Charmaine Dragun

Australian journalist Charmaine Dragun was born on Tuesday the 21st of March 1978 in Western Australia. She began her career in radio and studied at the WA Academy of Performing Arts before moving into television. Over 11 years, from 1996 to 2007, she worked her way up through the ranks, becoming a co-anchor on Network Ten's Ten Eyewitness News in Sydney, alongside colleagues like Ron Wilson. Charmaine was engaged to be married at the time of her death.

Charmaine died on Friday the 2nd of November 2007, at the age of 29, near The Gap in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The official cause was suicide by falling from cliffs. A 2010 coroner's inquest found that her death was probably preventable, and that it was linked to undiagnosed or misdiagnosed bipolar II disorder. She had been treated for depression and anxiety instead, and had recently changed her antidepressant medication to a combination known to increase suicide risk in some cases. The coroner noted that proper diagnosis and treatment might have prevented the tragedy.

She was admired for her professionalism and warmth on air, and her death brought attention to mental health struggles that she had battled privately. She was a slim, brown-haired, hazel-eyed woman, and her passing at such a young age left a lasting impact on Australian media. The case has been documented across major Australian news outlets and in the coroner's findings, sparking ongoing conversations about the importance of accurate mental health diagnosis.