McLeod’s Daughters star Rachael Carpani has died at the age of 45 after a battle with chronic illness, her family has announced.

Carpani’s parents Tony and Gael shared the news via a post on Instagram by her sister Georgia on Monday.

They said the prominent Australian actress “unexpectedly but peacefully passed away after a long battle with chronic illness, in the early hours of Sunday 7th December”.

“The family requests privacy at this very difficult time and will be making no further statements,” the statement added.

The actress was best known for her role as Jodi Fountain in the Nine Network’s outback hit series, which aired for eight seasons in the 2000s.

McLeod’s Daughters co-star Bridie Carter wrote that Carpani “is loved and will be missed by you all, around the world”.

“We love you Carpani. We miss you Rach,” she posted on Instagram.

“May your blessed spirit, so vivid, so full of life, generosity, unique talent, energy, fervour, intelligence, resilience, courage and great humour, and a gentle humility, may you rest in peace.”

Actress outspoken on key issues

In her role on McLeod’s Daughters, Carpani was nominated for two Logie awards.

She also joined Home and Away in 2024, telling Channel Seven’s Morning Show last year she was “very excited” to be appearing in the long-running Aussie soap as Claudia.

“It was one of the most enjoyable times I’ve ever had on a set,” she said.

Throughout her career, she held roles in several Australian and American television programs, including NCIS: Los Angeles.

Carpani was also outspoken on issues on social media, posting frequently about the need to address climate change, domestic violence and the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

In 2021, marking two decades since the premiere of McLeod’s Daughters, she remarked that it was “literally unheard of to have five women as the central cast of a show on TV in Australia”.

She also used Instagram to talk openly about her diagnosis of endometriosis and adenomyosis in 2021, thanking doctors for helping treat the pain she had “white-knuckled” through for two decades.

“They gave me a voice, and non-judgemental space to voice the fact that I had been in chronic pain basically since I was 13,” she wrote.