ABC House Committee statement: Transparency needed to fix racism at ABC

The ABC MEAA House Committee thanks Dr Terri Janke and all the courageous staff who participated in the ABC’s “Systems and Processes in Support of Staff who Experience Racism” review, which members are still reading and processing.

We acknowledge the pain and trauma of those who have experienced racism in our workplace. We want the ABC to be a culturally safe and inclusive place to work.

Staff at the ABC know the organisation has a problem with racism, and that the issues raised reflect the media industry as a whole. The problems raised in the report are not surprising and shouldn’t have existed in the first place. It’s imperative for them to be addressed right now.

ABC members don’t want the changes to only amount to online training and a poster campaign. They want and expect real tangible and transparent changes that are clear, measurable and implemented with staff consultation.

It’s time for ABC management to change.

Key to making that change happen is transparency and accountability.

We call on the ABC to commit in advance to a process to track improvement, to review that progress, and make the results of the reviews public.

Targets or promises without transparency, accountability and meaningful action, will be meaningless.  

This report highlights again that there is a trust deficit. If the ABC is to genuinely address racism, it’s paramount that staff have confidence in the processes introduced to achieve these ends.

ABC management’s transparency and accountability track record is appalling. The ABC has refused to release the 2024 Employee Engagement Survey results, which contains valuable information about the wellbeing and culture of the workplace.

ABC management has also previously refused to release data on the pay gap between culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) and gender pay audit and only relented under the threat of strike action during 2022 enterprise bargaining after MEAA fought for it. Dr Janke’s report calls for these audits to continue and for action to be taken.

The report notes that racism is systemic at the ABC and that ABC policies and processes are disadvantageous to First Nations and CALD staff. To address this, management at all levels will need to be trained more not only in anti-racism and unconscious bias but also in inclusive management strategies. Changes to management culture and processes must include concrete action that is shared with everyone.

MEAA delegates have raised with the ABC the multitude of problems caused by insecure work. While the ABC is committed to hiring more staff from diverse backgrounds, culturally-diverse staff face barriers in terms of career progression or securing ongoing work as noted by both the Terri Janke review and the pay gap data. It was no surprise to see the report rightly call out the way insecure work is a barrier to racism complaints progressing, and how the insecure work affects the “self worth” of participants in the review. The ABC must rely less on these harmful insecure work arrangements.

Dr Janke’s report notes the questions raised over the objectivity of the reporting done by so many First Nations and CALD staff. This unwarranted and racist scrutiny comes from outside the ABC and inside, as noted by the report. This must stop. The lived experience of our workforce enriches our journalism. White perspectives are not inherently neutral. Diverse perspectives are not at a greater risk of bias. The ABC needs to take a strong stance against both the overt and covert racist treatment of journalists doing their job.

ABC’s MEAA House Committee is committed to diversity and equity within the ABC, so our stories, content and staff reflect the community we serve. The ABC’s charter requires us to serve all Australians and to take into account “the multicultural character of the Australian community.” To fulfil our charter, the ABC’s racism problem needs to be fixed.