Leigh Sales to quit as 7.30 host after federal election following 12 years at ABC’s flagship show

ABC’s 7.30 host Leigh Sales says she feels ‘a strong sense of it being time to pass the baton to the next runner in the race’. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Leigh Sales will step down as the host of 7.30 in late June after the federal election – some 12 years after taking over from Kerry O’Brien at the ABC’s flagship news and current affairs show.

The dual Walkley award-winning journalist, who began her career at the ABC in Brisbane in 1995, will remain with the broadcaster in a new role and will lead the ABC’s election night TV coverage.