The ABC is one of Australia’s most trusted institutions and one of its most argued about. Here’s how it’s funded, who runs it, and how it’s meant to stay independent of the government that pays for it.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, is Australia’s national public broadcaster. It began as the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932 and became a corporation in 1983.
It runs TV channels, national and local radio networks, the ABC iview streaming service, the ABC listen app, websites and news services, and an international service broadcasting to the Asia-Pacific.
How it’s funded
The ABC is funded mainly by the Federal Government, which provides around $1 billion a year. Unlike Australia’s commercial broadcasters, it doesn’t carry advertising on its main TV, radio and digital services, although it earns some money from selling programs, books and other content.
Its funding is set in the federal budget, typically over several years. Governments have at times cut its funding or frozen indexation, leading to job and program cuts, while others have increased it.
Unlike some other countries, Australia doesn’t charge households a TV licence fee to fund its public broadcaster. That was abolished in 1974.
The charter
The ABC’s role is set out in a charter in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act. It requires the ABC to provide innovative and comprehensive broadcasting services that contribute to a sense of national identity, inform and entertain, and reflect Australia’s cultural diversity, including in regional areas.
It’s also required to be accurate and impartial in its news and information.
Who runs it
The ABC is governed by a board, which is responsible for making sure it meets its charter and is run efficiently. The board appoints the managing director, who runs the organisation day to day.
Board members are appointed by the Government, following a process involving an independent nomination panel.
The ABC Act gives the corporation independence from the government. Ministers can’t direct the ABC on what to broadcast.
Accountability
The ABC is accountable to Parliament. Its executives regularly appear before Senate estimates hearings, where politicians can question them about spending and editorial decisions.
Complaints about content can be made to the ABC’s ombudsman, and then to the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The debates
The ABC is regularly at the centre of political debate. Critics, often from the political right, have accused it of left-wing bias and argued it should be smaller or privatised. Supporters argue it provides trusted news, local coverage in regional areas, emergency broadcasting during bushfires and floods, and programs the commercial market wouldn’t provide.
Surveys have consistently found the ABC is among Australia’s most trusted news sources.
Commercial media companies have also argued the ABC competes unfairly with them online.
