Vanessa Gorman smiling and looking at the camera

Vanessa Gorman
Bachelor of Arts (Communications), 1983  

Vanessa Gorman is a celebrated television producer, journalist, and writer whose career has shaped Australian storytelling across genres and generations. As a long-time producer of the ABC’s Australian Story, Vanessa has directed and interviewed countless Australians, guiding them through the deeply personal process of sharing their lives with integrity and compassion. Her work has helped Australian Story remain one of the nation’s most-watched programs, reaching millions of viewers each year.

Vanessa’s storytelling is not only professional—it’s deeply personal. After the loss of her first child Layla, she created the award-winning documentary Losing Layla (2001) and authored the memoir Layla’s Story, becoming a powerful advocate for grieving parents and neonatal loss awareness. Her work continues to support families and train healthcare professionals globally.

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Transcript

My name is Vanessa Gorman. I graduated from the Media and Communications degree in 1983.

Thank you very much to UTS for this award. I laugh because it's not often that you get a trophy in the second part of your life.

I work in documentary television and it's an incredible career, but it's a lot of hard work. There are a lot of deadlines. There's a lot of pressure. You can't get it wrong, and if you get it wrong, it's very public. So getting this award is recognition for a lot of hard work.

One of the key lessons that I got from UTS was really to go after your passion. I actually really just wanted to tell stories. In the communications degree that I did, there were a lot of mature-aged students, amazing lecturers and tutors, and they kind of opened me up to seeing the world in different ways. There are a million ways of telling a story, and that was something that really stayed with me out into my career.

For UTS alumni and students, I would say go for what you really want to do and then be open to the ways that your career path might twist and turn. It can be a really exciting journey.

Beyond her media contributions, Vanessa is a passionate environmental advocate, having co-directed documentaries on climate change (Two Degrees) and regenerative farming. She also mentors emerging filmmakers, offers free consultations to creatives, and has lectured in television journalism at UTS, where her teaching inspired a new generation of storytellers.

Vanessa’s career began with the science and technology program, Beyond 2000, filming in over 40 countries, and evolved through current affairs, arts, and science programming. Her work has featured prominent Australians including Jessica Watson, Sam Neill, David Pocock, and UTS graduate Shaun Christie-David.

A former lecturer and lifelong mentor, Vanessa embodies UTS’s values of creativity, impact, and social justice. Her dedication to sharing knowledge and amplifying unheard voices has made her a beacon in Australian media.

"I knew I wanted to tell stories for a living and diving into a Communications Degree at UTS helped me work out how to do it. The degree fostered experimentation and exploration and gave me the first taste of being out of my depth but paddling hard to work it out. It showed me the impact stories could have and the creative pathways to bring awareness and make change in the world."