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Leonie Thorne
Melbourne, VIC
Leonie Thorne is a digital journalist with the ABC's Specialist Reporting Team in Melbourne.
She joined the ABC in 2016 and worked in Brisbane, Mount Gambier and Mildura, before moving to Melbourne in 2020.
She was a finalist in the audio journalism category of the 2020 SA Media Awards, and was commended for a radio news story in the Rural Press Club of Victoria's 2020 awards.
You can contact her on Twitter (@leonie_thorne) or email (thorne.leonie@abc.net.au).
Latest by Leonie Thorne
In two hours of hearings, Optus's CEO revealed more about last week's outage
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin spent the morning being grilled in a Senate hearing. Here's a look at the key moments.
Updated
When a cancer patient needed to call triple-0, 'the phone was totally dead'. It could be a breach of the law
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne and Mary Lloyd
Optus is facing growing scrutiny after some triple-0 calls failed during its unprecedented outage.
Biden praises 'humanitarian pauses' in Gaza fighting, but Netanyahu declines to confirm 'stoppages' — as it happened
By Basel Hindeleh, Leonie Thorne, and Lara Smit
Israel has not yet officially confirmed a daily four-hour humanitarian pause, which the US says it agreed to, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying safe passages for evacuation will be facilitated for "a few hours here or a few hours there".
Updated
Did you lose money because of the Optus outage? Here's how to try and get it back
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne and national consumer affairs reporter Michael Atkin
First the hack, then the outage. Many customers want out of Optus, while others want compensation. Here's a look at your consumer rights.
Updated
Popular kitchen bench material could be banned after report finds it has led to spike in silicosis
By national health reporter Elise Worthington and the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
A new report has called for a ban on all engineered stone in Australia, but governments will not make any changes until they decide on a "national response".
Updated
Australian murdered by Hamas farewelled as Israel says it aims to end its responsibility for the Gaza Strip — as it happened
By Audrey Courty, Lara Smit, Leonie Thorne, Debra Killalea, Brianna Morris-Grant, Jessica Riga, Carrington Clarke, and Brad Ryan
Family pay tribute to Galit Carbone, the only Australian to be killed in the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. Look back on our coverage of the Israel Gaza war.
Updated
Jordan and Egypt unwilling to accept Palestinian refugees as organisations call for urgent access to deliver aid to Gaza — as it happened
By Leonie Thorne, Lara Smit, Audrey Courty, John Lyons, Liana Walker, Debra Killalea, Jon Healy, Jade Macmillan, and Riley Stuart
Look back on the latest updates as King Abdullah II of Jordan says neither Jordan nor Egypt are willing to accept any Palestinian refugees.
Updated
'Hamas should be crushed': Netanyahu wants sanctions against any nation who meets with terror group — as it happened
By Liana Walker, Riley Stuart, Lara Smit, Leonie Thorne, Inasha Iftekhar , Daniel Keane, Audrey Courty, Caitlin Rawling, Claudia Williams, Debra Killalea, Tom Williams, and Brad Ryan
Displaced civilians in Gaza say after mosques and schools were hit by Israeli air strikes, they have nowhere to find safety, while Israel recruits advocates for the country online.
Updated
'Combat activity' around Gaza as IDF shuts down wide perimeter — as it happened
By Andrew Thorpe, John Lyons, Lara Smit, Leonie Thorne, Riley Stuart, Matthew Doran, Claudia Williams, and Debra Killalea
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu will form a unity government with key opposition figure Benny Gantz, as Gaza's only power plant shuts down and aid agencies plead for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor.
Updated
Barrage of rockets launched from Gaza towards Israeli city of Ashkelon — as it happened
The Israeli defence force reports sirens sounding across the country, as Hamas fires a fresh barrage of rockets.
Updated
After years of 'harrowing' evidence, the disability royal commission wants these changes
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Evan Young and Leonie Thorne
After four-and-a-half years of horrific evidence, Australia's biggest-ever investigation into the treatment of people with disability has dropped its final report. Here are the main takeaways.
Updated
For the first time in over 50 years, an infectious disease is a leading cause of death in Australia
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
COVID-19 became one of Australia's leading causes of death in 2022, data from the Bureau of Statistics shows, however heart disease remained the biggest killer.
Updated
Bleeding through white clothes is a fear for many women. For this Olympian, it once happened while winning a race
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne and Emily Laurence
About a quarter of women will regularly deal with heavy menstrual bleeding but most of them don't seek help, new survey data shows. Doctors say it doesn't have to be that way.
Updated
The 'highly mutated' COVID variant BA.2.86 — known as Pirola — has landed in Australia
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
A new COVID variant nicknamed "Pirola" has been detected in Australia after sparking a sped-up vaccination program in the United Kingdom.
Updated
'Nervous rants' and crying at school: Teachers say poor mental health is the biggest issue facing Australia's youth
By national education and parenting reporter Conor Duffy and the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
Poor mental health and excessive screen time are the biggest problems facing young people, according to a new survey of more than 2,000 Australian teachers. New resources will be made available to teachers in the hope of creating more conversations around mental wellbeing.
Updated
In 2020, a uni student launched a world-first case against the federal government. They’ve now reached an agreement
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne and national science, technology and environment reporter Michael Slezak
The federal government has agreed to settle a world-first court case accusing it of misleading investors by failing to disclose the risk climate change poses to its bonds.
Updated
More children on NDIS than intended, expert says, flagging an 'urgent rethink' of the way kids are supported
By national disability affairs reporter Nas Campanella and the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne and Celina Edmonds
One of the original architects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) says it is being treated as a "limitless Magic Pudding" and local, state and territory governments need to do more to support all people living with disability.
Updated
The 'goddess of chaos' COVID variant is making headlines, but it’s been lurking quietly for months
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
A COVID-19 variant nicknamed "Eris" — after the Greek goddess of chaos, strife and discord — has been in the news after spreading overseas. But the variant has actually been in Australia for four months.
Updated
Bec and Sarah didn't want to repair a property that could just flood again. Turns out, their insurance claim wasn't that simple
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Emilia Terzon and Leonie Thorne
Australians are facing a "broken" insurance system as the risk of bushfires, floods and cyclones increases with climate change, a new report out today says.
'I feel complicit in care that harms women': Midwives reveal crisis inside Australia's maternity wards
By Olivia Willis and Margaret Burin
Midwives across the country say workforce shortages are taking a heavy toll on maternity staff and the families they care for.
Australia was granted a reprieve on the Great Barrier Reef being labelled 'in danger'. Here's why
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne, Penny Timms, Emilia Terzon and Evan Young
The Great Barrier Reef is likely to avoid being listed as in danger for at least another year as a United Nations body recommends delaying a decision on its World Heritage status.
Updated
One-in-five people with severe depression see results from ketamine in landmark Australia-NZ study
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne
A cheap version of ketamine commonly used as a sedative might help some people with hard-to-treat depression, research finds, raising hopes that the off-label treatment could become less expensive.
Updated
'We can't rely on recycling': Environmentalists sound alarm on plastic's climate threat
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne, Evan Young and Penny Timms
Analysis commissioned by conservation groups finds skyrocketing levels of plastic use are contributing to global warming more than previously thought.
Updated
Pet insurance ban lifted after Woolworths, RSPCA, Guide Dogs and more pull policies
By the Specialist Reporting Team's Leonie Thorne and Loretta Florance
The corporate regulator allows dozens of pet insurance policies to go back on the market after issuing a ban that lasted less than a day.
Updated
'I cannot use my own money': CommBank customers 'livid' as tech issue crashes banking services
By national consumer affairs reporter Michael Atkin and Leonie Thorne
The Commonwealth Bank apologises to customers after a major glitch prevents them from making purchases with their bank cards or accessing their accounts for hours.
Updated