Rae Johnston is a multi-award-winning journalist focusing on the geekier side of life. Rae is currently serving as Governor in Council for Swinburne University of Technology.
The first Science & Technology Editor for NITV at SBS, her work appears across television, radio, and online. Rae is also the producer and host of top-rated podcasts Queens of the Drone Age, STEAM with Rae Johnston, Hear+Beyond, Look At Me and Harmful. You can also catch Rae streaming on Twitch every month with Indigitek's All-Indigenous Dungeons & Dragons crew, which is also available as a podcast.
Previously, Rae was the first female editor of Gizmodo Australia and the first Indigenous editor of Junkee.
A leading commentator on all things technology, science and pop culture, Rae has worked with every major television and radio network in Australia at some stage of her decade-long career. Today, she makes regular appearances across SBS, ABC and Network Ten.
Rae's work has seen her awarded the Lighting The Way prize for advocacy and support of the Australian games industry at the Australian Game Developer Awards. The Australian Games Awards named her Journalist of the Year and The Gamechanger – awarded for challenging negative misconceptions about video games.
Rae is a warm and highly professional MC and has worked with the likes of the Sydney Opera House, The Powerhouse Museum, Oz Comic Con, The Australian Federal Government, The Australian Academy of Science and The Museum of Contemporary Art. Rae's events and stage management background ensure that any event she hosts – virtual, live, pre-recorded or stage – runs smoothly.
Rae is also an engaging keynote speaker. She gives talks on wide-ranging topics like diversity in STEM and burnout to corporate audiences and for public events like the Australian Women's Leadership Symposium and TEDx. In the last five years, Rae has moderated over 80 panels discussing science, technology and pop culture.
An experienced actor for stage and screen, Rae specialises in voice acting. Most recently she voiced "Janali Banks" in ABC & Nine Network's animated children's series, Space Nova. She can also be heard voicing on-screen promos for SBS and in various Australian Government Announcements over the last 20 years.
Rae is a founding mentor with The Working Lunch program, supporting underrepresented entry-level people in games. She is also an External Assessor with Screen Australia and Film Victoria, helping to fund independent video game development.
A part of the prestigious "brains trust" Leonardos group for The Science Gallery Melbourne, Rae is also a mentor for Science Media Centre Australia's Indigenous Science program and the Superstars of STEM.
Rae is a proud Wiradjuri woman born and raised on Dharug and Gundungurra country in Western Sydney. Becoming a single Mum at 19 fuelled her to follow her passions, and show her son how to achieve your dreams. He's now 21 and a Valorant coach.
Working in casual minimum wage hospitality jobs for 15 years, sometimes three at once, Rae hustled hard for opportunities in media. After a decade of freelancing, in 2013, she got her first full-time job as the Lifestyle Editor of Techlife. She hasn't looked back since.
