Stan Grant (journalist)

Stan Grant
Stan Grant
Born	September 30, 1963 (age 63); Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation(s)	Journalist, author, broadcaster, academic
Years active	1990s–present
Known for	Indigenous affairs journalism, broadcasting, authorship

Stan Grant (born 30 September 1963) is a distinguished Australian journalist, author, and broadcaster with a career spanning from the 1990s onward. As a member of the Wiradjuri people, his work has prominently addressed Indigenous matters and Aboriginal identity.

Early life and education

Grant was born in Griffith, New South Wales to Stan Grant Sr, a respected Wiradjuri elder, and Elizabeth Grant (née Cameron), who descends from the Kamilaroi community. The Wiradjuri are an Aboriginal group originating from the south-western inland region of New South Wales. Much of his upbringing occurred in Victoria, another area connected to Wiradjuri heritage. For his secondary schooling, Grant attended Ginninderra High School located in Canberra.

Journalism

With more than three decades in broadcast journalism across radio and television, Grant has served as a news anchor for the Australian Macquarie Radio Network, Seven Network, and SBS. He also held a significant tenure as Senior International Correspondent for CNN International in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Beijing prior to joining the ABC.

1990s–2012

In 1994, Grant earned a Logie Award for Most Popular Current Affairs Programme as host of Seven Network’s Real Life.

By 2007, he was co-hosting the one-hour SBS World News Australia at 6:30 pm and presenting the Indigenous-focused radio show Speaking Out on ABC Local Radio. He stepped down from SBS World News Australia in December that year, with Anton Enus taking over his position.

In 2009, Grant took on the role of UAE correspondent for CNN based in Abu Dhabi, where he reported on regional developments and hosted the program Prism.

2012: NITV and pay TV

Returning to Australia in 2012, Grant contributed to launching SBS’s National Indigenous Television (NITV) channel. The following year, he anchored Sky News Australia’s late-night news show NewsNight at 11 pm. Starting in 2014, he led Sky News Australia’s 6 pm broadcast Reporting Live with Stan Grant, concentrating on major news events. That same year, he presented the six-part Foxtel drama series Crimes that Shook Australia.

2015: Racism speech

During 2015, Grant took part in a public debate hosted by The Ethics Centre’s IQ2 platform alongside immigration lawyer Pallavi Sinha, columnist Rita Panahi from the Herald Sun, and actor Jack Thompson. The discussion centered on the proposition "Racism is destroying the Australian dream." Grant emphasized colonization’s enduring effects on Indigenous Australians, asserting that "the Australian Dream" was built upon racial discrimination. He cited personal family history involving forced institutionalization and unpaid labor experienced by ancestors and others from the Stolen Generations. This debate was shortlisted for the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards due to its role in raising public consciousness.

2017–2023

Grant joined the ABC in 2017 as editor for Indigenous Affairs while also serving as an occasional host for the nightly current affairs program 7.30. Additionally, he presented The Link, which aired on Friday evenings.

In 2018, he launched Matter of Fact, a national nightly current affairs program broadcast on both ABC News TV and ABC News Radio. Concurrently, he worked as ABC News Network's chief Asia correspondent. After approximately ten months, this program was discontinued in November 2018. Subsequently, Grant assumed the role of Indigenous and International Affairs Analyst at ABC while holding a professorship at Griffith University.

In 2019, he relocated to Doha to join Al Jazeera English.

September 2020 saw Grant return to ABC as International Affairs Analyst with a focus on China expertise. This appointment followed diplomatic tensions that led to ABC journalists being evacuated from China.

In December 2020, he featured as host on episodes about identity for ABC’s interview series One Plus One.

In 2021, Grant debuted China Tonight, an ABC production aimed at exploring Chinese cultural and political themes for Australian audiences.

In July 2022 it was announced that Grant would become the permanent host of Q+A starting August 1. However, he resigned in May 2023 after experiencing heightened racial abuse following his involvement in ABC's coverage of King Charles III's coronation.

2023: Media and social media

In May 2023, Grant was invited by ABC to provide commentary on the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. He described the Crown as symbolizing "invasion, land theft - and in our context - a war of extermination," highlighting historical wrongs inflicted on Indigenous Australians under colonial rule. These comments triggered criticism from both media outlets and the public, resulting in widespread social media condemnation that Grant referred to as "a sordid spectacle." After enduring racial abuse, he announced during an appearance on Q&A on 15 May 2023 his intention to leave the program following the 22 May broadcast. In his farewell address, Grant criticized media shortcomings and accused ABC of "institutional failure" for not publicly defending him. In response, hundreds of ABC employees across the country staged walkouts and rallies to protest racial harassment. ABC news director Justin Stevens condemned the abuse and affirmed a strict policy of zero tolerance.

In 2024, Grant began contributing as a columnist for The Saturday Paper.

Academia

Grant was named Professor of Global Affairs at Griffith University in October 2018. By April 2020, he assumed the Vice-Chancellor's Chair of Australian-Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University, a position he currently holds. In 2023, he was elected Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. The following year, Grant completed his doctoral studies at Charles Sturt University with a dissertation entitled "Yindyamarra as theology: identity, history, violence, faith and reconciliation."

Politics

At the start of 2016, Grant was considered a potential candidate for the 2016 Australian federal election but declined to run for the National Party of Australia, explaining he was not "ideologically bound to the left" and valued the "small-l liberal" perspective.

In March 2019, just nine weeks before the 2019 Australian federal election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison invited Grant to Kirribilli House for discussions and encouraged him to stand for the Liberal Party of Australia. Grant chose not to pursue this opportunity, preferring to maintain independence from party affiliations.

Film

Grant wrote and appeared in the 2019 documentary The Australian Dream, which investigates how racism contributed to vilifying Australian Rules footballer Adam Goodes. The film earned the AACTA Award for Best Feature Documentary in 2019 and was also honored with the 2019 Walkley Documentary Award.

In 2021, Grant was selected as one of three Indigenous ambassadors for the SmartFone Flick Fest, alongside actor-director Wayne Blair and screenwriter Jon Bell.

Other

Since 2017, Grant has served as an ambassador for the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation. During the 2019-20 financial year, he held a Senior Fellowship at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

On 3 June 2022, he delivered the Eddie Koiki Mabo Lecture at James Cook University, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the landmark Mabo case, which legally recognized native title in Australia. Later, on 30 October 2023, Grant presented the JG Crawford Oration at the Australian National University Crawford Leadership Forum.

Selected publications

The Tears of Strangers (2004): A memoir documenting four decades of political and social transformations affecting Indigenous Australians, with an emphasis on the Wiradjuri community.
Talking to My Country (2016): Motivated by the 2015 mistreatment of Adam Goodes, this work delves into themes of Australian identity and racial dynamics.
The Australian Dream: Blood, History and Becoming (2016): Featured in Quarterly Essay, this piece articulates Grant's perspective on Australia's prospective path.
Australia Day (2018): Serving as a sequel to Talking to My Country, it investigates the meaning behind Australian national identity.
On Identity (2020): Published in both English and Wiradjuri, this book critiques simplistic identity binaries and promotes a cosmopolitan outlook.
Tell it to the World: An Indigenous Memoir (2019): Released in the United States, providing a profound look into Indigenous life experiences.
Indigenous Australia for Dummies (2021); co-written with Larissa Behrendt.
With the Falling of the Dusk (2021): A narrative addressing global challenges and crises.
On Thomas Keneally: Writers on Writers (2021)
A Collection of Interviews from One Plus One; ABC Audio
The Queen is Dead: The Time has Come for a Reckoning (2023)
Murriyang: Song of Time; Simon and Schuster (2024)

Awards

By February 2020, Grant had been honored with multiple distinguished accolades:

Peabody Award (United States)
DuPont Award (United States)
Winner of four Asian TV Awards
Recipient of three Walkley Award honors, including the 2016 Walkley Book Award
The documentary The Australian Dream won the AACTA Award for best feature documentary in 2019 as well as the 2019 Walkley Documentary Award

Personal life

Grant was formerly married to Karla Grant, with whom he shares a daughter and two sons. Their highly publicized separation in 2000 coincided with his involvement with journalist Tracey Holmes. Following adverse media attention during a conflict between News Corporation and Seven Network, Grant's position at Seven was terminated. Subsequently, he and Holmes moved to Hong Kong to work with CNN, spending two years there along with their son before relocating to Beijing, accumulating fourteen years of professional experience across Asia.