Events That Changed Australia (2025)

Synopsis

This 8 part series takes an in-depth look at the critical turning points in Australia’s history, from natural disasters to social upheavals, through the lens of hindsight. Combining rich, never-before-seen archival footage with candid interviews, the series investigates not just what happened, but how these events fundamentally altered the country and its people.

First Air Date: 2025-12-07

Last Air Date: 2026-04-22

Number of Seasons: 1

Number of Episodes: 8

Networks: Nine Network

Seasons

Season 1 (2025)

No overview available for this season.

Episodes:

Ep. 1: The Cronulla Riots (2025-12-07)

Sydney's Cronulla Beach became the site of an organised, race-driven riot in December 2005. The violence lasted for days, forcing a national reckoning on race and identity.
Ep. 2: Black Saturday (2026-04-15)

The 2009 Black Saturday fires claimed 173 lives, Victoria’s worst peacetime loss. The tragedy sparked a Royal Commission that abolished the “Stay or Go” policy, forever changing Australia’s bushfire response.
Ep. 3: When Terror Came to Town (2026-04-22)

The Bali bombings and the Lindt Cafe siege marked the arrival of terror in Australia. While 9/11 felt distant, these events shattered the nation’s sense of security.
Ep. 4: The Birth of the Bogan (2026-04-29)

How a muscle-bound bushman and one crazy idea for a tourism advertisement made our nation what it is today.
Ep. 5: Unstoppabble: Women's Sport (2026-05-06)

Our national game used to be available to only half of the population - until women became an unstoppable force on the Australian sporting field.
Ep. 6: Ganglands: The Real Underbelly (2026-05-13)

Melbourne's gangland wars turned ordinary suburbs into battlegrounds. With over thirty murders, figures like Carl Williams shifted the Aussie view of criminals from larrikins to
Ep. 7: The Birth of Professional Sport (2026-05-20)

How Australia’s richest man disrupted cricket - and amateur sport - in this country forever, and created professional sport as we know it.
Ep. 8: The Fight for Marriage Equality (2026-06-03)

From the riots that inspired mardi gras, to homophobia in the 1980s, celebrities coming out in the 1990s and monumental stand-offs in the most powerful corridors of power just last decade, the 2017 vote for marriage equality in Australia is the story of a changing nation. From a place where being gay was still against the law, to one where everyone is now equal, this episode features perspectives from all sides of the Same Sex Marriage issue, and uses the window of popular culture to look at the key events and characters that tested our ‘fair go’ nation.