National broadcaster will also reduce number of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent episodes produced each year
The ABC is suffering “death by a thousand cuts” and “an act of
vandalism”, unions have said, after Australia’s national broadcaster
unveiled cuts to 250 jobs and sweeping changes to plug a budget
shortfall.
The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, also accused the government of an “appalling” failure to value the ABC - which played a critical role in Australia’s democracy - and he was “very sorry to see job losses at a time like this”.
It emerged on Wednesday afternoon the cuts would include about 70 positions in the news section, with plans to reduce the number of original episodes of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent that are produced each year.
The ABC is also planning to reduce funding for independent production and scale back and rebrand the ABC Life section as it seeks to plug a $40m-a-year budget shortfall.
Australia’s national broadcaster confirmed on Wednesday that the planned savings would result in up to 250 job losses and have an impact on audiences, and it urged the government against pursuing any further budget cuts.
The ABC revealed it was also considering leasing out some of the
space in its building in Ultimo, Sydney, as it released its new
five-year plan on Wednesday. The announcement comes after the ABC foreshadowed the 250 redundancies.The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, also accused the government of an “appalling” failure to value the ABC - which played a critical role in Australia’s democracy - and he was “very sorry to see job losses at a time like this”.
It emerged on Wednesday afternoon the cuts would include about 70 positions in the news section, with plans to reduce the number of original episodes of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent that are produced each year.
The ABC is also planning to reduce funding for independent production and scale back and rebrand the ABC Life section as it seeks to plug a $40m-a-year budget shortfall.
Australia’s national broadcaster confirmed on Wednesday that the planned savings would result in up to 250 job losses and have an impact on audiences, and it urged the government against pursuing any further budget cuts.
Some ABC staff tweeted their devastation at the cuts after they were briefed by the managing director, David Anderson, about lunch time.
Breaking: We are losing up to half the ABC Life team as we rebrand as ABC Local.
It's devastating news and the details are unclear right now, but what I know for sure is I'm really proud of what we've built, telling diverse stories the ABC has never told before.
It's devastating news and the details are unclear right now, but what I know for sure is I'm really proud of what we've built, telling diverse stories the ABC has never told before.
Acknowledging it was a “difficult time”, Anderson told staff he
anticipated farewelling up to 250 “valued colleagues who have made
tremendous contributions”.
He said it was “proposed that every division will be losing staff as savings have been identified across the entire organisation”.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) said it was a case of “death by a thousand cuts for ABC staff” and called on the government to halt the funding freeze and commit to a five-year funding model.
The CPSU said the plan would hit Australian content creators hard, with the $5m cut to independent production meaning “less Australian drama and content on our screens”.
“The ABC has provided in some cases lifesaving information throughout the droughts, fires and now a health pandemic,” the secretary of the CPSU’s ABC section, Sinddy Ealy, said.
“It is clear that Australia needs a strong ABC now more than ever.”
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance attributed the job cuts to “an act of vandalism by the federal government”.
The union’s chief executive, Paul Murphy, said the Coalition government had “an ideological obsession with the ABC that is entirely unhealthy”.
Albanese said the ABC had “literally saved lives” with the bushfire emergency broadcasts and the government “surely should be stepping in and saying, ‘Now of all times is not the time to lose 250 jobs at the ABC’”.
But the communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said the ABC was well-funded and the government expected the broadcaster “to responsibly manage the very substantial funding it’s provided”.
Fletcher said he welcomed the ABC’s commitment to greater engagement with suburban, outer-urban and regional communities, and the prevention of job losses in regional Australia.
During a media conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Fletcher also welcomed the review of the ABC’s property holdings – and he appeared to float the idea of shifting its base from Ultimo in central Sydney to western Sydney.
Gaven Morris, the ABC news director, revealed the loss of about 70 jobs in news.
In an email to staff, Morris also said “small reductions” in the number of original episodes of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent would “protect the quality of this prestige programming while recognising we have lower funding”.
He said all current affairs teams would contribute to the required savings, including some proposed changes to roles in the Investigative Reporting Team, Foreign Correspondent, Australian Story and 7.30.
Meanwhile, 53 redundancies are expected in the entertainment and specialist section, with the ABC commissioning original material for primetime only. The calendar to fill will be reduced from 48 weeks to 42 weeks, and content teams reduced from 5 to 4 people.
The regional and local division would also lose 19 roles, ABC TV reported.
Earlier, the ABC said it would give the ABC Life section “a new editorial direction and name, ABC Local, sourcing content from across the ABC, including outer suburban and regional areas”.
The 7.45am 15-minute-long flagship radio news bulletin will be dumped. The ABC said it was aiming to focus more on digital and on-demand news services, with the provision of news “across all our audio platforms”.
Anderson said there would still be a 10-minute bulletin at 7am, and a new five-minute bulletin at 8am, followed by the AM program until 8.30am – resulting in a reduction of 45 minutes of news to 30 minutes.
The extended “Majestic Fanfare” tune that signals the beginning of the 7.45am bulletin will now be used with the 7am bulletin.
The ABC also plans to rebrand ABC Comedy “to create a home for a range of genres, such as arts, science, education and religion”.
It will reduce the money spent on independent production by about $5m a year, mainly from the factual and entertainment slate, prioritising investment in drama and children’s programming.
The ABC said the proposed initiatives “are in addition to reduced numbers in management and support teams and identified savings greater than 2% through current vacancies, redundancies and reducing operating costs”.
The ABC said it had also reduced travel budgets by 25%.
It said it would review its property portfolio to “consider options to either improve our accommodation, lease vacant space or relocate if it is more beneficial”.
It would consider leasing some vacant space at the ABC Ultimo building, saying this could save $4m a year – some of which could be reinvested in services.
The ABC hopes to see 75% of content makers working outside the Ultimo headquarters by 2025, “ensuring greater engagement with local communities”.
The long-term plan says “significant funding cuts” since 2014–15, and an indexation pause from 2019–20, “must be absorbed at the same time as the ABC grapples with new cost pressures”.
In an implicit warning to the government, the report says any further budget reductions “will have an even more significant impact on services, such as consolidating TV channels, radio networks and some regional services”.
He said it was “proposed that every division will be losing staff as savings have been identified across the entire organisation”.
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) said it was a case of “death by a thousand cuts for ABC staff” and called on the government to halt the funding freeze and commit to a five-year funding model.
The CPSU said the plan would hit Australian content creators hard, with the $5m cut to independent production meaning “less Australian drama and content on our screens”.
“The ABC has provided in some cases lifesaving information throughout the droughts, fires and now a health pandemic,” the secretary of the CPSU’s ABC section, Sinddy Ealy, said.
“It is clear that Australia needs a strong ABC now more than ever.”
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance attributed the job cuts to “an act of vandalism by the federal government”.
The union’s chief executive, Paul Murphy, said the Coalition government had “an ideological obsession with the ABC that is entirely unhealthy”.
Albanese said the ABC had “literally saved lives” with the bushfire emergency broadcasts and the government “surely should be stepping in and saying, ‘Now of all times is not the time to lose 250 jobs at the ABC’”.
But the communications minister, Paul Fletcher, said the ABC was well-funded and the government expected the broadcaster “to responsibly manage the very substantial funding it’s provided”.
Fletcher said he welcomed the ABC’s commitment to greater engagement with suburban, outer-urban and regional communities, and the prevention of job losses in regional Australia.
During a media conference in Sydney on Wednesday, Fletcher also welcomed the review of the ABC’s property holdings – and he appeared to float the idea of shifting its base from Ultimo in central Sydney to western Sydney.
Gaven Morris, the ABC news director, revealed the loss of about 70 jobs in news.
In an email to staff, Morris also said “small reductions” in the number of original episodes of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent would “protect the quality of this prestige programming while recognising we have lower funding”.
He said all current affairs teams would contribute to the required savings, including some proposed changes to roles in the Investigative Reporting Team, Foreign Correspondent, Australian Story and 7.30.
Meanwhile, 53 redundancies are expected in the entertainment and specialist section, with the ABC commissioning original material for primetime only. The calendar to fill will be reduced from 48 weeks to 42 weeks, and content teams reduced from 5 to 4 people.
The regional and local division would also lose 19 roles, ABC TV reported.
Earlier, the ABC said it would give the ABC Life section “a new editorial direction and name, ABC Local, sourcing content from across the ABC, including outer suburban and regional areas”.
The 7.45am 15-minute-long flagship radio news bulletin will be dumped. The ABC said it was aiming to focus more on digital and on-demand news services, with the provision of news “across all our audio platforms”.
Anderson said there would still be a 10-minute bulletin at 7am, and a new five-minute bulletin at 8am, followed by the AM program until 8.30am – resulting in a reduction of 45 minutes of news to 30 minutes.
The extended “Majestic Fanfare” tune that signals the beginning of the 7.45am bulletin will now be used with the 7am bulletin.
The ABC also plans to rebrand ABC Comedy “to create a home for a range of genres, such as arts, science, education and religion”.
It will reduce the money spent on independent production by about $5m a year, mainly from the factual and entertainment slate, prioritising investment in drama and children’s programming.
The ABC said the proposed initiatives “are in addition to reduced numbers in management and support teams and identified savings greater than 2% through current vacancies, redundancies and reducing operating costs”.
The ABC said it had also reduced travel budgets by 25%.
It said it would review its property portfolio to “consider options to either improve our accommodation, lease vacant space or relocate if it is more beneficial”.
It would consider leasing some vacant space at the ABC Ultimo building, saying this could save $4m a year – some of which could be reinvested in services.
The ABC hopes to see 75% of content makers working outside the Ultimo headquarters by 2025, “ensuring greater engagement with local communities”.
The long-term plan says “significant funding cuts” since 2014–15, and an indexation pause from 2019–20, “must be absorbed at the same time as the ABC grapples with new cost pressures”.
In an implicit warning to the government, the report says any further budget reductions “will have an even more significant impact on services, such as consolidating TV channels, radio networks and some regional services”.
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