Shorten (SHN) is a file format used for compressing audio data. It is a form of data compression of files and is used to losslessly compress CD-quality audio files (44.1 kHz 16-bit stereo PCM). Shorten is no longer developed and more recent lossless audio codecs such as FLAC, Monkey's Audio (APE), TTA, and WavPack (WV) have become more popular. However, Shorten is still in use by some people because there are legally traded concert recordings in circulation that are encoded as Shorten files. Shorten files use the .shn file extension.

Since few players or media writers attempt to decompress Shorten files, a standalone decompression program is usually required to convert to a different file format that those applications can handle. Some Rockbox applications can play Shorten files without decompression, and third-party Shorten plug-ins exist for Nero Burning ROM, Foobar2000 and Winamp. All libavcodec based players and converters support the Shorten codec.

William Richard "Bill" Shorten (born 12 May 1967) is an Australian politician, the Member for Maribyrnong in the Australian Parliament, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation. He was Assistant Treasurer in the first Gillard Ministry and the Parliamentary Secretary for Disability and Children's Services in the Rudd/Gillard Government 2007–2010. He is a former Victorian State President of the Australian Labor Party, a long-time member of the right-wing Labor Unity faction, and a former Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU).

Bill Shorten was born in Melbourne, where his father was a waterside worker and union official. His mother was a lawyer and university academic. He was educated at Xavier College (a Roman Catholic school) and Monash University, where he graduated in arts and law. During his time at Monash, Shorten was a founding member of Young Labor Network, a right wing Labor youth caucus. He also holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School, an unusual qualification for a trade union official.

Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He also served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Australian Labor Party, Rudd has served in the House of Representatives since the 1998 federal election, representing Griffith, Queensland.

Rudd was born in Queensland and grew up on a dairy farm. He joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of 15 and was dux of Nambour State High School in 1974. He studied an arts degree in Asian studies at the Australian National University, majoring in Chinese language and Chinese history. In 1981, he married Thérèse Rein and they have three children. He worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs from 1981 and from 1988 he was Chief of Staff to the Queensland Labor Opposition Leader and later Premier, Wayne Goss. After the Goss government lost office in 1995, Rudd was hired as a Senior China Consultant by the accounting firm KPMG Australia.

Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop (born 19 October 1942), an Australian politician, is a Member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Liberal Party representing the Division of Mackellar, New South Wales since 1994. Between 1989 and 1994, Bishop was a Senator for New South Wales, also representing the Liberal Party.

Bishop was born in Sydney, New South Wales as Bronwyn Setright, and was educated in Law at the University of Sydney. Bishop first worked as an articled clerk and played an acting role as a barrister in the 1960s Australian television program 'Divorce Court'. She was later admitted to practise law in 1967 as a solicitor and became a company director before entering politics. Having formed an ambition to become a politician, she joined the Liberal Party at the age of 17.

Heavily involved in organised politics, Bishop joined Killara Young Liberals in 1961 and during her association with that branch, she became Vice President. Bishop first became a Liberal Party office-holder in 1973 as President of the Balmoral branch and was later elected as the Chairman of the Liberal Party Convention Committee from 1981 to 1985 and as the first female President of the NSW Liberals from 1985-1987.

Leigh Sales (born 1973) is an author and journalist.

Sales is currently host of the ABC's flagship news and current affairs program 7.30.

Leigh was a journalist with the Nine Network in Brisbane before joining the ABC and is a graduate of Deakin University (Master of International Relations) and Queensland University of Technology (Bachelor of Journalism).

Sales has held positions in national radio current affairs and was NSW political reporter (covering the 1999 and 2007 state elections and the 2000 Summer Olympics).

Leigh presented Lateline on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights (with Tony Jones in the role on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). She has been the ABC's National Security Correspondent from 2006 until 2008 and was based in Sydney. Sales was the network's Washington correspondent from 2001 to 2005, covering stories including the Iraq War, the 2004 presidential election, Guantanamo Bay and Hurricane Katrina.

In 2011, Sales was appointed presenter of the ABC's flagship news and current affairs program, 7.30.