Adele Ferguson
Adele Ferguson is a multi-award-winning investigative journalist, columnist and author, best known for her series on franchising, wage fraud, cosmetic surgery and financial services sectors which resulted in major state and national inquiries, legislative change and a royal commission.
She has won the nation's highest journalism award, the Gold Walkley, and nine Walkley awards, a Logie, the Graham Perkin Journalist of the Year and other many awards. In 2019 she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contribution to journalism. She wrote an unauthorised biography on Gina Rinehart and Banking Bad and was formerly with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Latest by Adele Ferguson
Analysis
analysis:Laser Clinics is caught in a PR crisis, and the bad publicity is spreading like wildfire
When franchising works, it works well — but when it doesn't it can be devastating for franchisees and workers. Global cosmetic treatment chain Laser Clinics is shaping up to be another case study in what happens when things go wrong.
Analysis
analysis:Real Australians understand the value of whistleblowers, but when it comes to the crunch, our leaders are slow on reform
Governments like to be seen to be supporters of whistleblowers, but when it comes to the crunch, perception and reality are two different things and tough talk often becomes hostage to excruciating long delays or watered-down reforms, writes Adele Ferguson.
'I feel violated, I trusted them': Patients appalled after being shown the true nature of their medical bills
Medical bills examined by experts reveals how Australian chronic pain sufferers are being apparently billed for fictitious services, inflated costs, and treatments for conditions they don't have.
'I thought I was going to die': More horror stories are emerging about spinal cord stimulators
After a Four Corners investigation exposed safety issues with spinal cord stimulators, more patients have come forward to share their experiences of complications from the devices or the procedures to install them.
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'I'm so sorry': Teresa had a minor procedure to treat her chronic pain. The surgeon struck her spinal cord
People with chronic pain are suffering infections, shocks and even more pain from a device advertised as safe and effective. There are now calls for them to be recalled following a Four Corners investigation.
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'I miss my mate': David's wife of 43 years died after a popular procedure to treat pain
More than 3 million Australians have chronic pain. This treatment is popular, but it's putting lives at risk.
Questionable billing by some doctors is rife in Australia's medical industry. Here's how it works
A major investigation into the chronic pain industry has uncovered how Australia's healthcare system is being left open to financial exploitation by some medical practitioners.
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Analysis
analysis:The US pays its whistleblowers instead of sending them to prison. Should Australia do the same?
The sentencing of David McBride next week will be a clarifying moment for whistleblowing protections in this country, writes Adele Ferguson.
Analysis
analysis:Leon Fink paid premiums for years. When COVID lockdowns shuttered his business, his insurer refused his claim
Leon Fink wants the multi-billion-dollar general insurance industry to be held accountable for its brutal treatment of businesses during COVID-19 lockdowns, writes Adele Ferguson.
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Analysis
analysis:General insurers use a variety of dirty tricks to knock back claims. A slew of harrowing stories show it's getting worse
The general insurance industry's delaying and denying of claims and low-balling of cash settlement offers in the aftermath of the 2022 floods weren't isolated — the tactics are rife across the sector, writes Adele Ferguson.
Analysis
analysis:The clock is ticking on an industry that plays hardball with customers at their weakest moments
Some of the more unsavoury practices of the country's multi-billion-dollar general insurance sector were on full display last week, including delays, denials, predatory low-ball cash settlement offers and gaslighting, writes Adele Ferguson.
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Analysis
analysis:Australia is awash with oligopolies and the impact is on your bank account
A report into soaring grocery prices, rising energy bills and steep airfares will be released on Wednesday. Its findings and recommendations will cause a headache for some of the country's biggest and most powerful companies, writes Adele Ferguson.
Analysis
analysis:Shocking stories of nurses and tradies dying at work exposed in unreleased review
When a workplace safety regulator is accused by workers, inspectors, unions and victims of being timid, ineffectual and suffering from systemic cultural and operational issues, it's time for a massive overhaul, writes Adele Ferguson.
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Analysis
analysis:A million clients, almost $900b and high-risk assets: The trading wild west on ASIC's radar
The new breed of investment and share trading apps targeting retail investors and self-managed super funds are convenient for some but a headache for others, including the corporate regulator, which has found mis-selling, mislabelling, and misleading disclosures, writes Adele Ferguson.
Analysis
analysis:Inside the gold scam that made a fortune — and cost taxpayers millions of dollars
It took seven years of expensive, drawn-out legal battles, but one of the oldest and biggest private precious metals companies in Australia closed a dark chapter in the gold refining industry with a recent win against the ATO, writes Adele Ferguson.
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Analysis
analysis:Suicides, bankruptcies, marriage breakdowns: Could this be a watershed moment for Australia's scandal-prone franchising industry?
The franchising industry has been besieged by numerous scandals and many reviews in recent years, but little has changed. Now a new government review could be a watershed moment — so long as it gets it right, writes Adele Ferguson.
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Analysis
analysis:One woman's cosmetic surgery 'hell' points to a national problem
Rowah Kaddour still has nightmares about the putrid smell of rotting skin emanating from her abdomen after undergoing cosmetic surgery that went horribly wrong, writes Adele Ferguson.
Analysis
analysis:A whistleblower's guilty plea sends a chilling reminder
The decision by whistleblower David McBride to plead guilty to leaking classified information to the media is a chilling reminder of the flaws in Australia's whistleblower protections, writes Adele Ferguson.
CBA accused staff of being mentally unstable in bid to quash a financial services scandal
The inside story of how the Commonwealth Bank went to extraordinary lengths to discredit whistleblowers and journalists who exposed wrongdoing within the company.
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They risked their livelihoods to speak up — but now these whistleblowers are warning others to stay silent
A group of high-profile whistleblowers who helped spark royal commissions and change laws write an open letter to the federal government accusing it of overseeing a broken system that leaves whistleblowers exposed to costly legal fees — and worse.
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Analysis
analysis:'The only way to stop it is to ban it': The battle to stop engineered stone killing workers
The resounding message of the Safe Work Australia report into silicosis is simple: Ban engineered stone benchtops and save worker lives. So what will make governments act, asks Adele Ferguson.
'Unpoliced pots of gold': The questionable business practices in podiatry
An investigation into the business practices of a podiatrist who describes himself as probably the highest-paid practitioner in Australia has exposed some deep failings in the health system that open it up to rorting and privacy breaches.
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Analysis
analysis:Lost jobs, failed marriages, freedom at risk: Whistleblowers take huge risks at great personal cost
Institutions that do the wrong thing usually do what they can to cover it up. That’s the force a whistleblower is up against, writes Adele Ferguson.
Analysis
analysis:The 'shonky impostor' that's meant to help with your airline complaints
When a customer advocate is described as feckless and a dud it should be a clarion call to fix it. Two years after the Aviation Consumer Advocate was labelled a "shonky impostor", things are finally heating up, writes Adele Ferguson.
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Calls to strengthen whistleblower protections
Adele Ferguson and Hannah Meagher
Louise Beaston, the wife of ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle, says better protections for whistleblowers are needed.
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Duration: 16 minutes 27 seconds