Brooke Boney () is an Australian journalist and television presenter of Aboriginal

Gamilaroi The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

descent. She is an entertainment reporter on the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

's breakfast program ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

.''

Early life and education

Boney was born around 1987 in

Muswellbrook, New South Wales Muswellbrook ( ) is a town in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. Geologically, Muswellbrook is situated in the northern parts of the Sydney basin, bordering the New Englan ...

,Chrysanthos, Natassia (17 January 2019
Brooke Boney on being commercial breakfast TV's first indigenous star
''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 23 March 2019. the eldest of six children. The family, headed by her mother, were quite poor, but she grew up with a strong

work ethic Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. It is a set of values centered on importance of work and manifested by determination o ...

which she attributes to the influence of her grandfather. She is a

woman. She worked as a volunteer in

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

while at high school, and after finishing school, worked as an advertising cadet at the ''

Australian Financial Review ''The Australian Financial Review'' (abbreviated to the ''AFR'') is an Australian business-focused, compact daily newspaper covering the current business and economic affairs of Australia and the world. The newspaper is based in Sydney, New Sou ...

''. After entering as a mature age student, Boney graduated from

University of Technology Sydney The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is a public research university located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Although its origins are said to trace back to the 1830s, the university was founded in its current form in 1988. As of 2021 ...

with a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) in 2014.

Career

While studying for her degree, Boney produced the ''Blackchat'' program on

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Koori Radio Koori Radio (callsign 2LND), formerly Radio Redfern, is a community radio station based in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern broadcasting to Sydney on a citywide licence. It is part of the Gadigal Information Service (GIS) and is the only radi ...

before morning lectures, and did an

internship An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

at the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

in the afternoons. Before graduating, she was appointed as a political correspondent for

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

, based at Parliament House from 2013. Her first assignments had to cover the

March 2013 Australian Labor Party leadership spill A leadership spill in the Australian Labor Party, the party of government in the Parliament of Australia, was held on 21 March 2013. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called a ballot for the Leadership and Deputy Leadership of the Labor Party for 4 ...

and the federal election that followed. She worked as a newsreader on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's radio network

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

from 2016 to 2018, and became known for using the traditional

greeting of "Yaama" when introducing herself at the start of

's news bulletin. In December 2018, it was announced that Boney had been appointed as

entertainment reporter Entertainment journalism is any form of journalism that focuses on popular culture and the entertainment business and its products. Like fashion journalism, entertainment journalism covers industry-specific news while targeting general audiences bey ...

on the

's breakfast program ''

'', to work alongside the network's long-serving entertainment editor Richard Wilkins in 2019.Fryer, Brooke (21 December 2018
Brooke Boney set to be one of the few young Indigenous women on commercial television

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS World ...

. Retrieved 23 March 2019. she is in this role. In January 2019, just days into her new job, she was asked for her opinion on

Change the Date Various alternatives have been put forward over time to change the existing date of Australia Day. There have also been proposals to institute a second day specifically for Indigenous Australians in addition to the existing date, which is often r ...

, a campaign which proposes moving

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 ...

from its current date, which marks the date of the arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

in Sydney. She replied: This prompted a harsh backlash, mixed reactions from some viewers, and much commentary in the media. In February 2021,

Southern Cross Austereo Southern Cross Media Group Limited, doing business as Southern Cross Austereo, is an Australian media company which operates broadcast radio and television stations. It is the largest radio broadcaster in Australia, operating 86 radio station ...

announced that Boney and Linda Marigliano would host ''The Dream Club''

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

on LiSTNR. The podcast is a weekly social commentary and pop culture reviews on all the highs and lows of internet culture. In November 2021, Boney won Nine Network's '' Lego Masters: Bricksmas specials''. In December 2022, Nine announced that Boney will host '' Carols by Candelight'' with David Campbell.

Other roles

Boney is a spokesperson for the

GO Foundation Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...

, which focuses on education for

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. A portrait of Boney and her pet pug Jimmy by Laura Jones was a finalist for the 2022

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boney, Brooke 1987 births Living people Australian television journalists Australian women journalists Gamilaraay Nine News presenters