ABC operations

UPDATE 11/5

ABC response to Nine mastheads

The following set of responses was provided to Nine mastheads (SMH and The Age) on 26 May 2023. Questions from Nine journalist Osman Faruqi are in bold.

Q: A number of current ABC staff, including both Indigenous and other non-white journalists, told me that they feel that they have a harder time pitching stories and getting them approved, especially if they relate to their communities, than their white colleagues. Does the ABC have a response to this?

ABC: This issue was raised during the diversity forums. Since last year ABC News has been running inclusive journalism training for our journalists, which focuses on journalists better understanding how to tell stories for and about diverse communities.

Currently we are developing an inclusive teams project which will see all News teams create their own plans identifying concrete actions to ensure an inclusive culture and setting achievable milestones to measure progress. Part of this is looking at how every team works together and communicates day to day, including around the discussion of stories. The pilot for this project has just been completed.

Last year News created the first-ever Indigenous Reporting Team and created the new role of Head, Indigenous News, held by Suzanne Dredge, the first First Nations woman on the ABC News Executive.

Q: Another common allegation was the feeling that the ABC was more willing to defend white colleagues than Indigenous colleagues (In particular, comparisons were made between Lisa Millar and Patricia Karvelas, and Carly Williams and Stan Grant). Does the ABC have a response on the perceived racialised bias in terms of who is publicly defended by the organisation?

ABC: It’s no exaggeration to say the ABC is constantly putting out comments and statements and providing information defending our journalists and journalism against unjustified attacks — multiple every week, amounting to dozens a year.

There is no racial bias or any other type of bias in who we defend; we defend whoever is being unfairly criticised or attacked.

Most of these are direct comments, statements or information provided in response to media queries and most of them go unseen. For example, we defended one Indigenous journalist just last Sunday after a newspaper contacted us about a post on her personal Instagram account.

There are also many other ways we go into bat for our people. For example, we lodge complaints with Twitter and Facebook over the publication of abusive content. We complain on behalf of staff members over their treatment in external media stories. We defend them against unfair criticism by politicians.

We also publish public statements at times. Recent examples include statements supporting Patricia Karvelas, Lisa Millar, Louise Milligan, Tony Armstrong, Russell Jackson and Mark Willacy, as well as Stan Grant last week.

A public statement or comment from the ABC immediately makes the issue newsworthy and ensures it will get extensive media attention, so that has to be weighed up. We need to follow the rule, first, don’t make it worse. The conventional wisdom says to not draw further attention to a media or social media pile-on so as not to fuel it.

There are few examples of any other media outlet regularly issuing public statements about its employees – maybe because their employees aren’t as targeted. However, our approach is under active consideration. As Managing Director David Anderson said at Senate Estimates on Wednesday: “Dignified silence isn’t working anymore.”

Q: Numerous current and former ABC journalists also told me that because non-white staff were far more likely to be the target of far-right trolls, as well as conservative media outlets like Sky News and The Australian, management’s unwillingness to support them, or their decisions to discipline them for speaking out, fed into their perception of racism at the ABC. Does the ABC have a response to that?

ABC: We don’t comment in the media on internal staffing matters.

As outlined above, there’s no unwillingness to support any employees. If an employee feels a manager has been unsupportive, they have a range of options for raising that concern, including with the peer-based Diversity Advocates Network.

The acknowledgement of the risk of racial abuse ABC staff face is built into all aspects of the ABC’s approach to online safety.

Q: In terms of the review into racism completed in 2022, which led to Justin [Stevens] issuing an apology, what specific actions did the ABC take to change its processes and policies?

ABC: There will be more information on this, including the specific News response, in the [updated] Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging Plan which will be released in a few weeks. The Plan has been developed over many months following input from stakeholders across the ABC, most notably from the ABC’s Bonner committee, the diversity forums held with staff and the Diversity & Inclusion Standing Committee, as well as our employee networks such as the ABC Belong and ABC Pride networks.

This is ongoing work, but actions so far include:

  • Out of the Staff Indigenous Conference last week the News Director set up a monthly meeting with Indigenous News employees; the first one has already taken place.
  • Running an ABC-wide series of diversity and inclusion forums led by the Managing Director.
  • Extending the inclusive journalism training that was already being run to more teams.
  • Providing managers with renewed training on supporting employees with abuse on social media, especially Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse people, people with a disability and women, who are particularly targeted.
  • Revisiting our onboarding processes to ensure there’s greater awareness of peer support networks and ways to raise concerns and issues in a safe space.
  • Familiarising managers with the resources available to guide and support our people when issues arise.

A major piece of work will be the inclusive teams project (mentioned above), in which each team will create its own plan identifying concrete actions to ensure an inclusive culture and setting achievable milestones to measure progress.

Actions that were already in place or underway include:

  • Hiring an Indigenous and Diversity HR Case Advocate to actively support and help Indigenous and diverse staff who want to raise issues of exclusion, racism and discrimination.
  • Establishing a Diversity Advocates Network to provide peer-based support for staff on diversity and inclusion matters.
  • Publishing the News Diversity Action Plan and establishing the News Diversity Advisory Group, a staff-led group that advises the News Executive.
  • Creating a toolkit for Managers on How to Build an Inclusive Culture and Challenge Racism and Discrimination in the Workplace.
  • Rolling out a range of diversity training courses including “Building an Inclusive Culture” and Indigenous cultural awareness.
  • Inclusive journalism training which supports and increases diverse voices in our content.
  • Addressing our recruitment practices to improve our efforts to find more candidates who are Indigenous, from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and People with Disability.
  • Forming ABC-wide staff-led groups such as ABC Pride, supporting LGBTQIA+ employees; ABC Belong, supporting CALD staff; and ABC Inclusive, supporting people with a disability.
  • Working with the Bonner Committee as the peak Indigenous advisory group.

Q: Has the ABC met its target to have 15% of executives from CALD backgrounds? What is the proportion of executives who are Indigenous or not-white?

ABC: The current data has CALD Executives at 22.3%.

Q: And finally, another common issue raised by current staff who spoke to me was the silence from the chair of the ABC on this issue in the past week. Does the chair have a statement on Stan Grant’s experiences, and the numerous examples raised this week around racism at the ABC?

The Chair spoke about this today.

In addition to the answers provided above, the following statement was also provided to Nine and other media.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson has, in consultation with the Bonner Committee, announced a review to investigate and make recommendations about ABC responses to racism affecting staff, and what additional support can be provided to staff who are subjected to racist or other forms of discriminatory behaviour.

Mr Anderson has today consulted with senior ABC Diversity Leads about how the review panel will work and who will lead it. Current and former employees will be invited to share their experiences.

The ABC has zero tolerance for racism in the workplace, as well as bullying, harassment, discrimination or any antisocial behaviour. All ABC employees deserve to feel welcomed, included, supported and safe in our workplace. Any such behaviour is investigated when complaints are made, and actions taken when warranted.

Response to The Australian on its claims regarding racist Twitter “comments”

This response was sent to The Australian on Thursday 25 May 2023 in in response to its claims that the ABC was “carrying racist comments on its Twitter pages”.

Response from a spokesperson

Noting your story has already been published.

There is no such thing as a ” Twitter page” on which comments can be posted and moderated.

All posts on Twitter are individual user posts published by the user. Twitter accounts don’t “carry” other users’ posts.

Twitter is not the ABC’s “own social media platform”.

There is no such thing as “Twitter comments” which can be moderated. You also can’t “turn comments off”.

Media outlets can’t moderate posts by other Twitter users. The ability to reply to posts can be disabled, but the ABC, as with most/all media organisations, does this rarely and under specific circumstances.

Including The Australian.

This was pointed out to Sophie Elsworth yesterday by a Twitter user:

Even if replies are turned off, posts can obviously still be reposted by other users and others can post replies to that.

Due to the increasing incidence of toxic posts on Twitter the ABC has already significantly reduced its presence on the platform and is looking at further measures.

However, on the subject of comments, The Australian is publishing thousands of comments on its platform, including many offensive ones – some potentially even what Noel Pearson described in in The Australian as “borderline casual racist”.

These comments are presumably moderated.

Stan Grant exit: ABC boss David Anderson announces racism review | The Australian – published Monday 22 May – 693 comments

Stan Grant quits Q+A, accuses ABC of lack of support | The Australian – published Friday 19 May – 1164 comments

ABC staff lead false claims against News Corp | The Australian – published Wednesday 24 May – 114 comments

Stan Grant, ABC, Patricia Karvelas, Q+A: Aunty should stand for quality journalism, says Janet Albrechtsen and Tom Switzer | The Australian – published Wednesday 24 May – 939 comments

Offensive slurs littered across ABC social media accounts following Stan Grant’s departure – published Wednesday 24 May – 154 comments

ffs. was this another Elsworth “journalism”?

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Analysis of ABC Coronation coverage by News Corporation

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The Australian’s Media web page on Friday 26 May – every story but one is about the ABC

A statement released by the ABC on Friday 19 May regarding the media treatment of journalist Stan Grant since the 6 May Coronation panel discussion referred to “a tirade of criticism, particularly in the usual sections of the media that target the ABC” that had contributed to fueling the abuse he subsequently experienced.

We have received requests to quantify the scope of the “tirade” and The Australian has accused “high-profile figures at the ABC” of “peddling false claims about the extent of News Corp’s reporting”, which it described as “modest”.

The ABC has conducted an analysis of the News Corp reporting, which found that between 6 May and 20 May (the date range used by The Australian) more than 240 stories were published across the News Corp network (print and online).

The analysis found that on news.com.au there were at least 25 stories published. It found that on Sky News at least 30 program episodes discussed the ABC’s coronation coverage and there were more than 25 stories published on Sky News online.

This data is not exhaustive. The ABC has sourced the data from an independent media monitoring service.

Similar comments here:

Coronation panel discussion complaints

Clarification has been sought on the number and type of complaints received regarding the ABC’s Coronation panel discussion.

As of 24 May, the ABC had received around 170 good faith, actionable complaints.

Of these, around 110 were general in nature and 61 raised a potential Editorial Policies issue and were referred to the Ombudsman’s Office for investigation.

The Ombudsman found the Coronation panel did not breach the ABC’s editorial standards, noting the 45 minute discussion formed only part of the extensive coverage of the Coronation, that there were no accuracy concerns and that the role of the Monarchy to modern Australia and the Indigenous perspectives presented were legitimate and newsworthy topics for discussion on the rare occasion of a Coronation and in the context of ABC’s extensive coverage.

While there have been around 1832 audience contacts more than 1100 of those were either racist or abusive content, or did not raise a substantive issue, and are not considered good-faith complaints.

ABC response to The Australian – 21 May 2023

Questions from The Australian

The Australian: On May 7, ABC Comms told me that “on behalf of all” of the senior figures at the ABC whom I approached for comment on that day about the broadcaster’s coverage, not a single one wished to comment (including the Chair). Why didn’t anyone at the ABC wish to publicly stand by remarks made by Stan Grant during his appearance on the coronation panel show?

ABC response: On 7 May a comprehensive statement defending the coverage was released by a spokesman on behalf of the ABC and provided to The Australian’s Media Writer Sophie Elsworth and Media Editor James Madden. It said:

The ABC brought full coverage of the Coronation of King Charles III to Australians across its television and digital radio platforms and to audiences across the Asia Pacific via ABC Australia and Radio Australia. In addition to the live coverage of the Coronation, ABC iview featured special programming, including Charles R: The Making Of A Monarch; Camilla’s Country Life; A Grand Royal Design; and Prince Charles: Inside The Duchy Of Cornwall.

Preceding the ceremonial events, as part of the comprehensive coverage ABC News canvassed an array of perspectives and views on the role of the monarch in 21st century Australia. The large number of guests across the evening included Q+A presenter Stan Grant; co-chair of the republican movement Craig Foster; Liberal MP Julian Leeser; writer Kathy Lette; lawyer, writer and Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman Teela Reid; 2023 Australian Local Hero of the Year Amar Singh; Youth Advocate Angelica Ojinnaka; Constitutional Law Professor and Coronation expert Anne Twomey; long-time Royal correspondent Juliet Rieden from The Australian Women’s Weekly; and Michael Stead, Anglican Bishop of South Sydney.

The role of the national broadcaster is to facilitate conversations that reflect the diversity of views in the community. Hearing from Indigenous Australians and reflecting on Australia’s history is an important part of this, especially as this year Australians will vote in a referendum on whether a First Nations Voice to Parliament should be included in the nation’s Constitution.

In their subsequent story (“ABC coronation coverage labelled ‘bile’”) Elsworth and Madden failed to publish any of this statement at all, despite quoting at length radio presenters Neil Mitchell and Ray Hadley strongly criticising the discussion.

A second story (“ABC coverage of King Charles’s coronation ‘totally misread the mood, says Neil Mitchell”) again quoted Neil Mitchell and Ray Hadley, as well as Warren Mundine and Eric Abetz, all strongly criticising the discussion, but included only some of the ABC’s statement near the bottom of the approximately 1800-word story.

Sophie Elsworth subsequently criticised the ABC for defending the coverage, saying on Sky News: “The ABC have stood by this coverage, it’s nothing short of disgraceful. The national broadcaster has a lot of answer for but as usual they have stood by their coverage.”

The Australian: On Friday, Justin Stevens said in his statement: “Any complaints, criticism – or vitriol – regarding the coverage should be directed to me, not to him (Stan Grant).” Why did Mr Stevens decline to answer questions on the controversy about the panel show when it first arose?

ABC response: See above.

The Australian: Did the ABC fail in its duty of care to publicly support Stan Grant, given that it was management who scheduled the panel show and is ultimately responsible for what goes to air?

ABC response: All the panelists involved in the Coronation discussion were spoken to and supported by the ABC.

A public statement by Director, News Justin Stevens addressing the particular abuse directed at Stan Grant, and a personal column on the issue by Mr Grant, were published by the ABC on Friday 19 May.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson has commented: “The ABC is never above scrutiny or criticism. However, the nature of the anti-ABC reporting from some commercial media outlets is sustained and vitriolic. This has real-world consequences for ABC presenters and journalists who are personally attacked and vilified.

“How the ABC supports people in these moments is important. Stan Grant has stated that he has not felt publicly supported. For this, I apologise to Stan. The ABC endeavours to support its staff in the unfortunate moments when there is external abuse directed at them.”

The Australian: In the past 36 hours, two former non-white ABC employees, Osman Faruqi and Michael Hing, have spoken of their negative experiences at the public broadcaster, including a failure by “white management teams” to recognise and act on racial abuse. Has the ABC approached Faruqi and/or Hing to find out more? Does the ABC think those criticisms are valid?

ABC response: The ABC has zero tolerance for racism in the workplace, as well as bullying, harassment, discrimination or any antisocial behaviour. Any such behaviour must be investigated and actions taken when warranted. All ABC employees deserve to feel welcomed, included, supported and safe in the workplace. There is an ABC-wide mandatory reporting system for all safety incidents, including cybersafety incidents.

The Australian: In late March, Stan Grant publicly raised issues with the ABC’s lack of diversity with regards to its NSW election night panel. What discussions did the ABC have with Grant in the wake of his complaint?

ABC response: We do not comment on private discussions.

The Australian: With regards to social media and trolling, does the ABC Comms think it’s appropriate to tag journalists on social media in the course of releasing press statements? What is the ABC’s policy on this (noting that it was once a common practice)?

ABC response: Using tags is common practice on Twitter. However, observing the changing nature of Twitter discourse, the ABC Communications account stopped tagging individuals in mid 2022. Prior to that journalists were sometimes tagged in responses to their published reporting.

We note that Sophie Elsworth was tagged in six tweets in 2021 and one in March 2022, all responding to inaccurate claims she published regarding the ABC, including in her Twitter posts.

What is it, take out the trash day in the ABC’s Comms team?

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National NAIDOC Committee and ABC announce partnership celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander excellence

The National NAIDOC Committee and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation are proud to announce that the ABC has been appointed the Official Broadcast and Education Partner of National NAIDOC Week 2023.

The National NAIDOC Committee acknowledges the ABC’s long-time support of National NAIDOC Week which, this year, will run from Sunday 2 July through to Sunday 9 July.

As Official Broadcast Partner, the ABC will telecast the NAIDOC Awards Ceremony live from Meanjin Brisbane from 7.30pm (AEST) on Saturday July 1. The awards will be hosted by the award-winning star of ABC TV’s Mystery Road: Origin, proud Nyikina man, actor, writer, and producer, Mark Coles Smith and multi award-winning singer/songwriter, Casey Donovan. The National NAIDOC Week Award Ceremony will also be available for streaming on ABC iview and will be simulcast on National Indigenous Television (NITV).

ABC Indigenous will lead the ABC’s 2023 National NAIDOC Week campaign, with content divisions across all platforms coming together to celebrate First Nations Excellence with ABC’s national audiences.

Steven Satour, Co-Chair of the National NAIDOC Committee said:

“There is no other week – or celebration – as meaningful as National NAIDOC Week to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The National NAIDOC Week Awards Ceremony is the premiere event of National NAIDOC Week and presents an opportunity for all Australians to come together to celebrate the rich history, diverse culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the oldest continuing cultures on this planet. The National NAIDOC Committee is proud to share this celebration with ABC audiences.”

ABC Managing Director, David Anderson encouraged ABC audiences to join in the celebrations.

“NAIDOC Week is a wonderful opportunity to be involved, learn and celebrate the continued history, culture, excellence and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country,” Mr Anderson said.

“We’re delighted to be the official NAIDOC 2023 Broadcast and Education Partner and we want to ensure National NAIDOC Week is not only part of the national conversation but a universally celebrated part of this country’s identity.”

ABC Education will also produce a downloadable resource for teachers, created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait educators at Culture is Life in collaboration with National NAIDOC Committee Co-Chair and highly respected educator, Dr Lynette Riley. This resource will focus on this year’s National NAIDOC Week Theme, For Our Elders, and will also be distributed as a printed resource by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).

“I have been involved in developing these educational resources for many years, and this year we have a unique opportunity to educate the wider community about the role of our Elders. The theme For Our Elders is particularly pertinent as our Elders have guided us to the present day and continue to play a very important role in our communities. These educational resources will not only provide exemplary lessons but will also develop student and teacher skills so that they continue their life-long learning and create change in the Australian community.”

In addition to the themed resource, teachers will have access to the range of resources from ABC Kids Listen, Behind the News and the education collection on ABC iview.

ABC’s Head of Indigenous, Kelrick Martin, said the new partnership gave the national broadcaster even greater opportunities to tell a wider range of stories for, by and about Indigenous Australians.

“Our Indigenous content makers will be leading the conversations and working with their ABC colleagues around the country to produce our largest ever NAIDOC Week program which includes specially commissioned content for ABC TV, ABC Radio, ABC digital and ABC iview.”

The ABC will release its full NAIDOC Week content schedule in coming weeks.

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Seriously ?

What? You’re against the national broadcaster telecasting the NAIDOC Awards Ceremony? Why?

ABC Five-Year Plan 2023-2028: An essential part of daily life for all Australians

Today ABC Managing Director David Anderson released the ABC’s new Five-Year Plan.

The central purpose of the Five-Year Plan is to ensure the ABC remains relevant, delivers value for Australians, and continues to be the most trusted media organisation in the country.

It sets out the priorities for the ABC over the next five years to deliver this outcome and ensure that the ABC continues to have an essential role in Australian life.

The core mission of the ABC is enduring. The ABC will always be the home of trusted and independent news and information, telling distinctive Australian stories, entertaining the nation across all ages and celebrating Australian culture.

However, as technology, audience behaviour and demographic changes transform the media market and society, the ABC must also adapt and evolve.

Over the next five years, the ABC will undergo a significant transition from maintaining both traditional broadcast and digital processes towards becoming an integrated digital operation. While broadcast will remain important, this Five-Year Plan is a first step to build an ABC that is prepared for a digital-majority audience.

The ABC will enhance its primary digital products, ABC News, ABC iview and ABC listen, to provide a seamless, personalised service that enables audiences to more easily discover content that is relevant to them.

The plan sets out a vision for the ABC to be an essential part of everyday life for all Australians through news and entertainment that appeals to different ages and interests. It is a strategy that prioritises strengthening the trust of our audiences and commits the ABC to being more local.

The Plan also reaffirms the ABC’s commitment to a culture of inclusion and diversity, and the imperative to better reflect contemporary Australia.

Mr Anderson said the next stage of the strategy means the ABC will meet changing audience needs while maintaining the commitment to quality, relevance, independence and its role as Australia’s most trusted media organisation.

“By 2028, the ABC will serve more Australians on the platform of their choice with made-for-digital content and journalism on ABC News, ABC iview, ABC listen and on major third-party platforms.”

“Australians trust and value the ABC and this will not change. As we move through this period of digital evolution, Australians can continue to rely on us for the content and services that inform, educate and entertain.

“Our audiences can be assured we will safeguard traditional broadcast services as long as these remain essential for keeping Australians informed and entertained.

“As Australia changes, so must the ABC.

“This means changing to meet the needs of our audiences wherever they live. We will continue to serve all Australians, contribute to our national identity and remain an essential part of daily life.”

The ABC Five-Year Plan 2023-2028 can be accessed here.

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it’s a wise move to start looking at rationalising some of the AM services, given some of the ultra niche content and miniscule audiences particularly across parts of RN and News Radio. There’d be a lot of cost savings to government by shutting some off.

Looks like no changes to TV broadcasts, though maybe some re-allocation of digital spectrum use, which might mean some changes between individual channels.

Where ABC Budget should be directed on programming as per 5 year plan;

RADIO: Increasing Capital City local programming and ABC Radio Extra station as per ABC Local Radio thread.

TELEVISION: Reducing to 2 High Definition Channels ABC TV and ABC TV Extra.

DIGITAL and ONLINE: Streamlined into current offerings including ABC News, ABC iview, and ABC Listen Apps.
ABC Music Network 6 Stations, ABC Double J, ABC Country, ABC Classic, ABC Jazz, ABC Kids and ABC Music Extra, on DAB+ and Online stations.
Axe Triple J, Triple J Unearthed and Classic 2.
ABC Sport on DAB+ and Online, Statewide Saturday Sport 11AM till 12:30PM. 7 Programs except WA.
Pop up Digital and Online Stations when applicable i.e Anzac Day, NAIDOC Week, Sport etc.

NEWS: Axe RN Breakfast, RN Drive, Drum, Q&A and Offsiders.
Increasing State and Territory based radio news bulletins.
Increasing State and Territory politics reporting (Chief Political Reporter and 2 Political Reporters).
Increasing Regional radio programming.
Increasing National reporting.
Increasing Specialist reporting.
Increasing Investigation reporting.
Day time Newsradio programming into merged RN station called ABC National.
Day time News 24 programming into existing TV channels.

Why should they have only two HD channels as the rest of the networks increase?

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ABC announces next steps in digital transition

The ABC has announced a range of savings measures and reinvestment initiatives designed to address rising costs and support its transition to a digital-first media organisation.

This follows the release last week of the ABC Five-Year Plan 2023-2028 which sets out how the ABC will respond to rapid changes in technology, audience behaviour and society to continue to deliver value for all Australians and remain the most trusted media organisation in the country.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson said the recent content team reorganisation and the release of the new strategy required carefully made decisions on reinvestment and savings to strengthen the ABC into the future.

“Along with media organisations here and overseas, the ABC is operating in an environment that is subject to inflationary pressures,” Mr Anderson said. “We also need to increase investment in digital transformation to improve our efficiency and meet the needs of audiences.

“We have made clear our vision for the ABC to be an essential part of everyday life for all Australians through our high-quality journalism and content, wherever they may live across the country.

“The continued migration of audiences from broadcast services to digital provides an opportunity to ensure the ABC is a trusted, central part of daily media consumption for more Australians.

“By 2028 the majority of audience engagement will be on the ABC’s digital platforms and we will have a digital-first approach to commissioning, producing, and distributing content. We will enhance our primary digital products, ABC iview, ABC listen and ABC News, to provide personalised services that enable audiences to more easily discover the journalism and content that is relevant to them.

“To make the most of that opportunity, we must better align our resources and invest in the new skills we need in our workforce we can’t create through retraining.

“Achieving these outcomes requires some difficult decisions. While we have targets for savings in support areas, including travel and consulting costs, unfortunately there is an unavoidable impact on some roles.

“These changes are important to secure the long-term success of the organisation, but we acknowledge it is never easy, particularly for individuals who are directly impacted by these proposals.”

Mr Anderson said the proposed changes announced today included the creation of new roles to grow the ABC’s digital capability. It is anticipated up to 120 employees will potentially leave the ABC.

The proposed changes include:

  • The launch of the Current Affairs Digital Transformation Project to ensure some of the ABC’s best investigative programs have the capability to meet audience demand for long-form on-demand video and in-depth digital content.
  • Continuing the shift in the News Operations team from linear television programming to on-demand digital content and modernising the ABC’s skills base.
  • The introduction of ABC News Sunday, a new national bulletin bringing the best stories and journalism from around Australia and the world.
  • The return of a digital-first Stateline, unpacking the local stories that matter through long form journalism, in-depth interviews and explainers for on-demand and broadcast audiences.
  • The establishment of a dedicated Climate, Environment and Energy reporting team to focus on the issues that are consistently rated as critical for the nation’s future, particularly by younger Australians.
  • Streamlining our commissioning editor structure by reducing the number of ABC executives involved in the commissioning and production process with the independent sector, freeing up funds for investment in high-quality distinctive Australian content.
  • A digital-first approach to commissioning and choosing content, with a focus on the audience from the earliest development stage.
  • Enhancing the ABC iview, ABC News and ABC listen audience experience to drive faster uptake to these platforms.
  • Promoting our digital output with new roles established in our digital teams.

“I want to recognise the contribution everyone at the ABC has made in recent years,” Mr Anderson said

“The ABC has evolved and adapted for over 90 years to ensure it remains Australia’s most trusted media organisation, valued by audiences everywhere, and value for money for the essential services it delivers.

“Increasingly, Australians are primarily using digital media services, and the ABC’s ongoing value and relevance will depend on our ability to change with the audience.

“In an era of rapid technological change, today’s announcements will ensure we continue to remain trusted, relevant and valued by all Australians into the future.”

  • New Head of Scripted to lead commissions across Comedy and Drama
  • New Head of Factual to be announced
  • New Arts, Music and Events dept
  • Genre priorities: Indigenous, Arts, Children’s, Scripted, Entertainment and Factual