Wendy Bacon

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Wendy Bacon
Wendy Bacon 1972.jpg
Leaving court, Sydney 1972
Born1946 (age 78–79)
OccupationJournalist, academic
NationalityAustralian
Alma mater University of Melbourne (BA)
Website
www.wendybacon.com

Professor Wendy Bacon (born 1946) is an Australian academic, investigative journalist, and political activist who was head of the Journalism Program at the University of Technology, Sydney. She was awarded Australian journalism's highest prize, a Walkley Award in 1984 for her articles about police corruption in New South Wales.

Contents

On her own website Bacon describes her approach to journalism and political activism: [1]

I am an investigative journalist who is also a political activist. This means that I want my journalism to be useful to those who resist abuses of power and seek social justice rather than supporting existing power structures, which is what most journalism does. My emphasis is on information that I hope will empower people to take action.

Early life and activism

In the late 1960s, Bacon attended the University of New South Wales, where she was a member of the Kensington Libertarians, edited the student newspaper Tharunka and later the underground anti-censorship paper Thor. [2] She was part of the group that distributed a publication called The Little Red Schoolbook which had explicit information about sex. [3]

When she was 23, Bacon was convicted of "exhibiting an obscene publication" and given a good behaviour bond. She spent a week in Mulawah Women's Prison while awaiting sentence. [4] Her brief experience in prison led her to later co-found the support group, Women Behind Bars, in Sydney and also exposed her to incidents of police corruption. [5]

Between 1970 and 1981, Bacon's activism included issues such as repealing pornography laws, the dismissal of the Whitlam government, police corruption, prisoner treatment, and censorship laws. She was convicted ten times for protests, which included posting on building facades, displaying "obscenities", and disobeying the police. [6]

Bacon was denied entry to legal practice in the 1980s and her case became Australia's most famous for refusal to admit based on personal morality. [6] Bacon enrolled in graduate law school in 1977. [4] Upon graduation in 1979 she applied to join the New South Wales Bar Association. [4] In her application, Bacon was candid about her prior activism, which the New South Wales Appeals Court acknowledged in stating that political radicalism or extremism played no role in admission to the bar. The Court questioned her fitness from a separate incident in 1979 in which she told the court that she had paid a client's bail using money borrowed from a mutual friend. The Court did not believe her account and cited this as evidence that Bacon had and would break the law in service of her activism. [7]

Journalism

Unable to practice law, Bacon became an investigative journalist, working for The National Times, the Sun Herald, Channel 9's Sunday program, 60 Minutes, and the Special Broadcasting Service's overseas program Dateline. [8] During the mid-1980s, she was involved in reporting the case of High Court judge Lionel Murphy. Murphy, who was alleged by some to have connections to organised crime, [9] was charged with perverting the course of justice, and convicted, but was acquitted after two appeals. Bacon received a Walkley award in 1984 for her exposure of official corruption in New South Wales. [10]

Bacon wrote a series of articles in The National Times newspaper on the attempted bribe and murder of Detective Michael Drury in the 1980s and this story formed the basis of the award-winning ABC television mini-series, Blue Murder . [11]

From 1991 to August 2012 Bacon was a professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, where she taught journalism at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ). [12] Bacon also ran courses in freedom of information law for Fairfax Media.

As a freelance investigative journalist, she has contributed hundreds of articles to a range of media outlets, including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian, The Age, The Brisbane Times, New Matilda and more. [13]

An example of the power of her work was a series of articles about a police officer's corrupt framing of his ex-wife, eventually leading to the overturn of a miscarriage of justice. [14]

She continues to write, including for Michael West Media. [15] Her blog includes a range of topics including politics, law and justice, women's issues and the environment . [16]

Activism

Alongside her distinguished career as a journalist and academic, Bacon remains interested in anarchism, feminism and political activism. [17] She continues to be actively involved in movements for social justice, peace, and environmental issues.

In 2016 Bacon was arrested at a protest to stop the construction of the WestConnex motorway. [18]

In 2025, she was arrested at a Rising Tide protest against coal exports. [19]

Oral history

An oral history interview with Bacon, recorded in 1999, is available at the National Library of Australia. [20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About". Wendy Bacon. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sydney Libertarians and Anarchism Index - Wendy Bacon". Radical Tradition-An Australian History Page. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Franklin, James (2003). "Chapter 5 -The Push and Critical Drinkers". Corrupting the Youth: A History of Australian Philosophy. Macleay Press. ISBN   9781876492083.
  4. 1 2 3 Bacon, Wendy (22 November 2003). "I Fought the Law..." The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Sorensen, Tracy (8 April 1992). "Wendy Bacon: 'a more repressive mood'". Green Left Weekly. Retrieved 30 August 2010.
  6. 1 2 Parker 2007, p. 249.
  7. ↑ Parker 2007, pp. 250–251.
  8. ↑ Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ), University of Technology, Sydney (18 December 2003). "Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ)". www.acij.uts.edu.au. Archived from the original on 12 August 2010. Retrieved 20 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ Whitton, Evan. "Can of Worms II - Lionel Murphy: Trials and Tribulations". Networked Knowledge. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  10. ↑ "Award for best news story goes to freelance writer". Canberra Times. 17 October 1984. p. 16. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Wendy Bacon". Australian Womens Register. 10 October 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  12. ↑ "Farewell for Wendy Bacon". Australian Centre for Independent Journalism, University of Technology, Sydney. August 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Muck Rack | For journalists and public relations". muckrack.com. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Bacon, Wendy (24 July 2010). "Roseanne Catt ordered to pay former husband". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  15. ↑ Bacon, Wendy; Peters, Cathy; Peters, Wendy Bacon and Cathy (25 November 2025). "Philanthropy at war. Raising money for weapons ... and medical research too". Michael West. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  16. ↑ "Topics". Wendy Bacon: Journalist, activist. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  17. ↑ "The relevance of anarcha-feminism today". Workers Solidarity Movement. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  18. ↑ Meade, Amanda (21 October 2016). "Journalist and activist Wendy Bacon arrested at WestConnex protest". TheGuardian.com . Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Bacon, Wendy (4 December 2025). "Rising Tide, rising backlog. Coal protests too big for Zero Tolerance, police & courts". Michael West. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
  20. ↑ https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1435715

Bibliography

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