Debbie Cuthbertson

Debbie Cuthbertson brings an artist’s eye and a news reporter’s discipline to entertainment coverage, with a focus on visual artists, cultural figures and the institutions that shape their work. She is a journalist for The Age covering entertainment, regularly reporting on art and design, music heritage and prominent literary voices. Her bylines also extend into public-interest stories where culture, law, environment and urban life meet.

Visual artists and cultural legacy

Cuthbertson’s strongest thread is detailed reporting on visual artists and their legacy, treating art-world stories as news rather than lifestyle. She has written about the death of Mirka Mora, presenting Mora as a much-loved artist whose distinctive works helped define a city’s public and private spaces.

In coverage of late painter David Larwill, she reports on the family’s unsuccessful plea to see his work on a public art tram, framing the dispute as a question of how institutions handle an artist’s legacy in public transport and civic culture.

Her coverage of street artist Rone’s Empire exhibition describes how a derelict Sherbrooke mansion is transformed into a time capsule, linking the installation to broader questions of memory, decay and the way art repurposes abandoned spaces. She has also reported on artworks pulled from auction after a late painter’s family claimed they were fakes, focusing on authenticity, estate control and the mechanics of the local art market rather than the spectacle of the dispute.

In a tribute to David Hockney, she writes about his stated intention to keep painting “until the very end” and presents his final period as proof of that commitment, underlining her interest in artists’ working lives as much as their reputations.

Music history, archives and icons

Cuthbertson extends that legacy-driven approach into music, with stories that treat memorabilia and archives as part of a shared cultural record. Her piece on Chrissy Amphlett’s treasures moving into the Australian Music Vault traces how the singer’s personal items and stage artefacts are preserved in an institutional setting, tying the transfer to Amphlett’s upcoming induction into a local music hall of fame.

The story balances fan interest in a well-known rock figure with an explanation of how museums and archives curate contemporary popular music history.

Across her music coverage she is drawn to moments where individual careers intersect with formal recognition, heritage programs and curated spaces, rather than to day-to-day entertainment announcements. This emphasis on context and preservation mirrors the way she writes about visual artists, suggesting a consistent interest in how cultural figures are remembered, catalogued and presented to the public.

Writers, behaviour and cultural institutions

Cuthbertson also reports on writers and cultural institutions when questions of behaviour and accountability arise. In a story on author Helen Garner, she covers Garner’s criticism of a failure to confront “lecherous” behaviour, presenting the writer’s comments within the wider discussion of misconduct and the responsibilities of literary and artistic communities. Her reporting keeps the focus on the subject’s words and the institutional context rather than on commentary or opinion, reflecting a straightforward, fact-led style.

Elsewhere, she has written about church responses to laws compelling disclosure of sexual abuse revealed in confession, explaining the legal changes and the potential consequences for priests who refuse to report. While that story sits outside pure entertainment coverage, it reinforces her comfort with subjects where cultural institutions, faith and law intersect, and shows she contributes to coverage of sensitive, high-stakes issues.

Public-interest reporting on environment, health and urban life

Alongside her entertainment work, Cuthbertson contributes to broader public-interest reporting on environment, health and infrastructure. She has covered toxic chemical contamination and PFAS detection across parts of Victoria, reporting on the health impacts and the slow delivery of promised financial assistance to affected people.

In another piece, she writes about a recycling entrepreneur who seized a business opportunity in the wake of China’s recycling ban, describing how a local plant was opened and positioned within the changing global waste market.

Her interest in history and public health is clear in coverage of Victoria’s 1919 Spanish flu outbreak, where she draws lessons from official records and past responses for contemporary readers. On urban life and transport, she has co-written analysis on booming population growth and “crammed” cities, outlining practical ideas for coping with congestion, including trialling low tolls on key freeways and arterial roads.

In more immediate transport news, she has reported on freeway crashes and delays triggered by road works, detailing human error, official apologies and the impact on drivers over several hours.

Cuthbertson also participates in large collaborative projects, such as work on how the Ballarat Catholic diocese exported abusive clergy, where she contributes to long-form, multi-reporter coverage of institutional abuse. Across these pieces she maintains a consistent approach: explaining complex systems and decisions in plain language, keeping the focus on affected communities and the institutions that shape their lives.