Australia’s two biggest public broadcasters have welcomed a move by the Federal government to restore funding as part of last night’s budget announcement.
You can read statements provided by ABC and SBS below:
Statement from the ABC:
ABC audiences around the country and across the Indo-Pacific region will directly benefit from the increase in funding announced in the Federal Budget.
The increase of $83.7m in operational funding and $32m for international services across four years ($20.9m and $8m each year respectively) will allow significant investment in services across all platforms. It will also help the ABC to deal with rising costs affecting the media industry and support the sustainability of ABC services.
ABC Managing Director David Anderson said:
“The additional funding will allow the ABC to increase investment in local content and education services and further improve our critical emergency broadcasting services, particularly benefiting regional communities. It will also help grow reach in Pacific communities at an important time in the history of the region.
“We are always working to identify what we need to provide the Australian public and how we can manage our budget to effectively meet those expectations – especially as audience habits evolve and we transition to digital services, particularly among younger demographics.
“This budget announcement is an investment in the valuable services the ABC provides and the trust Australians place in us.”
The ABC has also welcomed the Government’s commitment to a five-year funding settlement, to be determined in the May 2023 Budget.
The increase in funding will mean:
Greater capacity to deliver emergency broadcasting services . As emergency events become more frequent and severe the need for critical emergency broadcast services is growing. Australians know they can rely on the ABC for crucial information that can help save lives and protect communities, especially in regional areas.
This additional investment will enable the ABC to cover more priority black spots, better respond to escalating events, increase emergency broadcasting services across social and digital platforms, to ensure greater accessibility, and extend our community engagement around resilience and post-disaster recovery.
Increased investment in ABC Education. Building on the ABC’s history of educational broadcasting, this initiative will produce unique interactive content to support learning in the classroom and at home for students of Australian History, Literacy, Numeracy, STEM and Media Literacy.
Enhanced digital services. The ABC is committed to more content and product development across digital platforms such as ABC iview, ABC Listen and ABC News Digital. This investment will mean more Australian comedy and drama and a renewed commitment to services for younger audiences, such as triple j. We will also engage innovative creatives to develop content specifically aimed at audiences on popular third-party platforms.
The additional funding for international services will allow the ABC to:
Expand ABC Radio Australia’s FM footprint, adding up to seven additional FM transmitter locations to the 13 currently running across the Pacific and Timor Leste, and tailor our ABC Australia television service to suit Pacific and Asian time zones.
Create more content for audiences across the Indo-Pacific region including establishing a network of full-time local journalists and a pan-Pacific weekly video news program.
Enhance the capacity and development of media partners with training and activities covering basic professional development, for cadets through to leadership masterclasses, and in specialised subjects such as elections and emergency broadcasting.
For more than 90 years the ABC has played a critical role in the life of the nation: supporting our democracy, explaining the world around us, showcasing our ever-evolving national character, discovering new talent and uniting Australians in good times and bad.
This additional investment will support the ABC to continue to deliver for all Australians.
Statement from SBS
SBS welcomes the funding announcement from the Federal Government as part of the Federal Budget, maintaining current levels of funding and providing certainty for SBS as we continue to deliver essential and evolving services to meet the needs of communities.
It is an outcome that recognises the value that SBS delivers to Australians and incorporates the additional funding that SBS has received in recent budgets for the expansion of our language services.
“SBS is working with the Government and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts on both the Feasibility Study and the implementation of five-year funding terms for public broadcasters,” said an SBS spokesperson.
“The outcomes of the Feasibility Study will be carefully considered by the SBS Board, which as the Minister said recently, holds ultimate responsibility for any decision. Our priority will remain accessing the talent, tools and technologies we need to continue fulfilling our Charter each and every day for our audiences who are in all corners of Australia.”
