Derryn Hinch, the Australian journalist, broadcaster and former senator who embodied his nickname 'the human headline', has died in 2026 aged 82. His career spanned six decades, marked by imprisonment, politics, multiple marriages and serious health challenges.
Early life and career
Derryn Nigel Hinch was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 9 February 1944. He left school at 15 to become a cadet journalist at the Taranaki Herald. In 1963, he moved to Australia and by age 21 was a Fairfax correspondent in New York, covering the moon landing and Martin Luther King's assassination.
Broadcasting stardom
In the 1980s, Hinch was one of Australia's most powerful broadcasters, ruling Melbourne radio with record ratings for 3AW. He also hosted television's Midday Show for 13 years and the current affairs program Hinch from 1988 to 1994. He lived by William Randolph Hearst's words: 'news is something somebody doesn't want published; all the rest is unpaid advertising'. Fellow journalist Ray Martin called him a 'legend of Australian journalism'.
Relentless pursuit of sex offenders
Hinch was twice jailed for naming sex offenders. In 1987, he named a paedophile priest and served 12 days in jail. In 2011, he was sentenced to five months of home detention for publishing suppressed names. In 2014, he spent 50 days in jail rather than pay a $100,000 fine for breaching a suppression order. He revealed in a 2017 interview that he had been sexually molested at age nine but said it was not his motivation.
Political career
In 2015, Hinch formed the Justice party on a law-and-order platform, including a public register for sex offenders. In 2016, aged 72, he was elected to the Victorian Senate, claiming to be the oldest person ever elected to the Senate. In his maiden speech, he broke the 20-minute limit and named several convicted sex offenders, saying: 'I will not be a cowboy. But if it is necessary to protect a child's wellbeing then damn right, I'll name the human vermin.' In 2017, the Turnbull government reached a deal to cancel passports of convicted paedophiles. Hinch lost his seat in 2019, and the Justice party was dissolved in 2023.
Personal struggles
Hinch admitted heavy drinking affected his life and marriages. He had four or five marriages to Lana Wells, Eve Carpenter, Jackie Weaver (whom he considered he married twice) and Chanel Haydon, divorced in 2012. In 2016, he rekindled a romance with Lynda Stoner. In the 1990s, he hit rock bottom with sackings and poor finances, leaving him with less than $10. In 2003, he returned to 3AW as afternoon drive host. In 2006, he became critically ill with cirrhosis and septicaemia. In 2010, he received a diagnosis of inoperable liver cancer, and in 2011 underwent a life-saving liver transplant, blogging the experience despite hate mail.
Legacy
Hinch was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2010 and wrote books on diets, Scrabble, Aids and relationships. Asked in 2025 what words he would like on his tombstone, he replied: 'He tried.' Derryn Hinch died on 10 July 2026.
