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Sarah Danckert

Sarah Danckert

Sarah Danckert is a senior reporter who specialises in investigations and corporate wrongdoing. She is a two-time Walkley Award winner, and has won six Quill Awards and two Kennedy Awards.

USGFX’s Hong Kong launch in 2018. From left: Shuriken’s Andrew Jeffers, USG director John Martin, USG chief executive Shay Zakhaim. Justice Wigney awarded a $131 million fine against the group on Thursday.

Former Rabbitohs and EPL sponsor cops largest ever fine from ASIC case

The former Australian sponsor of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Sheffield United FC has been hit with $300 million in fines – a record for any case brought by the corporate watchdog.

  • Sarah Danckert

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Teal independents who may form part of the new political party.

As it happened: Teals in talks to form new political party; Flotilla activists demand Albanese condemn Israel as they detail abuse; Antisemitism royal commission resumes

Follow along as we bring you the latest live news updates from Australia and beyond.

  • Emily Kaine and Sarah Danckert
Former Melbourne Rebels President Paul Docherty appears at the Federal Court.

Rebels president says he had no clue club was toast

Paul Docherty told a court he had warned rugby’s governing body against centralising the club before its balance sheet had been fixed up.

  • Sarah Danckert
The Melbourne Rebels playing out the 2024 season after the financial collapse of the club.

Rugby Australia’s plan for star players was no secret to Rebels, court hears

The now-failed Rebels not only knew of RA’s Winning Rugby plan, but also supported it, a court has heard in opening addresses.

  • Sarah Danckert
Former Rebels president Paul Docherty (left) and Rugby Australia chief Phil Waugh are expected to be called as witnesses in the case.

‘It’s not too late’: Judge implores agreement in rugby legal scrum

The second day of the lawsuit by the Melbourne Rebels against Rugby Australia began with the judge warning both sides that the trial would be costly and could harm reputations.

  • Sarah Danckert
The Melbourne Rebels played their last match in May 2024.

‘It took this to get the truth’: Rugby Australia misled Rebels over their future, court hears

A court fight brought by the directors of now defunct Super Rugby club the Melbourne Rebels against the sport’s governing body has begun in the Federal Court.

  • Sarah Danckert
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Norman O’Bryan leaves court

Top silk Norman O’Bryan avoids jail for attempted overcharging fraud

The former lawyer from one of Victoria’s most esteemed legal families has been sentenced for attempting to defraud victims in a class action.

  • Sarah Danckert
Rugby Australia boss Phil Waugh (left) with Melbourne Rebels president Paul Docherty in happier times.

Not all states are equal: The secret ‘seismic’ plan to reshape rugby

Rugby Australia signed off on a plan that would explicitly back NSW and Queensland. Now Wallabies legend Phil Waugh faces a court grilling over it as the fallout from the Rebels’ collapse deepens.

  • Sarah Danckert
One of the stars of the AFL, Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury, has launched legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Sporting elite, including Scott Pendlebury, facing losses as $75m trust collapses

The court-ordered liquidation comes as shareholders in the troubled Western Melbourne Group scramble to find new lines of funding for a large sporting complex in Melbourne’s western fringe.

  • Sarah Danckert and Kieran Rooney
Norman O’Bryan outside the County Court of Victoria on Thursday.

He was one of the country’s most celebrated silks. Then he defrauded pensioner scam victims

Even Norman O’Bryan’s own lawyer referred to the saga as “a most public fall from grace”.

  • Sarah Danckert