Hailing from Fremantle, Western Australia, Megan Palinkas worked in a variety of professions – from music teacher to outback bartender – before becoming a screenwriter. She recently story produced and co-executive produced the darkly comedic crime series RECKLESS (SBS), which premiered to rave reviews in 2025, and was nominated for Drama Series of the Year at the 2026 Screen Producers Australia (SPA) Awards.

Megan was also a key creative force on the reboot of HEARTBREAK HIGH (Netflix/Fremantle), and developed, wrote and script produced on the first season. She continued to write on the show’s second and third seasons, and stepped up to the role of Co-Executive Producer for the third. With her assistance, the project has achieved great success, most notably winning Best Drama at the 2025 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTAs); the International Emmy Award in the Kids: Live Action category; a 2025 Logie Award nomination and two GLAAD Media Award nominations.

As a writer and script editor on the critically acclaimed series THE HEIGHTS (Matchbox), Megan was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild award (AWGIE). She is currently slated to write on the UK-Australian crime drama coproduction TWO BIRDS (ITV/Stan), scheduled for production in 2026.

Megan has also worked extensively in the children’s television space, writing for the ABC on the live action kid’s series F.A.N.G and PLANET LULIN, the latter of which was nominated for Children’s Production of the Year at the 23rd Annual SPA Awards. Additionally, Megan has written and script edited extensively on the iconic Australian serial drama NEIGHBOURS (Fremantle).

In 2020 Megan was selected for the inaugural cohort of IMPACT Australia – a screenwriting accelerator program founded by Hollywood heavyweights Ron Howard, Brian Grazer and Tyler Mitchell, and subsequently developed a sci-fi drama series as part of the initiative.  Megan was also selected as a member of the delegation for Screen Australia’s 2026 Partner with Australia (UK) Initiative, designed to deepen creative and commercial partnerships between the Australian and UK screen industries.