by FilmInk Staff
The ABC today unveiled its 2027 content slate, a bold, distinctive line-up of Australian programming across Screen, News and Audio. As ever, the ABC is the home of Australian stories, reflecting the nation’s voices, creativity and culture.
The ABC achieved outstanding results in 2026, including:
- ABC is the most trusted media brand in Australia
- ABC NEWS is the #1 digital news brand every month in 2026
- ABC iview is the #1 reaching BVOD platform in Australia
- ABC listen is the #1 live radio streaming network
In 2027, the ABC will deliver a world-class slate of programming for its audiences across ABC TV, ABC NEWS, ABC iview and ABC listen.
Hugh Marks, ABC Managing Director said, “Without doubt the ABC is the undisputed leader in sharing Australia’s stories with Australians. Our 2027 slate shows what that means across everything we make, from Screen to News to Audio. Today’s announcements reflect the creativity, ambition and talent of our teams and partners we work with. Australians rely on the ABC to reflect their lives and communities. I’m immensely proud of what we’re delivering for audiences in 2027 and excited by our plans to expand this even further in coming years.”
Jennifer Collins, ABC Director Screen said, “Our Screen slate is built around unmissable Australian stories with integrity, originality and authenticity. Our 2027 line-up reflects the breadth of Australian life, with something for all of our audience, whatever their age, interests or background. We’re proud to be backing Australian creatives and bringing their work to audiences on screen in 2027 and beyond.”
Simon Robinson, ABC Director News & Current Affairs said, “In 2027 ABC NEWS teams across the country and around the world will continue to deliver Australians the most reliable and independent local, national and international news wherever and whenever they want to access it, as well as expert analysis and distinctive special content.”
Ben Latimer, ABC Director Audio said, “We’re backing distinctive Australian voices and stories in 2027. You’ll hear that in the new investigations from our podcast teams and the Australian artists coming through triple j and Unearthed. Those discoveries sit alongside the live, local radio and familiar voices people already make part of their day. That’s the strength of ABC Audio.”
ABC Media Showcase 2027 highlights include:
SCREEN – SCRIPTED
Familiar faces and screen icons lead the ABC’s 2027 scripted slate across drama and comedy.
Crime takes centre stage in a run of new original dramas. Fortitude Valley investigates a decades old cold case that becomes unexpectedly personal, starring Hunter Page-Lochard, Kat Stewart, Nathalie Morris and Rupert Everett, while Rebecca Gibney, Morgana O’Reilly and Philip Lynch headline buddy-cop series Rural Crime Unit, solving unexpected crimes and highlighting the idiosyncrasies of rural life.
Tim Ayliffe’s best-selling novel is adapted for screen in John Bailey – The Enemy Within, starring David Lyons, David Harewood, Anthony LaPaglia and Yael Stone, in which journalist John Bailey and CIA agent Ronnie Johnson must lure an unexpected enemy out of the shadows.
Darkly comic thriller Help Me!, starring Kate Box and Sarah Peirse, follows a reluctant mother-daughter duo who unite to save a woman in need, and Hugo Weaving leads as a brilliant but disgraced barrister in The Great White.
Pilli Sisters P.I., starring Tasma Walton and Ursula Yovich, follows Marlee and May, the somewhat-famous Indigenous private investigators of the West, whose ancestor-given talents make them a formidable team, until fresh leads in the disappearance of their younger brother, Michael, threaten to break the case wide open.
Australia’s favourite lady in brown is back, with Kitty Flanagan returning for a fourth season of Fisk, the award-winning comedy that has become one of the ABC’s most beloved shows.
Returning favourites bring the drama and the laughs. Logie-winning Dog Park returns for a second season, starring Leon Ford and Celia Pacquola, Return to Paradise is back for a fourth season, and Sam Pang leads the laughs again in the second season of Ground Up, the comedy about the creation of Tasmania’s AFL team.
SCREEN – ENTERTAINMENT
The ABC’s entertainment favourites return in 2027, with big laughs, sharp minds and plenty of familiar faces.
Tom Gleeson is back to hand out the big brass mug on Hard Quiz, while Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee returns to put contestants’ spelling to the test. Spicks & Specks returns to test the nation’s music knowledge, and brand-new seasons of The Weekly and Gruen are on the way.
Comedy gets a double dose, with Urzila and Tonight at the Museum back for their second seasons.
That Blackfella Show, Australia’s first-ever First Nations variety program, returns for a more laughs, live music and unforgettable blak entertainment, with Australian music royalty Jessica Mauboy back as host.
After its successful return to screens this year, Race Around The World is back for another season with Zan Rowe and John Safran, sending a new crop of young, creative Australians across the globe.
And for the first time in four years, You Can’t Ask That returns to the ABC. The award-winning series asks the questions Australians might be thinking but would never dare to ask, with the courage and candour of the people who answer them.
SCREEN – DOCUMENTARY
From the courtroom to the cricket ground, the documentary slate brings audiences distinctive, thought provoking Australian and international stories.
Old People’s Home for Four Year Olds and Family puts a new twist on a crowd favourite, pairing 10 seniors with 10 four-year-olds and, for the first time, their parents too.
Feature documentary Silenced comes to the ABC with access to the women and journalists at the centre of high-profile legal battles around the world, including Brittany Higgins and Amber Heard.
True crime takes centre stage in Mark of a Murderer, which follows award-winning journalist Colleen Egan as she investigates a suspected serial killer, while Pray Harder is a 3-part true crime documentary that follows investigative journalist Richard Baker as he exposes coercive control and abuse within Australian cults.
Rural Australia is celebrated in Wild Wild Whips, in which three families battle for redemption, power and a last crack at glory at the National Whip Cracking Championships, and Rodeo Dreams, which takes viewers inside the high-stakes world of the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo.
History comes alive in Mutiny On The Boundary, which dives back into the 1977 Cricket Centenary Test. The King in Australia explores King Charles III’s relationship with the nation, and Battle on the Waterfront examines the 1988 waterfront workers’ rights dispute.
Natural history comes into focus with Kingdom of the Crocodile, celebrating the reptiles that have ruled the water for 100 million years, and Terra Futura, which shows planet Earth as you’ve never seen it, 3.8 billion years into the future.
Kumarangk: Sacred Women’s Business uncovers the legal battle over the Ngarrindjeri women’s sacred site in South Australia, a fight that reverberated well beyond the state.
Returning favourites include I Was Actually There, The Assembly, Muster Dogs, Kitchen Cabinet, Todd Sampson’s Why? Dr Ann’s Secret Lives, Dr Karl’s How Things Work, Grand Designs Australia, Grand Designs Transformations, Compass, Landline, Back Roads, Offsiders, Gardening Australia and Media Watch.
SCREEN – MUSIC, ARTS & EVENTS
The ABC remains committed to celebrating arts, music and live performance across the country, with a line-up of returning favourites in 2027.
Music takes centre stage as The Piano returns for a third season, with Tim Freedman joining as the new mentor alongside Andrea Lam and host Amanda Keller. rage celebrates its 40th birthday, triple j Live at the Wireless and Take 5 With Zan Rowe return, and the ABC Classic 100 Concert is back for another year.
The arts are in the spotlight as Miranda Tapsell and Luke McGregor return to host a third season of Portrait Artist of the Year, while Front Row with Megan Burslem continues to celebrate classical music performances.
The nation’s big moments stay on the ABC, with Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve, the Australian of the Year Awards, Australia Day Live and ANZAC Day all part of the line-up.
SCREEN – CHILDREN & FAMILY
ABC Kids returns in 2027 with new Australian stories to spark imagination, laughter and curiosity, alongside the family favourites children and parents know and love.
Little Lunch: New Class sees Ms Gonsha welcome a new group of students, and Emma Watkins helps a small-town community dance their dilemmas away in preschool series Emma’s Dance Club. Emma Watkins puts on her dancing shoes in preschool series Emma’s Dance Club.
New animation Happy House follows a share house of animal influencers creating their own online content. Imagine This is a high energy science series that puts children’s imagination at the centre of the action, inspired by the curiosity of the hit ABC podcast and its audience of big-thinking Aussie kids. Little ones can also look forward to a new Indigenous lullaby, Dirrell Lullaby, written and performed by Alice Skye.
Family favourites return too, including Do Not Watch This Show, It’s Andrew!, Flower & Flour, Little J & Big Cuz, Dance with Tom, Caper Crew, Knee High Spies, Good Game Spawn Squad and Play School.
NEWS
Distinctive, live and local, ABC NEWS continues to keep Australians informed in 2027 across television, audio, digital and social.
News documentaries remain a cornerstone, with two new titles coming up. Alliance examines the seven-decade relationship between the US and Australia and how it has been tested by changes in US leadership. The rise and fall of Alan Jones goes inside the rise and fall of one of Australia’s best-known broadcasters and the use of power that was tolerated for so long by so many.
National Forum returns, bringing policy makers, community leaders and everyday Australians together to discuss some of the nation’s most important issues. ABC Your Say also continues, listening to the issues and challenges facing communities and elevating them to national conversations.
AUDIO – ON DEMAND
Nearly one million Australians choose ABC podcasts each week, and in 2027 ABC Audio on demand brings new investigations, conversations and sports talk to listeners on ABC listen.
Expanse returns for season seven, with host Keely Johnson investigating the 1981 disappearance of a plane over the Barrington Tops. In the six-part narrative podcast The Box, Griffin Blumer confronts a moment from his past in a remote country town. The People Versus with Julian Morrow helps consumers get a better deal, and a new NRL podcast with Josh Mansour, Kennedy Cherrington and Andrew Fifita drops twice a week from February 2027.
Favourites return too, including ABC News Daily, ABC Business Daily, Politics Now with Patricia Karvelas, If You’re Listening with Matt Bevan, Conversations with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski, Unravel, The Case Of, Another Cuppa? with Granny Bingo, The Grill and Ladies, We Need To Talk with Yumi Stynes.
AUDIO – MUSIC & YOUTH
triple j enters 2027 with the Hottest 100 in January. Like A Version continues to put artists in front of audiences around the world, Unearthed High will uncover another stack of high school artists, and One Night Stand returns to turn a regional Australian town into the country’s live music capital for a weekend.
Double J’s new video series Straight To Tape, from the team behind Like A Version, captures mini sets of three to four songs from homegrown and international artists, recorded live to analogue tape in one take.
New triple j Unearthed series DEMO brings audiences closer to emerging Australian artists with intimate, stripped-back performances live from triple j, launching this Ausmusic Month.
triple j Unearthed will be hitting the schoolyard with national youth music charity, The Push, to launch the 19th edition of the now iconic competition. A five-date national tour will see a legendary Australian act head back to high school, with teenagers invited to pitch their school to host a lunchtime concert.
Sources:
1.Source: Roy Morgan Risk Monitor, March 2026
2. Source: Digital News Report Australia 2026, News and Media Research Centre, University of Canberra; Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, January – June 2026, Age 14+, PC/laptop/smartphone/tablet, Text only, News category (Excl. Weather & News Aggregators), Brand Group, Audience (000s); YouTube Analytics, VOZ Total TV National. Rival IQ.
3. Source: OzTam VOZ data, When Watched, 28/12/25 – 3/10/26, All People, National, BVOD Reach, Reach Viewing threshold > 15 seconds.
4. Source: GfK Radio360 Ratings, SMBAP Survey 1-6 2026, Mon-Sun 12MN-12MN, Share %, Streaming, AP10+, ABC Total Radio Network
