The Australian Broadcasting Corporation Announces Mass Job Cuts

Due to program restructuring to begin in July 2023, the ABC has declared the redundancies of 120 staff members

A public broadcaster of news, music, and other media in Australia for over 80 years, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has announced its decision to cut dozens of jobs, including journalists, editors, camera, and sound operators.

With 120 staff members to be made redundant at the ABC, the job cuts precede the broadcaster’s biggest program restructure since 2017, which will begin on July 1, 2023. 

This decision comes with the ABC’s new five-year plan from 2023–2028 (following the previous plan for 2020–25), which aims to maintain and evolve the broadcaster’s relevance and operation in the digital age.

Among those affected by the cuts include the reporting team in the news division and a newly created Arts, Music and Events department. Additionally, the online editorial solely for arts coverage will be abolished. Meanwhile, the ABC plans to increase podcasts and on-demand programs.

Regional journalists will be transferred to the news division, while radio and music networks will become a single content sector alongside television. The ABC’s current separate regional and radio divisions will no longer be available.

Increased funding in the ABC Listen app, which includes radio and classical, jazz, and other music genres — will be delegated on-demand access.

“Change is never easy,” said ABC managing director David Anderson. “Clearly this restructure impacts some of our leaders. Where this occurs, we will seek to redeploy as many affected employees as possible,” he continued. 

“But we expect there will be some redundancies and consultation with those leaders who are impacted is underway,” he added. “This in no way diminishes the importance of what we do, as many of Australia’s favorite podcasts and radio programs today are presented by the ABC.”

The decision is being defended by the ABC as a necessary move to evolve how the platform was servicing audiences and to attract and retain its younger demographic. 

“Increasingly we’re seeing younger people accessing news and information on other platforms and if we don't service them, in 20, 30, 40 years, we won't have the audience we have now,” said ABC News director Justin Stevens.

“We could also put out a piece of social media, on say TikTok or Instagram, about a really strong investigation,” he added. “If that doesn’t go on Instagram or TikTok, people under the age of 30 won’t even know it occurred or that it should matter to them.”

These job cuts are the first at the ABC since 2020 — when 250 staff were laid off across news, entertainment, and regional sectors to meet a $41 million annual budget shortfall, according to The Guardian. 

The cuts were announced the same week as ABC staff received their first pay rise after an industrial campaign in March 2023. They earned a 4% increase on their base rate of pay and a one-off bonus of $1500, while another 4% will be given in October 2023. The ABC’s latest five-year funding from the federal government is an annual $1.1 billion.