Penny Spence, one of Australia’s first female television newsreaders and a longtime Channel Nine presenter and producer, has died. Her death was confirmed earlier this month by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), which described her as a “trailblazer in Australian television.”
Spence’s career, spanning from on-air news presenting to children’s programming production, left a lasting legacy at Nine and in the broader Australian media industry. She was known for her versatility and longevity in an era when few women held such roles in news and current affairs.
In a statement to Mediaweek, Fiona Dear, Nine’s Director of News and Current Affairs said: “Penny was a trailblazer for women in our industry, laying the path for countless women in television. With two Logies awarded to her, she was one of the country’s most high profile news presenters for decades, and was one of the icons who made 9News ‘still the one’. Her legacy lives on in TV newsrooms across the country and we send our condolences to her family.”
A familiar face on Australian screens
Spence first became known to viewers in New South Wales as the afternoon newsreader at TCN9 in the early to mid-1970s, while Brian Henderson anchored the evening bulletin. She also fronted a women’s current affairs program, presented the weather, and was a two-time Logie Award winner for Most Popular Female Personality in NSW (1969 and 1972).
Her presence on-air coincided with a formative time in Australian broadcasting, when television news was rapidly evolving and the presence of women in front of the camera was still a relative rarity. As the NFSA noted, “Spence was part of a pioneering group of women who were the first women to read television news in Australia.”
After her work on camera, Spence transitioned into production, focusing on children’s television both domestically and internationally. She became Executive Producer of the European Broadcasting Union’s children’s unit, and her production work at the Nine Network included a number of acclaimed titles.
Among the works archived by the NFSA are The Water Trolley (1988), which received an International Emmy nomination, Shipmates (1987), Sovereign Hill (1990), and Hinkler: The Aviator (1990). Her influence behind the scenes helped shape how Australian children’s content was created and distributed in the late 20th century.
Personal life and legacy
Spence was the first wife of the late Geoff Harvey, Channel Nine’s long-serving musical director, who passed away in 2019. The couple had two daughters, Eugenie and Charlotte.
Spence’s contribution to Australian television is remembered both in her pioneering visibility on-screen and her creative leadership off it. Her work, preserved in the national collection, continues to reflect a career built on breaking new ground for women in media.