Australian Story - Season 28

His ideas caught the eye of the US President. Now engineer Saul Griffith is making waves at home, joining his local community in an ambitious project to electrify their suburb and power it with renewables.

Australian Story profiles psychologist Wayne Warburton, here to help parents with kids who are addicted to video gaming.

Many parents will tell you they're worried their children are spending too much time playing video games and are desperate about what to do.

Wayne Warburton, a plumber-turned-psychologist, reckons he can help.

Together with German researchers, Dr Warburton, from Macquarie University, has devised a 3-month program to help the minority of teenagers who are gaming excessively and who feel they've lost control of their lives.

Caleb, 13, and Rhys, 15, who both joined the program, got drawn more deeply into gaming through the Covid lockdowns.

"It's living on the edge, never quite knowing what's going to happen next when they are distressed around their lack of ability to game", says Jude, Rhys' mother.

"When my behaviour had been at my worst, I was probably like throwing stuff, yelling, kicking things, punching walls", Rhys admits.

When Jude heard about the work of Wayne Warburton, she thought ‘hallelujah'.

Warburton says studies show excessive gaming can change the brain and inhibit impulse control, making some gamers aggressive.

"I've seen numerous cases of parents needing to take apprehended violence orders against their kids because they become so violent when the screens are taken away", he says.

Australian Story has gained exclusive access to follow Rhys and Caleb as they embark on this ground-breaking program to try and change their lives and take control of their gaming habits. But will it work?

Producer: Janine Cohen

Valerie Taylor burst onto our TV screens in the 60s, stunning viewers by diving with dangerous sharks. She shares home movies, recalls acting in Skippy and reveals the moment that made her a shark advocate. (Part 1 of 2)

Shark legend Valerie Taylor takes us behind the scenes of the hit film Jaws and inside her campaign to save the grey nurse shark. Still diving at 87, she's inspiring a new generation of marine warriors. (Part 2 of 2)

Actor and producer Claudia Karvan speaks openly about her chaotic childhood and the challenges of managing her late father's mental illness. And she reveals how she mines her unconventional life for her drama.

From a Sydney loungeroom, a mother and son take on a perilous mission to evacuate children and staff from their Afghan orphanages following the Taliban's return to power in 2021. Can they pull it off?

Monday's Australian Story is an update on a previous story profiling Mick O'Dowd.

Mick O'Dowd has survived the unthinkable. Four years ago, he contracted a sepsis infection and nearly died. The price he paid to live was high: the amputation of his limbs.

"What's the other option?" Mick asked his wife Katharine at the time, as he struggled to understand the enormity of what lay in front of them.

 "The other option is not to go through with it and not stay with us," she told him.

Three years since first speaking with Australian Story, Mick O'Dowd and his family have come a long way.

Mick is gradually gaining some independence.

He's now able to do some of the things he loves. He's learning to swim and scuba dive again. And he's back on the water, sailing solo, with the help of volunteer group Sailability.

"It's the enjoyment of actually doing something independently," says Mick. "It's absolutely incredible, I can go out and sail this boat all by myself."

But it's not all plain sailing.

"I can tell when Mick's having a down day, when he's a bit more quiet than usual," says Katharine. "But those down days aren't very common."

"Sometimes I feel I've made no progress because I still require a lot of help, "says Mick. "But then when I reflect on it...I've come a long way. Life's good."

Love, loss and sailing the world solo: Jessica Watson takes us inside her amazing voyage as a teenage sailor, speaks about the grief of losing her partner, and a new feature film which has thrust her back into the spotlight.

Introduced by Leigh Sales, "Call of the River" is an update to the 2019 episode: "Cry Me a River".

From accidental activist to Parliamentary liaison, young farmer Kate McBride has come a long way in four years.

In 2019, Kate alerted the world to mass fish kills in the Darling River via a video she filmed of her distressed father holding a dead Murray Cod.

To Kate's surprise, she soon became the face of efforts to save the Darling River and was tipped as a future leader.

Now aged 25, Kate McBride has left her family farm near Menindee in western NSW and taken a job with a public policy think tank in Canberra where she's an advocate for the bush.

Kate has also been dealing with a personal dilemma – questions around the succession of her family's property. It's been brought on by generational differences over how best to manage the land in a time of climate change.

Actor Heather Mitchell's life has been as dramatic off screen as it has on. And she's channelling those experiences into some of the greatest performances of her career.

One woman's decades-long quest for justice. Beth Heinrich was permanently changed by what she experienced as a teenager. Now in her 80s, she's spent almost half her lifetime chasing the Anglican Church to right past wrongs.

How a 52-year-old woman gave birth to her grandson. When Michelle couldn't have children, her mother offered to be a surrogate. Her sister-in-law did too. Now Michelle and her husband Jono have the family they dreamed of.

The remarkable story of a woman taking part in Australia's first psychedelic-assisted therapy trial. For Lindy Bok, it's a profound and deeply emotional experience as the treatment helps her confront anxiety around death.

A story of art, fame and family. The late John Olsen, one of our most beloved painters, had an obsessive focus on his work, often casting a shadow on those around him. John and family open up about art and the cost of fame.

Mick and Jamie bonded over coding as teenagers. Now their brilliant tech idea is transforming lives around the world. Their software could have made them rich but instead they've kept it free to help the blind community.

Australian Story's coverage of Kathleen Folbigg's case helped kickstart the scientific research that ultimately freed her. Watch the updated story of her fight for freedom over the last twenty years.

Buried memories and family secrets - how hit podcaster Hugh van Cuylenburg's quest to help people gain a positive mindset took him on his own path of self-discovery and forced him to face some uncomfortable truths.

As a child, Megan Davis fell in love with the Constitution. Now she's a lawyer and a driving force behind the Voice referendum. She wants to change the nation's founding document in the hope of improving her peoples' lives.

Her unconventional approach to surviving in the wild captured the public imagination. Now reality TV star Gina Chick shares how connecting with nature helped her through unimaginable loss.

Erica Packer, former wife of billionaire James Packer, opens up about the deadly genetic mystery shadowing her family and the scientists working to crack the code for thousands more Australians.

War correspondent Dean Yates thought he was indestructible but when two of his staff were gunned down by the US military in Iraq, he & his family reached breaking point. Now he's trying heal the wounds of war and help others.

When three Newcastle teens became overnight rock stars, their world exploded; huge concerts and crowds, intense fame and scrutiny. Ben and Chris from Silverchair take us on that rollercoaster ride and say it's a miracle they survived.

Rockband Silverchair makes a comeback with its fifth album and a massive hit. But backstage, the wheels are falling off and the band finally fizzles out. For Ben and Chris, life after Silverchair proves to be bumpy too.

Designer Sam Elsom shocked friends and family when he ditched fashion to farm seaweed. Now he has developed a product that radically reduces methane emissions from livestock. But can he convince farmers to get on board?

Once a popular kids' TV host, Fiona MacDonald is on the trip of a lifetime. Since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease two years ago, she's driving around Australia to raise money for research, and have fun on the way.

When beloved film and TV star Sam Neill received a shock diagnosis, it forced him to take stock of his life. Now the actor is living with a rare disease, but it hasn't stopped him doing the work he loves.

When Kylie Met Sami: She was released from an Iranian prison only to find her husband had left her. He was reeling from the loss of his job and the end of his marriage. An awkward first date led to a second chance at love.

Five years after his first appearance on Australian Story, Dr Gregory Smith continues his astonishing transformation. Homeless and an addict for many years, Smith is now an academic, has received an OAM and found new love.

What ever happened to Elle McFeast? She wowed TV audiences in the 90s with her bold and brassy satire. Then a live interview derailed it all. McFeast's creator Libbi Gorr opens up about the fallout and how she fought her way back.

Meet the violin virtuosos from Brisbane who ditched a classical career to create an online music comedy act. Now Brett Yang and Eddy Chen have gone viral and are playing sell-out concerts around the world.

Singer Elly-May Barnes on stepping out of her famous father Jimmy's musical shadow, on the long road to the spotlight and how she channels her physical challenges into a powerful cabaret act.

With little more than a briefcase full of old photos for clues, comedian Annie Louey unravels decades-old secrets in a bid to understand who her father really was.

A doctor puts his life on the line to try and cure his own brain cancer, using the very treatment he helped pioneer to save melanoma patients.