Host of HEALTH REPORT, on ABC Radio National, presenter of HEALTH MINUTES on ABC News Radio and ABC Television’s CATALYST, health commentator, speaker and facilitator, Dr Norman Swan, is a multi-award winning broadcaster and journalist.  He is in great demand as a speaker, facilitator, panel chair, MC and creator of hypotheticals who can tailor a presentation to suit your requirements or event theme.

One of the first medically qualified journalists in Australia, Norman was born in Scotland, graduated in medicine from the University of Aberdeen and later obtained his postrgraduate qualifications in Paediatrics.

Joining the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1982, he has won numerous awards for his journalism and broadcasting.

Norman was named Australian Radio Producer of the Year in 1984 and was awarded a Gold Citation in the United Nations Media Peace Prizes for his radio work.  He has won three Walkley National Awards for Australian journalism, including the prestigious Gold, and Australia’s top prize for Science Journalism, the Michael Daly Award, twice.

A famous example of Norman’s work is his much publicised and controversial investigative program on scientific fraud and the well-known gynaecologist Dr William McBride. The program exposed fraudulent research, sending shock waves throughout the medical world and led to Dr William McBride being de-registered.  It earned Dr Swan the 1988 Australian Writers’ Guild Award for best documentary and a Gold Walkley.

In 2004 he was warded the Medal of the Australian Academy of Science, an hour that had only been given three times and the Royal College of Physicians in Glasgow made him a Fellow. In 2006 he was given a Doctorate of Medicine Hon Causa by the University of Sydney during its medical school’s 150 anniversary.

In addition to the HEALTH REPORT, HEALTH MINUTES and CATALYST, Norman was co-host of the social affairs programme, LIFE MATTERS on ABC Radio National for five years and is frequently a guest host on LATE NIGHT LIVE and Radio National’s news and current affairs Breakfast programme.  He also edits his own newsletter, THE CHOICE HEALTH READER, which is published in partnership with CHOICE.

On television, in addition to CATALYST, Dr Swan hosted its predecessor, QUANTUM, and has been a reporter on FOUR CORNERS.  He hosted HELATH DIMENSIONS on ABC television and created, wrote and narrated a four part series on disease and civilisation, INVISIBLE ENEMIES, made for Channel 4 (UK) and SBS Television.  This has been shown in 27 countries.  He also co-wrote and narrated THE OPPOSITE SEX, a four part series for ABC Television.

Norman Swan has an international reputation. He has been the Australian correspondent for the Journal of the American Medical Association the British Medical Journal and consults for the World Health Organisation in Geneva. In late 2008 Norman chaired a meeting of the world’s Health Ministers in West Africa which aimed to pursue the goal of making health policy evidence based and is facilitating a follow up meeting in Singapore.