moved into a small tin shed with her two toddlers and partner while they built their family home when the coronavirus outbreak hit. “Then I found out I was pregnant,” Fiona — a pseudonym to protect her privacy — told BuzzFeed News. “That was a surprise.” The last thing the 26-year-old Adelaide Hills mother needed was an unplanned pregnancy in the only Australian state where you can’t legally access medical abortion drugs over the phone. T

In the United States, allegations against Harvey Weinstein propelled a flood of investigations and the downfall of more than 200 public figures, but there has been a relative dearth of #MeToo stories published in Australia — even accounting for differences in population — where an astonishing 85% of women have experienced sexual harassment. Most high profile #MeToo stories in Australia, excluding allegations made about celebrity gardener Don Burke, have been overshadowed by legal proceedings.

Federal member for Petrie Luke Howarth's mother Denise used his electorate officer's computer and email address to send a flyer to a constituent. Denise Howarth writes that she is planning on letterboxing certain electorates with her flyers, which she attaches, ahead of next week's debate on a bill introduced by the Queensland Labor government to decriminalise abortion.

The Tabbot Foundation was founded in Sept. 2015 by Dr Paul Hyland, who said his service had provided medical terminations to around 6,000 Australian women living "as far east as Lord Howe Island and as far west as Rottnest Island". "After we finish the last 20 patients that we have registered it is over, with great regret and remorse," the 75-year-old gynaecologist told BuzzFeed News. "For the first time in my life I won't have to be on-call 24 hours a day."