Beverley O'Connor (born 13 November 1960) is an Australian journalist and broadcaster. She currently hosts ''

The World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

'' on

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

. O'Connor was born in South Africa and studied journalism in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. She also studied drama and ballet. She moved to Australia in the 1980s.

Career

Broadcasting

O'Connor has worked for ABC radio and television since 1987. She specialised in economics and politics and was a presenter on

ABC Radio Melbourne ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR. Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...

for five years before moving to the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

in 2004. She was weeknight sports presenter on ''

Seven News Melbourne ''7NEWS'' is the television news service of the Seven Network and, as of 2021, the highest-rating in Australia. National bulletins are presented from Seven's high definition studios in Martin Place, Sydney, while flagship 6pm bulletins are p ...

'' until January 2005, when she was replaced by

Sandy Roberts Sandy Roberts (born 22 February 1950) is a veteran sports presenter and commentator formerly working on television for Fox Sports Australia and radio with Crocmedia. He was a long-time personality of the Seven Network for four decades, notably p ...

. She was the entertainment presenter on the Seven Network's '' Melbourne Weekender'' in 2006 and she previously formed a part of the Vega 91.5 FM radio breakfast crew alongside

Dave O'Neil David O'Neil (born 8 May 1965) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, bass guitarist, writer, television and radio presenter with unusually large thumbs. Early career Dave was a Cub, Scout, Venturer and Rover. His late father Kevin was th ...

Shaun Micallef Shaun Patrick Micallef (; born 18 July 1962) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He is currently the host of the satirical news comedy series ''Shaun Micallef's Mad as Hell'' on the ABC. He also hosted the game sh ...

and

Denise Scott Denise Margaret Scott (born 24 April 1955) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, television and radio presenter. Career Scott has appeared frequently on Australian television since her regular slot on ABC TV's ''The Big Gig'' in 1990, an ...

. O'Connor used to read the news and traffic throughout the breakfast program until she resigned in mid-2007. In 2008, O'Connor filled in as weekend presenter of '' ABC News Victoria'' while

Tamara Oudyn Tamara Oudyn is an Australian television presenter and reporter. Oudyn currently presents ''ABC News Victoria'' from Sunday to Thursday. Career Oudyn began her media career in 2003 working as a news reporter in Brisbane. Prior to this, she was ...

was replacing weeknight presenter Ian Henderson. She remains a regular fill-in presenter for the bulletin. In August 2014, O'Connor was appointed presenter of ''

'' on

replacing both Jim Middleton and Zoe Daniel.

Other work

O'Connor was the first female director of the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

, where she was on the board for nine years, and the first woman to hold a vice-presidency role with an

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL) club. She stood down from the board in 2008, the year in which there was a challenge led by

Jim Stynes James Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish-born footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), he went on to become o ...

. In 1998, O'Connor hosted the

Ethnic Business Awards Ethnic Business Awards (EBA) are Australian business awards. The awards recognise the significant achievements of migrant and Indigenous business owners. The EBA’s recognise the contributions made by migrants and the First Australians to busin ...

, a national business award highlighting migrant and Indigenous excellence in business. She hosted these awards again in 2000. O'Connor is a life governor of the Drug and Alcohol Foundation, having served for six years on the board. She is an

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

ambassador and was an inaugural board member of the Sunrise foundation which helps elite athletes to combat depression.

References

External links

ABC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Beverley 1962 births Living people Australian radio personalities Australian women radio presenters Australian women journalists Journalists from Melbourne South African emigrants to Australia