The 7.30 Report The 7.30 Report began on 28 January 1986, screening Tuesday to Friday evenings. The program extended to Mondays the following year. Until the end of 1995 the program had separate editions for each state and territory, presented by
Alan Carpenter,
Mary Delahunty,
Quentin Dempster,
Trisha Goddard,
Sarah Henderson,
Jane Singleton, Genevieve Hussey, John Jost,
Leigh McClusky,
Kelly Nestor, and
Andrew Olle.
Kerry O'Brien took over as the presenter of the national program on 4 December 1995, He presented his final edition of the program on 9 December 2010. In February 1996, the Friday episode of the show was replaced with
Stateline, a similar show with a separate edition for each state and territory. The program usually comprised several pre-recorded items and live interviews, focusing on issues of national or global significance. The program traditionally featured interviews with politicians. Former reporters included political editor Heather Ewart, Deborah Cornwall, Greg Hoy,
Mark Willacy, Michael Brissenden, Murray McLaughlin, Mary Gearin, Mike Sexton, John Taylor, Peter McCutcheon,
Paul Lockyer, Lisa Whitehead, Natasha Johnson, David Mark, Genevieve Hussey, Mark Bannerman, Tracy Bowden, Matt Peacock,
Andy Park, Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Dylan Welch,
Louise Milligan, Madeleine Morris, Conor Duffy, Monique Schafter, Alex Mann, Michael Atkin, and political editor Sabra Lane.
Paul Lyneham also hosted
The 7.30 Report for several years. Until 2010, satirists
John Clarke and
Bryan Dawe presented a (usually) weekly
mock interview covering a topical issue. Dawe played the interviewer, while Clarke played a prominent public figure but, unusually for satire, he deliberately made no attempt to imitate the appearance, voice, or mannerisms of the person he portrayed. When portraying
Julia Gillard he placed a flower pot behind him to give the impression of him being a woman. These interviews were a continuation of the pair's work for
A Current Affair, beginning in 1989, for which they won a number of
awards.
2011 changes The ABC announced in December 2010 that the program would return in 2011 in a new form, under the name
7.30. In 2015,
Jo Puccini was appointed executive producer of the program. In December 2016, the ABC announced that
Andrew Probyn would replace Sabra Lane as political editor. In August 2017, Probyn moved to a new role as the ABC's political editor replacing Chris Uhlmann who left the broadcaster for the
Nine Network. In February 2018,
Laura Tingle was appointed as political editor, replacing Probyn. In 2014,
Sarah Ferguson hosted the show whilst Leigh Sales was on
maternity leave. She received critical acclaim for her hard-hitting interview style from many Australian media outlets. In 2018, Justin Stevens was appointed executive producer. In February 2022, Sales announced that she would be stepping down as host, after almost 12 years in the role. She finished hosting the program in June, after the federal election, but continued to work for the ABC. In April 2022, ABC announced that
Sarah Ferguson would return from her role as special correspondent in
Washington, D.C. to succeed Sales as the host of
7.30 from July 2022. Joel Tozer was announced as the new executive producer of the program in June 2022, taking over from Justin Stevens, who was appointed director of news for the network. In May 2025, ABC announced that Laura Tingle would be departing
7.30 after six years to take on a new role as global affairs editor. Tingle was replaced by Jacob Greber, former chief digital political correspondent at the ABC. == Description ==