Tara Brown

For other people named Tara Brown, see Tara Brown (disambiguation).

Tara Brown
Born	14 March 1968 (1968-03-14) (age 56) Sydney, Australia
Education	Davidson High School Charles Sturt University
Occupations	Journalist news presenter TV presenter
Years active	1992–present
Employer	Nine Network
Notable credit(s)	60 Minutes A Current Affair Nightline
Spouse	John McAvoy (2000–2017)
Children	2

Tara Brown (born 14 March 1968) is an Australian television presenter and reporter.

Early life and career

After graduating Davidson High School in 1986, Brown attended Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, New South Wales, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts (Communication) Degree. ^{[1] [2]}

After graduation, she joined Channel Seven's Sydney newsroom as an assistant to the chief-of-staff. ^{[1] [2]} In 1991, Brown moved to WIN Television in Wollongong, and undertook a cadetship in journalism. ^{[1] [2]}

Nine Network

In 1992, she joined the Nine Network and began working on compiling features including "Australian Agenda" reports for the Nine Network's late news programme Nightline . ^{[1] [2]} In 1993, she left Nightline and began reporting on A Current Affair . ^[2] Her most memorable stories for A Current Affair include a series of reports on a group of Australian soldiers returning to Vietnam on the 20th anniversary of the fall of Saigon; uncovering a tyre dumping racket which posed a major environmental threat; and a feature story on refugees in Bei Hai in southern China. ^[1]

In 2001, she became a reporter on the Nine Network's 60 Minutes . ^[3] The first person Brown ever interviewed on 60 Minutes was Mel Gibson. ^[3]

Brown was previously a fill-in presenter for Nine Sunday AM News . ^{[4] [5]}

In April 2016, Brown and eight other people (including three other staff members of the Nine Network, David Ballment, Stephen Rice, and Ben Williamson) ^[6] were arrested on allegations of child abduction in Lebanon. Lebanese judicial sources told The Guardian that the group were to be charged with "armed abduction, purveying threats and physical harm" - crimes which carry sentences of twenty years' imprisonment with hard labour. ^[7] She was released from custody only after the Nine Network paid a substantial money settlement to the father of the children, the subject of the attempted abduction. ^[8]

Personal life

Brown was married to TV producer John McAvoy from 2000 until their divorce in 2017. She has two sons, born in 2008 and 2010. ^{[9] [10]}

References

1. "Tara Brown, 60 Minutes reporter". Nine News. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
2. Freeman, Jane (11 December 1995). "TV's next generation". The Sydney Morning Herald. pp. 53–54. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
3. Otto, Anna (30 July 2011). "Saturday Sibset: Tara Brown and sons". Waltzing More Than Matilda. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
4. "Tara Brown". Sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au. Archived from the original on 27 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
5. "Tara Brown". Health.ninemsn.com.au. 13 July 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
6. Miranda, Charles (13 April 2016). "Kidnapping charges filed against 60 Minutes crew over botched child recovery mission in Lebanon" . Retrieved 13 April 2016.
7. Shaheen, Kareem; Safi, Michael; Elgot, Jessica (12 April 2016). "Suspects in alleged Beirut kidnapping face jail and hard labour" . Retrieved 13 April 2016.
8. "Kidnapping charges against Tara Brown and 60 Minutes crew dropped". Australian Women's Weekly. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
9. "60 Minutes' reporter Tara Brown has first child, a boy". The Daily Telegraph. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
10. "Tara Brown: Baby bliss at 43". 29 June 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2016.