Early life

Byrne attended St Margaret's School, Melbourne

St Margaret's School, Melbourne

St Margaret's School is an independent, non-denominational, day school with a co-educational primary school and girl's only senior school. The school is located in Berwick, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

 as a boarding student, and began her career in journalism at age 16 as a cadet at Melbourne's The Age

The Age

The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

 newspaper. At age 23 she became the paper's San Francisco correspondent

Correspondent

A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...

, and later a feature writer.

Career

Byrne's television work began as a reporter on Nationwide. After returning to print media as assistant-editor of the The Ages Monthly Review, in 1982 she moved back to television on Nine Network

Nine Network

The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...

's Sunday. On Sunday in 1985 Byrne won a Logie for her story on Paul Keating

Paul Keating

Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...

's tax summit.

From 1986 to 1993 she worked on the Australian current affairs program 60 Minutes. She has presented Foreign Correspondent on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 (ABC).

In 2005 Byrne narrated the ABC mockumentary

Mockumentary

A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...

 television show We Can Be Heroes

We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year

We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year is an Australian mockumentary TV series created, written and starring Chris Lilley and directed by Matthew Saville.It follows the story of five unique Australians, who have each made a large achievement...

. Since 2006, also on the ABC, she has hosted First Tuesday Book Club

First Tuesday Book Club

First Tuesday Book Club is an Australian television show that discusses books ostensibly in the style of a domestic book club. Hosted by journalist Jennifer Byrne, it uses the panel format made popular in The Glass House with two regular members–book reviewer Jason Steger and author/blogger Marieke...

, a panel book review program, alongside regular commentators Marieke Hardy

Marieke Hardy

Marieke Josephine Hardy is an Australian writer, broadcaster, television producer and former television actress.-Early life and family:...

 and Jason Steger

Jason Steger

Jason Steger is a British-born Australian journalist, working in both print and film media. He is currently the literary editor of the Melbourne broadsheet The Age and one of three regular commentators on ABC TV's First Tuesday Book Club....

. A spinoff series of specials from this programme is titled Jennifer Byrne Presents.

In the mid-1990s she worked as a publishing director at Reed Books.

In 2008 Byrne joined ABC NewsRadio

ABC NewsRadio

ABC NewsRadio is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio service devoted to delivering live and 24-hour news updates and information. The service is available on a number of broadcasts right around Australia, including AM/FM radio, some pay-TV platforms and online via the Internet.Originally...

 to work as a co-host during the evening drive slot (4 - 7pm).

More recently Byrne has been a regular panellist on Ten's The 7PM Project

The 7PM Project

The Project is an Australian talk show television program airing weeknights across Australia on Network Ten. The formerly half hour long show premiered on 20 July 2009, and is hosted by Charlie Pickering, Carrie Bickmore and Dave Hughes, with a rotating daily guest panelist...

, and has guest starred on an episode of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation

Talkin' 'bout your Generation

Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation is an Australian game show produced by Granada Productions which premiered on Network Ten on 5 May 2009. It is hosted by Shaun Micallef....

.

Jennifer Byrne is also an Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

Personal life

Byrne is married to ABC presenter Andrew Denton

Andrew Denton

Andrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...

 with whom she has one son.

She is the grand-daughter of the former Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brooks

Dallas Brooks

Brooks made his first-class debut for the Royal Navy against Cambridge University in 1919 as a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium. The same season Brooks made his debut for Hampshire against Surrey in the County Championship...

.