Journalism Grant has more than 30 years of experience working in broadcast radio and television news and current affairs. He spent several years as a news presenter on the Australian
Macquarie Radio Network,
Seven,
SBS, along with a long-term stint at
CNN International as a Senior International Correspondent in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Beijing, before starting with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (
ABC).
1990s–2012 In 1994, as host of the
Seven Network current affairs programme
Real Life Grant won the
Logie Award for Most Popular Current Affairs Programme. In 2007 he took on the role of co-presenter of the one-hour
SBS World News bulletin, and also presented
ABC Local Radio's Indigenous programme
Speaking Out. In December 2007, Grant resigned from
SBS World News and was replaced by
Anton Enus. In 2009 Grant was appointed
UAE correspondent for CNN. Based in CNN's new
Abu Dhabi news-gathering and production centre, Grant covered stories from both the UAE and the surrounding region and hosted the programme
Prism.
2012: NITV and pay TV Grant returned to Australia in 2012 to help launch SBS' new
National Indigenous Television (NITV) channel, and in 2013 hosted a nightly late night news programme
NewsNight for
Sky News Australia, which aired weeknights at 11pm. From 2014 he started hosting Sky News Australia's
Reporting Live with Stan Grant at 6pm, a nightly news programme reporting on the serious news stories of the day, and in April of that year he hosted
Crimes that Shook Australia, a six-part television drama series broadcast on
Foxtel.
2015: Racism speech In 2015 Grant took part in a
public debate at the
IQ2 stage of
The Ethics Centre, with immigration lawyer Pallavi Sinha,
Herald Sun columnist
Rita Panahi and actor
Jack Thompson to argue for or against the topic "Racism is destroying the Australian dream". He told of the impact of
colonisation on
Indigenous Australians, past and present. He argued that "the Australian Dream" was based upon racism, mentioning his ancestors and others who were
forced into institutions and unpaid work. The debate itself was a finalist in the
United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards for "its role in stimulating public awareness and understanding". In 2018 Grant started hosting a flagship national night current affairs programme,
Matter of Fact, on the
ABC News TV Channel and
ABC News Radio. He was also appointed chief Asia correspondent for the ABC News Network. The program was cancelled after 10 months, ending on 29 November 2018, after which time he took up the new role of Indigenous and International Affairs Analyst with the ABC, concurrently with a professorship at
Griffith University. In 2019 Grant moved to
Doha, capital city of
Qatar, to start work with
Al Jazeera English. In September 2020, it was announced that Grant would become the ABC's International Affairs Analyst with the broadcaster noting his past journalistic experience in China affairs. This was notable as the ABC reporters working in China, Bill Birtles and Mike Smith, were removed from China by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation on advice from the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, Australia's chief spy agency; the evacuation of the reporters led to a short diplomatic standoff. In December 2020, Grant hosted a series of episodes about identity for the ABC's long form interview program
One Plus One. In 2021, Grant launched the ABC's China Tonight program – looking at Chinese culture and politics for an Australian audience. In July 2022, it was announced that Grant will permanently host
Q+A from 1 August. In May 2023, Grant resigned from the show after an escalation of racial abuse that occurred following his participation in the ABC's coverage of
King Charles III's coronation.
2023: Media and social media In May 2023, Grant was invited by the ABC to be a commentator for the coverage of the
Coronation of Charles III and Camilla on 6 May 2023. During the programme, he commented that the Crown "represented the invasion, the theft of land – and in our case – the exterminating war". Subsequently, he expanded on these comments stating: "In the name of the crown my people were segregated on missions and reserves. Police wearing the seal of the crown took children from their families. Under the crown our people were massacred." These comments were criticised by some in the media and community, resulting in a social media commentary that Grant described as "a sordid spectacle. A grotesque burlesque. Lives are reduced to mockery and ridicule." He was supported by hundreds of ABC staff around the country walking out of office in support of Grant. Many carried signs saying, "I stand with Stan". ABC news director Justin Stevens told a crowd of hundreds outside the organisation's Sydney headquarters "enough is enough. The line in the sand is here, and we will not tolerate our staff being subjected to racial abuse, or any form of abuse. It must stop." Later in 2024, Grant joined
The Saturday Paper as a columnist.
Academia In October 2018 Grant was appointed Professor of Global Affairs at
Griffith University. at
Charles Sturt University, a position he still holds . He was elected a
fellow of the
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2023. In 2024, he completed his PhD at Charles Sturt University, with a dissertation titled "
Yindyamarra as theology: identity, history, violence, faith and reconciliation." ==Other activities and roles==