She attended Wellington Girls' College, where she admits to having been a rebellious teenager.[2] She moved to Australia at the age of 19, after graduating from high school.[3]
Career
While working as a receptionist at a Wellington jeweller, Gibney undertook part-time modelling, which led to parts in television advertisements and bit parts in New Zealand TV series' Pioneer Women and Inside Straight.[4][5][6]
Her first main role was in TV film Among the Cinders, but after bypassing cinemas, it did not screen on New Zealand television until four years later, in 1987.[4] She spent two months on the series Sea Urchins, before relocating to Melbourne to star as Julie Davis in the Australian children's series Zoo Family.[1] Roles in 1985 TV film I Live with Me Dad and 1986 crime miniseries The Great Bookie Robbery followed.[1]
In 1991, Gibney starred in the Channel Nine sitcom All Together Now opposite Jon English, staying with the series until 1993. The role earned her two Logie nominations.[1] After her departure, she starred in the miniseries Snowy.[1]Channel 9 were so impressed with her, that they had the producers of the series create a role especially for her – the title character of Dr. Jane Halifax in Halifax f.p..[1] The series debuted in 1994 with the episode "Acts of Betrayal",[7] and continued with a further 20 telemovies up until 2002.[1] Gibney was nominated for six Silver Logie Awards and two AFI Awards for her role.[1] She also starred in 1994 film Lucky Break (aka Paperback Romance), opposite Anthony LaPaglia, for which she was nominated for an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[1][4]
From 2002 to 2003, Gibney had a role in police procedural crime drama Stingers and from 2003 to 2006, she co-starred with Claudia Karvan in the telemovie trilogy Small Claims, as Chrissy, earning her a Silver Logie nomination for Most Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series.[1] She appeared in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's novel Salem's Lot in 2004,[1] followed by King's 2006 anthology series Nightmares and Dreamscapes.[1] In 2006, she played the role of Lydia, a hippie restaurant owner and operator in the Network Ten drama series Tripping Over.[1]
A series of Australian television advertisements for Advil in 2006/2007 featured Gibney and her family.[10] A new television advertisement with only Gibney appeared in October 2007.
Gibney hosted four seasons of a documentary series produced by Television New Zealand called Sensing Murder (2006–2010),[1] in which unsolved cases of New Zealand murders or missing persons are probed by psychic investigators from both New Zealand and Australia. Gibney was executive producer. While there, she also starred in 2008 New Zealand feature film The Map Reader, alongside Michael Hurst, playing Amelia, mother of Michael, the map reader of the title.[4] Gibney then took a hiatus from acting after the birth of her son.[4]
From August 2008 until its conclusion in 2013, Gibney played the female lead of Julie Rafter on the Seven Network's Packed to the Rafters.[11][12] Her role in the series proved popular, winning her the Gold Logie in 2009.[13] She also won two Silver Logies, and earned a further seven Logie Award nominations, an AFI Award nomination for Best Lead Actress and a 2011 AACTA Audience Choice Award nomination.[1] In 2009, she appeared in the true crime movie In Her Skin (aka I Am You), based on the Rachel Barber case, alongside Guy Pearce, Sam Neill and Miranda Otto.[14]
Gibney then co-created, produced (together with her partner Richard Bell) and starred in three seasons of drama Wanted, beginning in 2016.[4] The series was nominated for a 2017 International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series.[1] In 2017, she appeared in the web documentary series The Circle, developed for the real estate company Domain. The series, also featuring Richard Roxburgh and Dan Wyllie, saw two couples trading their small urban apartments in Sydney and Melbourne for a more affordable life on the Sunshine Coast.[19] In 2019 she played a crime boss in New Zealand film Lowdown Dirty Criminals, a departure from her protagonist roles.[4]
In November 2024, Gibney began appearing in the New Zealand-Australian crime drama series A Remarkable Place to Die. The Queenstown-set series is a co-production between TVNZ and Australia's Nine Network.[24][25][26] In December 2024, it was announced that Gibney was cast as lead for New Zealand series Happiness.[27]
Gibney dated television presenter Richard Wilkins in the late 1980s, when she was 22. She lived in Melbourne and Wilkins was based in Sydney They broke up when she discovered that Wilkins was cheating on her with a flight attendant, who he subsequently ended up marrying. Despite this, she holds no hard feelings towards Wilkins.[28]
Gibney was married to Irwin Thomas, (a.k.a. Jack Jones, former lead singer of Southern Sons), from 1992 to 1995. They divorced three years later.[28]
She met production designer Richard Bell in 1999 on the set of Halifax f.p. when she was 35. They got together in 2000, were married in November 2001 and moved to Tasmania, before having son, Zachary.[28][30]
In 2017, Gibney temporarily moved to Dunedin, New Zealand with her family, while filming the TV series Under the Vines. When her son Zachary moved to Wellington in 2022 to study acting at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, they initially stayed in Dunedin, but eventually sold their home in 2024, to move 'north' and be nearer to Zachary, who is now studying in Sydney.[31]
Gibney holds dual New Zealand and Australian citizenship.[32] Her mother, Shirley lives in Brisbane.[33] In 2014, while investigating her family history for the series Who Do You Think You Are?, Gibney discovered that her great great grandfather was part of the military invasion of Parihaka.[4]
Gibney has spoken about her struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, and the horrific sexual abuse her mother suffered as a child, at the hands of her own alcoholic father.[33]
Gibney has won, and has been nominated, for several television awards at the AFIs and the Logies on numerous occasions in her acting career.[13]
She won her first award in 1990, winning the AFI (Australian Film Institute) Award for Best Actress for her role in Come In Spinner. She also won a peer-nominated Most Outstanding Actress Logie award in 1991[13] for her role in the show. She was also nominated in the Most Popular Actress in a Telemovie or Mini-Series award for her role.[citation needed]
In 1992, she was nominated at the Logies for her role in the sitcom All Together Now in two categories: Most Popular Actress and Most Popular Light Entertainment / Comedy Female Performer.[citation needed]
Her role as the lead in Halifax f.p. had Gibney nominated for three different awards – Most Popular Actress at the Logies (in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001); Most Outstanding Actress at the Logies (in 1998, 1999 and 2000) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Television Drama at the AFI's (in 1998 and 2000).[citation needed]
Gibney's role in the telemovie Small Claims led her to another nomination at the 2005 Logies in the Most Outstanding Actress category.[38]
A popular role for Gibney has been on Packed to the Rafters. Her role in this has led her to win the 2009 Gold Logie and the 2009 Most Popular Actress award.[13] She also been nominated at the Logies for the Gold Logie in 2010 and 2011, Most Popular Actress in 2010,[39] 2011,[40] and 2012, and Most Outstanding Actress in 2009. At the AFI Awards she was nominated in 2009, in the Best Lead Actress in a Drama award.[13]
She has been honoured by her birthtown of Levin, New Zealand in their Walk of Fame (which commenced in 2021) and is run by Heritage Horowhenua Charitable Trust. Along with a biographical recognition on their website there is a named commemorative plaque for her in Oxford Street, Levin. [41]
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