Best of The Age’s investigations

• Exclusive

Buyers beware: These are Melbourne’s underquoting hotspots

An 18-month-long data investigation by The Age analysing almost 26,000 auction listings in Melbourne found that homes in these postcodes are regularly selling above the listed price.

• Aisha Dow, Nigel Gladstone and The Visual Stories Team

• Series

Bidding blind: Underquoting exposed

In this 18-month special investigation, we lift the lid on an open secret in the property market that’s costing potential home buyers in Melbourne millions of dollars.

• Investigation

Cannabis Inc: Australia’s booming medicinal weed industry

Australia’s medicinal cannabis industry has boomed since legalisation in 2016 – but its growth is raising questions for many in the health sector.

• Exclusive

‘Just the way I am’: Labor mayor’s long list of political and criminal connections

He is the go-to man in Dandenong, a six-time mayor who opens doors for the Labor Party, but he’s also linked to a range of convicted and suspected criminals.

• Nick McKenzie

• Analysis

CD96: How Mark Smyth hoped to build a cancer-buster

Serious concerns have been raised over Smyth’s CD96 work, which formed the foundation for a cancer drug now being tested in humans.

• Liam Mannix

• Exclusive

‘Follow the mice’: How whistleblowers, secret lab videos brought down top scientist

Staff were scared taking on their celebrated leader who’d won millions in government funding, but eventually, they had enough.

• Liam Mannix

• Exclusive

Man who won $600m from Albanese government for PNG rugby league embroiled in corruption scandal

The Australian government’s support was supposed to head off Chinese influence, but the suspect deal would have invited just that.

• Nick McKenzie and Chris Barrett

• Exclusive

‘Leo the dog’: Setka caught on tape delivering threatening message to rival’s home

Video of the former union chief’s night-time visit emerges, plus other officials filmed in abusive tirade on $761 million government project.

• Nick McKenzie, Ben Schneiders, David Marin-Guzman and Reid Butler

• Exclusive

‘Abhorrent, totally unacceptable’: Defence protects its reputation, not women

After being ignored, sidelined and marginalised, women in Australia’s armed forces are speaking up about Defence’s failures to act on sexual violence.

• Nick McKenzie and Garry McNab

• Exclusive

‘You and your phone!’ Video, staff expose ‘unhinged’ Pietro Barbagallo

The celebrated Kaprica chef has been accused of indecent exposure, violent behaviour, bullying and financial mismanagement across his restaurants.

• Charlotte Grieve

Cosmetic crackdown: End looms for speedy Botox scripts, influencer freebies banned

New rules for injectables target quick telehealth consults, the role of influencers and nurse training, in an attempt to ensure patient safety comes before profit.

• Clay Lucas and Henrietta Cook

• Exclusive

‘Let’s make some money together’: Inside the CFMEU’s bribery scandal

Sometimes a foot was tapped, other times it was a little kick – either way, the cash was passed under the table to the union boss.

• David Marin-Guzman and Nick McKenzie

• Exclusive

‘A 100 per cent turnout’: Leaks reveal Brethren secrecy push, bid to ramp up poll presence

A secret recording reveals members of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church being told how to obscure who they are.

• Michael Bachelard

The footballer, the underworld and the union deal that exposes construction’s dark secrets

When Faruk Orman aligned with ex-AFL goalsneak Kayne Pettifer to secure CFMEU support for a labour-hire firm, it was a case study in underworld figures monetising union backing.

• Nick McKenzie and David Marin-Guzman

• Exclusive

Gone in 52 seconds: Inside Australia’s telehealth injectables gold rush

Australia’s booming $4 billion injectables market is driven by doctors issuing scripts via telehealth in consults that sometimes last under one minute. Critics warn patient safety may be at risk.

• Clay Lucas and Henrietta Cook

• Exclusive

‘Nobody’s stopping it’: The taxpayer money trail from building sites to the underworld

A major investigation has revealed how gangland and bikie-linked figures are receiving large payments from companies on publicly funded projects.

• Nick McKenzie, Sarah Danckert and Amelia Ballinger

• Exclusive

Australian drug smuggling suspects right at home as Dubai makes world’s worst welcome

A mega-leak of property records reveals how suspected drug traffickers and other criminals call the United Arab Emirates a safe haven as the Gulf state looks the other way.

• Nick McKenzie and Amelia Ballinger

• Exclusive

How nation’s largest taxi company has taken public for a ride

A massive document leak has laid bare how many cab drivers are scamming their customers, and how little is done about it.

• Nick McKenzie, Brittany Busch and Amelia Ballinger

• Exclusive

‘Parasites’, ‘cowboys’: The carbon companies dividing rural Australia

Carbon developers descended on rural Australia 10 years ago promising big money and an easy fix to complex problems. Today, farmers are crying foul.

• Charlotte Grieve and Michael Bachelard

• Exclusive

‘Fraud all over the place’: Taxi giant’s former integrity insider blows whistle on rampant rip-offs

A former federal police officer hired to clean up integrity at the company behind 13cabs and Cabcharge claims it had little genuine interest in tackling the rampant rip-offs enabled by its technology.

• Nick McKenzie and Brittany Busch

• Exclusive

Dust and dead trees: The reality of Australia’s biggest carbon saver

The nation has made a multibillion-dollar bet that carbon locked in desert scrub will offset emissions elsewhere, but doubters – from scientists in the city to the farmers on the land – are growing.

• Michael Bachelard, Charlotte Grieve and The Visual Stories Team

• Exclusive

One hundred ‘carbon-neutral’ corporates quit government scheme over integrity concerns

Mounting doubts that carbon offsets may not stand up to scrutiny have driven an exodus from the federal government-managed system.

• Michael Bachelard

• Exclusive

Kissed without consent: Phoebe’s joy at Grossi Florentino job turned to tears

A sommelier at the famous restaurant kissed the young waitress, but when she reported the incident she was let down.

• Charlotte Grieve

• Exclusive

Defiant Grossi addresses staff after allegations of inappropriate behaviour

Celebrity chef Guy Grossi used an all-staff meeting to slam this masthead’s reporting as “manufactured and contrived”.

• Charlotte Grieve

• Exclusive

‘Unreserved and sincere’: Guy Grossi apologises after groping allegation

Guy Grossi is one of Australia’s most celebrated chefs. Now, following a months-long investigation, he’s issued a public apology after allegations he groped a woman.

• Charlotte Grieve and Ellen Fraser

• Exclusive

‘Unethical, appalling’: Ex-staff take aim at Victoria’s top restaurant

Moonah was crowned Victoria’s best restaurant in November, but former staff allege that behind the great food was a bad culture.

• Charlotte Grieve

• Exclusive

Carbon ‘sharks’: How private companies are cashing in on ancient practices

First come the new utes, then come the questions. The carbon industry presents a generation-defining opportunity for Indigenous Australians, but there are concerns the rewards are not being fairly shared.

• Charlotte Grieve, Simone Fox Koob and The Visual Stories Team

• Exclusive

Broke, desperate jobseekers are falling for ‘gold mine’ employment scams in droves

Fraudsters stole the name and branding of an international digital marketing firm to offer people bogus jobs via WhatsApp – and then fleeced them of their money.

• Aisha Dow

• Exclusive

Bikies ran amok in the CFMEU, and they’re not going to leave quietly

Efforts to clean up the troubled union are encountering resistance as the extent of past problems becomes clearer.

• Nick McKenzie and Cara Waters

• Exclusive

Secret recordings reveal the bizarre teachings of one of Australia’s most extreme churches

New leaked audio and church material reveal the extreme teachings of the secretive church’s leadership.

• Richard Baker

How the CFMEU scandal unfolded

Our reporting in the Building Bad series, now acknowledged with a Gold Walkley, came after work over 18 years by investigative journalists.

• Mathew Dunckley and Michael Bachelard

• Exclusive

Fake Albanese shows how Facebook is now a scamming honeypot

The social media giant is not only running obvious scam advertisements, it’s making money from them. Experts, victims and the government are demanding change.

• Aisha Dow and The Visual Stories Team

Mental health tragedy sparks questions on medicinal cannabis oversight

The death of a man with mental health issues who took his life after cannabis was prescribed by a Melbourne company has thrown a spotlight on a booming industry.

• Clay Lucas