Amanda Smith (11)

Presenter / Journalist for ABC Radio National Amanda Smith trained as a ballet dancer, but eventually realised she was more suited to being a professional talker than a professional fairy. She’s a graduate of the Dance School of the Victorian College of the Arts and has a degree in classics and a graduate diploma in cultural studies from the University of Melbourne. For RN, Amanda created The Sports Factor in 1995. She presented this program from its inception through to 2002, forging a whole new approach to sports broadcasting. Since then she’s presented a range of RN programs including the feature series Great Lovers. She also produced RN’s award-winning series about Australian multiculturalism, Mongrel Nation. She regularly hosts and speaks at public events relating to sport, and the arts and is currently the presenter of Sporty.