Silence, stigma and survival: polio in postwar Australia

In the 1950s, Australia endured several dangerous outbreaks of polio - a highly infectious disease that threatened lifelong paralysis. Many aging survivors are still living with its impacts today, including the mother of Professor Catharine Coleborne, a historian of medicine at the University of Newcastle. Now, Catharine is surveying Australia's archival records to better understand the experiences of people who contracted polio in the postwar period. It's a story not just of physical debilitation, but also intense social stigma and fear. Guest: Catharine Coleborne, Professor of History at the University of Newcastle. Her project is called “My Mother’s Polio: Australian Experiences of Poliomyelitis, 1950s to 1960s”. Producer: Jack Schmidt

You can listen to Silence, stigma and survival: polio in postwar Australia online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Silence, stigma and survival: polio in postwar Australia is an episode from Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast by Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

This episode is 0:25:43 long.

This episode was published on Apr 23, 2026.

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