Natalie O’Brien and Amelia Saw bring you the incredible real-life stories of courageous women working in our criminal justice system.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to face-off with a serial killer?
Or how it feels to take down a notorious sexual predator?
Lady Justice – a new eight-part podcast by News Corp’s True Crime Australia – answers these questions, and more, as fearless female trailblazers lift the lid on some of the justice system’s toughest jobs.
These are the women who put criminals in their place, keep our streets safe, and society functioning.
The series takes us from the world of undercover cops to the courts and into the prison system, with never-heard-before insights from women at the top of their game in a dangerous world.
Episode guide
A former prison officer who spent 22 years keeping Australia’s most dangerous men in line. The no-nonsense grandmother has faced-off with notorious serial killers, sex offenders and paedophiles without raising a sweat but things became uncomfortable when danger (quite literally) followed her home.
Queensland’s top cop has been beaten within an inch of her life in a violent street brawl; posed as a street walking prostitute and has been proposed to by a murderer while on a dangerous undercover job to catch him. There is nothing this veteran cop hasn’t done during her more than 30 years at the coalface of the justice system.
She is Australia’s real life CSI forensic scientist and her mission is giving a voice to the dead. She sifts through crime scenes, studies how bodies decompose and solves baffling mysteries. What she has discovered is that dead men really do tell tales.
After 13 years working in maximum security mens’ prisons and juvenile justice, this former prison officer has more than just your average jailhouse “war story” to share. She’d often escort the Butcher of Bega Graeme Stephen Reeves on his walks and witnessed a Skaf gang rapist speaking in tongues to the devil through the floorboards.
As one of Australia’s most high-profile female lawyers, she has a string of headline-grabbing clients including notorious gangster Bassam Hamzy – a favourite with the ladies – convicted terrorists and a flamboyant former Deputy Mayor. But her long list of famous and infamous clients have made her a target.
As the first woman to run the NSW Emergency Services, she had a baptism of fire dealing with the terrifying Black Summer Bushfires, floods and then the pandemic Her early career began in the police, notching up her first murder arrest while still a rookie. Danger really struck home when she and her family had to go into hiding with police protection from a big-time drug dealer.
A legal powerhouse, this barrister has battled some of the most famous fights in recent history. She fiercely advocates for the oppressed. But sometimes she lands herself in hot water, and has even called out her own profession for its shockingly high rates of sexual harassment.
She is used to being the only woman in the room and has forged a career heading up national teams dealing with transnational crime, drugs, people-smuggling, fraud and counter-terrorism. She has represented Australia as advisor to the United Nations in New York and most recently led the Covid-19 strategy for the safe reopening of the international borders.
Barrister exposes how lawyers cop ‘sexism, rape, harassment’
Legal powerhouse Claire O’Connor SC has battled some of the most famous legal fights. Now, she’s revealed shockingly high rates of sexual harassment among female lawyers.
Lawyer: Gangland boss knows where Milat hid bodies
Criminal lawyer Zali Burrows has revealed Bassam Hamzy may hold the key to finding Ivan Milat’s missing victims. Listen to the podcast.
‘Shrinking bikie syndrome’: What happened to Hawi in jail
Former corrections officer Katrina Schyndel has revealed hair-raising stories about Comancheros bikie Mick Hawi, the Skaf brothers and the Butcher of Bega. Listen to the podcast.
The Zombie effect: how bodies can and do move after death
Forensic scientist and Body Farm expert Jodie Ward is using new DNA technology to help solve infamous Australian cold cases and more as they pile up. Listen to the Lady Justice podcast.
Why Hannah Clarke’s murder will haunt me forever
Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll has revealed why she will never forget the hideous murder of Hannah Clarke. Listen to our Lady Justice podcast.
Molotov attack: ‘We slept with a firearm under our bed’
Prison officer Jane Lohse reveals what happened when an evil ex-inmate tracked her down to her family home. Listen to the gripping Lady Justice podcast.