Abstract
This chapter examines the transparency and funding of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The organisation is Australia’s only wholly state-owned and -funded public service media body. It provides television, radio, online and mobile services, as well as publishing and licensing, live event and international development services, in Australia and overseas. The ABC has faced numerous struggles over time, including accusations of bias and suggestions that it has threatened Australia’s media plurality. It has also endured multiple cuts to its budget, mainly by conservative governments. These have significantly impacted the organisation’s operations and the content that it produces. A recent federal review also criticised the ABC’s transparency, targeting its strategic plan and breakdown of its costs in particular. This chapter outlines how the organisation has begun to respond to these latest criticisms, and how it has faced other challenges. It also details the broadcaster’s ongoing fight to achieve budgetary efficiency and ensure transparency. Ultimately, despite the ongoing setbacks that the organisation has faced, it continues its push to thrive and survive; it remains the perpetual battler.
Notes
- 1.
The ABC’s sister organisation—the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), which provides multicultural and multilingual content—is hybrid-funded, deriving around 80% of its budget from the Australian government and the remainder from its commercial activities, which include advertising and sponsorship, and the sale of goods and services (SBS n. d.). In light of the SBS’s hybrid-funded nature, this chapter focuses on the ABC only.
- 2.
In the following, $ always refers to Australian Dollars (AUD).
References
ABC. (2015). All about audiences: Annual report 2015. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2014-15_Annual_Report.pdf. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
ABC Act. (2013). Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983. Australian Government, Federal Register of Legislation (Erstveröffentlichung 1983). https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2013C00422/. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
ABC. (n. d.). About the ABC: Corporate responsibility. http://about.abc.net.au/how-the-abc-is-run/what-guides-us/corporate-responsibility/. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Australian Government. (2014). Efficiency of the public broadcasters (chapter 10.13), National Commission of Audit. http://www.ncoa.gov.au/report/appendix-vol-2/10-13-efficiency-of-the-public-broadcasters.html. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Benjamin, C. (2010). Australian broadcast chief punts public role. Business Day, 21 April. Retrieved from Factiva.
Broadcast Australia. (n. d.). Corporate profile. http://www.broadcastaustralia.com.au/the-company/corporate-profile. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Craig, G. (2000). Perpetual crisis: The politics of saving the ABC. Media International Australia, 94,105–116.
Department of Communications. (2014). ABC and SBS efficiency study. https://www.communications.gov.au/sites/g/files/net301/f/ABC_and_SBS_efficiency_report_Redacted.pdf. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Department of Communications and the Arts. (2016a). ABC and SBS. https://www.communications.gov.au/what-we-do/television/abc-and-sbs. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Department of Communications and the Arts. (2016b). Merit and transparency in appointments to the ABC and SBS board. https://www.communications.gov.au/documents/merit-and-transparency-appointments-abc-and-sbs-board–guidelines-and-information-potential. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Flew, T., & Harrington, S. (2010). Television. In S. Cunningham & G. Turner (Eds.), The media & communications in Australia (pp. 155–172). Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin.
Forssbæck, J., & Oxelheim, L. (2015). The multifaceted concept of transparency. In J. Forssbaeck & L. Oxelheim (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Economic and Institutional transparency (pp. 3–30). New York: Oxford University Press.
Goggin, G., Dwyer, T., & Martin, F. (2013). Moveable media: Mobile internet and new policy modes. In M. Glowacki & L. Jackson (Eds.), Public media management for the 21st century (S. 40–58). London: Routledge.
Hutchinson, J. (2015). ABC shop closures make business sense: but where will its digital strategy lead? The Conversation, 28 July. https://theconversation.com/abc-shop-closures-make-business-sense-but-where-will-its-digital-strategy-lead-45093. Accessed 11 Jan 2017).
Inglis, K. S. (1983). This is the ABC: The Australian Broadcasting Commission 1932–1983. Carlton: Melbourne University Press.
MacDonald, R. (2016). ABC suffering slow death by a thousand cuts. The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/abc-suffering-slow-death-by-a-thousand-cuts-20160601-gp90ft.html. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Massola, J. (2015) ‘Whose side are you on?’ Tony Abbott lashes ABC’s Q&A program. The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 June. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/whose-side-are-you-on-tony-abbott-lashes-abcs-qa-program-20150623-ghvd0l.html. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
McCarthy, W. (2003). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In G. Davison, J. Hirst & S. Macintyre (eds), The Oxford companion to Australian history. Retrieved from http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195515039.001.0001/acref-9780195515039-e-93?rskey=qnShMG&result=91. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
SBS. (n. d.). FAQ’s – Our story. http://www.sbs.com.au/aboutus/faqs. Accessed 11 Jan 2017.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Swiatek, L., Brevini, B. (2018). Australia: The Perpetual Battler. In: Herzog, C., Hilker, H., Novy, L., Torun, O. (eds) Transparency and Funding of Public Service Media – Die deutsche Debatte im internationalen Kontext. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17997-7_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-17997-7_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer VS, Wiesbaden
Print ISBN: 978-3-658-17996-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-658-17997-7
eBook Packages: Social Science and Law (German Language)