Derryn Hinch, the Australian journalist, broadcaster and former senator known as the 'human headline', has died in 2026 at the age of 82. Hinch's life was marked by imprisonment, politics, multiple marriages, serious health challenges, and a relentless pursuit of sex offenders.
Career and Early Life
Born in New Plymouth, New Zealand on 9 February 1944, Hinch left school at 15 to become a cadet journalist at the Taranaki Herald. He moved to Australia in 1963 and by age 21 was a Fairfax correspondent in New York, covering the moon landing and Martin Luther King's assassination.
Hinch joined 3AW in 1979, becoming Melbourne's top radio broadcaster with record ratings. He also hosted the Midday Show for 13 years and current affairs programs including 'Hinch' from 1988 to 1994.
Controversy and Imprisonment
Hinch was twice jailed for breaching suppression orders by naming sex offenders. In 1987 he served 12 days for naming a paedophile priest, and in 2014 he spent 50 days in jail rather than pay a $100,000 fine. In 2011 he was sentenced to five months of home detention.
He revealed in a 2017 interview that he had been sexually molested at age nine but insisted it did not drive his crusade.
Political Career
In 2015, Hinch formed the Justice party on a law-and-order platform. He won a Victorian Senate seat in 2016 at age 72, claiming to be the oldest person ever elected to the Senate. In his maiden speech, he 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 with Hinch to cancel passports of convicted paedophiles. He lost his seat in 2019, and the Justice party was dissolved in 2023.
Personal Life and Health
Hinch had four or five marriages, including to actress Jacki Weaver. He battled alcoholism and in 2006 became critically ill with cirrhosis and septicaemia. In 2010 he was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer but received a life-saving transplant in 2011.
Asked in 2025 what he wanted on his tombstone, Hinch replied: 'He tried.'
