Charmaine Dragun

About Charmaine Dragun

Charmaine Dragun (born Charmaine Margaret Dragun) was an Australian broadcast journalist, news presenter, and television anchor. She was best known as a co-anchor on Network Ten's Ten Eyewitness News (now 10 News First) in Sydney, where she presented alongside colleagues like Ron Wilson. Born in Western Australia, she trained at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, began in radio, and rose through television ranks before joining Ten in Perth and later moving to Sydney. She was admired for her professionalism, warmth, and on-air presence, and was engaged to be married at the time of her death.
She died on November 2, 2007, at age 29 near The Gap (a notorious suicide spot) in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs, New South Wales, Australia. The official cause of death was suicide by jumping/falling from cliffs. A 2010 coroner's inquest (Glebe Coroner's Court) confirmed this, finding her death was likely preventable. Key factors included undiagnosed or misdiagnosed bipolar II disorder (treated instead for depression/anxiety), a recent change in antidepressant medication (to a combination known to increase suicide risk in some cases), panic attacks, feelings of worthlessness, and long-standing mental health struggles she battled privately. The coroner noted proper diagnosis and treatment might have averted the tragedy. This is documented in Wikipedia, ABC News, Sydney Morning Herald, coroner's findings, and major Australian media reports from the time.