The 8 Best Australian True Crime Podcasts Of 2021
There’s nothing better than chucking on a podcast to make even the most boring chore more interesting. Whether you’re cleaning, doing meal-prep, or driving to your parents’ house two hours away to do laundry (yes, even when you’re pushing 30), podcasts are the actual best.
And no podcast genre is arguably more enthralling than true crime. From grisly murders, serial killers, abductions, frauds, and scams — there’s something so damn addictive about hearing stories that are dark and disturbing.
When it comes to finding your next true crime binge, look no further than on home shores. Australia happens to produce some of the best true crime podcasts, like cultural sensation The Teacher’s Pet and the always popular anthology series Casefile.
So what podcasts have come out of 2021 that are worth a listen ASAP? We’ve got you sorted.
The 8 best Australian true crime podcasts of 2021:
1. The Sure Thing
If you like your true crime podcasts to be less bloody, and more about white-collar crimes like scams and frauds, then this one is for you. The Australian Financial Review six-part podcast examines our nation’s biggest insider trading heist, which was pulled off by two university friends Christopher Hill and Lukas Kamay. They had aspirations of becoming Australia’s own Wolves of Wall Street, managing to turn $10k into $7.8 million in nine months, before they were eventually arrested in 2014.
2. Unravel: Juanita
If you listened to Unravel: Snowball (if you haven’t, go do it right now) then you will already be a huge fan of this podcast. The latest season features interviews with family members of Juanita Nielsen, a journalist and activist who disappeared 46 years ago. This seven-episode podcast seeks to investigate what happened to her, tracing back to the early ’70s in Sydney’s Kings Cross, which was a feeding ground for corruption and criminal activity.
At the time of her disappearance, Juanita published a local newspaper and was a vocal advocate for preserving heritage terraces and affordable housing in the area. Some believe her activism may have cost Juanita her life.
3. Everybody Knows
This podcast should go up the top of any Aussie’s list. The seven episodes relay some serious allegations of harassment, abuse, and assault levelled at the Australian music industry, along with exploring why the #MeToo movement failed to gain much traction in our country.
This is a must-listen for those interested in how Australian law often lets down victims while protecting perpetrators.
4. Murderlaide
Whether factually accurate or not, Adelaide is known to some as the murder capital of Australia, and there’s no denying that the isolated city has been the home of some of the country’s worst serial killings — such as the Truro murders and the Snowtown murders. This podcast tells grim stories of Adelaide’s most disturbing underreported crimes.
5. The Nurse
The Nurse actually dropped in 2020, but it’s back this year with Season 2 and another dangerous nurse. The new season concerns a nurse working at Launceston General Hospital in Tasmania, who treated a 13-year-old admitted with stomach pain and changed his life for the worse.
6. Bondi Badlands
This five-part series is an investigation into a string of murders and disappearances of gay men in Sydney in the late-80s. Four of the murdered men featured in the podcast — Ross Warren, John Russell, Kritchikorn Rattanjurathaporn, and Gilles Mattaini – all met grizzly deaths at the bottom of the cliffs between Bondi and Tamarama beaches.
The area where these attacks occurred in Marks Park in Bondi was notorious for gay bashings and, at the time, the crimes didn’t receive much police attention. Most of the murders remained unsolved until Detective Sergeant Stephen Page got involved in the year 2000, as he spearheaded a new investigation and eventual inquest into the men’s tragic deaths.
7. Naked City
This popular podcast kicked off its fourth season this year, offering another deep-dive into the Australian criminal underworld. The podcast features recordings from some of Australia’s most dangerous criminals, and the new season focuses on a Canadian encrypted service that allowed criminals to communicate with each other securely, with an estimated 1100 phones operating in Australia.
8. Dad’s Gone
This intimate and heartbreaking podcast attempts to uncover what happened to Jorn ‘Jesper’ Jensen, a father who disappeared in 2017. Jorn was last seen at his home on a Sunday afternoon: the next day, Jorn was gone, the garage door was left open, his car was missing, and there were bloodstains across his kitchen floor. Told from the perspective of Jorn’s family, this is one podcast you won’t want to miss.