Margot Robbie and I started out with ‘bogan’ accents. I’ve still got mine

March 9, 2026 — 7:30pm

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

Save this article for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.

I was standing outside the Australian High Commission in London last May, volunteering during the federal election, when the question came as I knew it would, from a fellow expatriate. “What part of Australia are you from? You have a broad accent.” Then, a weird look.

Recently, actor Margot Robbie, who was born in Dalby, Queensland – and stars in a screen adaptation of the English classic Wuthering Heights, currently playing in cinemas – revealed to The Graham Norton Show she’d needed a dialect coach back when she appeared on Neighbours, as her accent was so strong. “They [the producers] were like, ‘You’re just awful to listen to’,” she recalled.

For nearly three decades, I’ve endured questions and taunts about my voice. I date this back to the emergence of a certain flame-haired fish-and-chip........

© The Sydney Morning Herald