Narelda Jacobs

Narelda Jacobs OAM is an Australian journalist, newsreader, and television presenter. Her career with Network 10 began in Perth, Western Australia, in 2000. In January 2020, she moved to Sydney to co-host Studio 10, and also to present 10 News Perth. , Jacobs presented the national news bulletin 10 News: Lunchtime, as well as 10 News: Afternoons and in April 2026 returned to Perth to present the 10 News Weekends . She also works with NITV, as a co-host of the weekly program The Point, as well as appearing on various ABC Television. She has also had roles in drama series.

Early life and education Narelda Jacobs, of Whadjuk Noongar heritage, was raised in Perth. Her father, Cedric Jacobs, was a Uniting Church minister

Jacobs has said that she was raised in a fundamentalist Christian household, and attended born-again churches until her late teens. He was active in Aboriginal politics, and journalists would often be at their house or talking with him on the phone.

Jacobs and her parents were always interested in what was making the news.

After finishing high school, Jacobs applied to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), but was not accepted. In 2008, Network Ten announced that production of their Perth news bulletin would return to Perth from Sydney, and selected Jacobs as the new presenter.

Jacobs is an Aboriginal and lesbian newsreader based in Western Australia. She advertised her case for answering "Yes" to the question in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.

In March 2019, Jacobs co-hosted SBS's broadcast of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. She co-hosted again in 2020 and 2021.

On 13 January 2020, Jacobs relocated to Sydney, after 20 years at 10 News First Perth, to join the Studio 10 morning talk show as a panellist. However, later in 2020, Jacobs returned to read the Perth edition of 10 News First while juggling continued work on Studio 10, following the network-wide cost cutting that saw the bulletin move back to Sydney.

In 2020 and 2021, Jacobs co-hosted the Sunrise Ceremony on 26 January (Australia Day) with John Paul Janke. The event was simulcast on NITV, SBS, and Channel 10.

In late 2022, it was announced that Jacobs was set to host an all new news bulletin, 10 News First: Midday. She began hosting duties on Monday 9 January 2023. The program followed Jacobs' other hosting position, Studio 10, and aired from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.

In 2023, she presented an episode of Compass, called "Come Together".

Jacobs has also appeared on The Project, Insiders, Q+A, and The Drum. She also works as a moderator and speaker. She appeared in the TV documentary The Dark Emu Story, and has also had roles in Australian drama series, including Safe Home and Total Control. She co-hosted the podcast 456 Club.

Honours In the 2023 King's Birthday Honours, Jacobs was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to the media, and to the community".

Other roles In November 2021 Jacobs was appointed to the inaugural National Indigenous Advisory Group of Football Australia. The group aims at supporting and increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in soccer. She was a Legacy '23 Ambassador for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, Motor Neurone Disease Association WA, WA Aboriginal Leadership Institute, and Deadly Science, and was a Rainbow Champion for World Pride Sydney in 2023.

Jacobs lives in Sydney with her wife Karina Natt. They married in August 2024. Jacobs' daughter, Jade Dolman, is an artist who works under the name JD Penangke.