ABC Board
Encyclopedia
The ABC Board is the body responsible for the operations of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
. It is made up of five to seven directors chosen by the Federal government, a Managing Director appointed by the Board itself, and until 2006 a staff-elected director.
, on the recommendation of the Federal Government, appoints members, as specified in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983. The Act specifies that Directors must be experienced in broadcasting, communications or management, or have expertise in financial or technical matters, or have cultural or other interests relevant to the provision of broadcasting services. Each director serves a term of five years, with eligibility for reappointment at the end of this term.
Directors are expected to follow the ABC Board Protocol, which stipulates responsibilities, expectations, rights, and benefits.
Board members since 1 February 2011:
The board maintains an Advisory Council, which advices it on matters concerning the Corporation's programming. The Council is made up of twelve members, broadly representative of the Australian community, which serve staggered four-year terms. Vacancies are advertised in September–October each year. The Advisory Council's current Chair is Dr Jane Munro, Head of International House at the University of Melbourne
.
.
Appointments to the board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit. Past appointments have associated directly with political parties - five of fourteen appointed chairmen have been accused of political affiliation or friendship, include Richard Downing and Ken Myer (both of whom publicly endorsed the Australian Labor Party
at the 1972 election), as well as Sir Henry Bland. David Hill was close to Neville Wran
, while Donald McDonald was considered to be a close friend of John Howard
.
From 2003 the Howard government also made several controversial appointments to the ABC Board, including prominent ABC critic Janet Albrechtsen
,
, Ron Brunton
,
and Keith Windschuttle
.
During their 2007 federal election campaign, Labor
announced plans to introduce a new system, similar to that of the BBC
, for appointing members to the board. Under the new system, ABC candidates would be considered by a panel established "at arm's length" from the Communications Minister. If the Minister chose someone not on the panel's shortlist, they would be required to justify this to parliament. The ABC Chairman would be nominated by the Prime Minister and endorsed by the Leader of the Opposition. The committee has not yet been announced.
John Gallagher QC
and Ron Brunton
both retired from the Board in February and May 2008, respectively. No replacement has yet been appointed, pending the announcement of a new independent panel responsible for new appointments.
Managing Directors
Chairs (deputies in brackets)
at the 1972 election, as well as Sir Henry Bland (an adviser to Malcolm Fraser
during the 1976 election campaign). David Hill was close to Neville Wran
, while Donald McDonald was considered to be a close friend of John Howard
.
In the past, appointments of commissioners and directors also drew criticism. In the 1932, a majority of the commissioners were publicly conservative. This continued to 1942, when the Curtin
and Chifley
administrations appointed a more 'politically balanced' commission.
Once elected to power, Labor
prime minister Whitlam
replaced the entire board - appointed by Liberal governments over the previous 23 years - with supporters of the Labor Party. His successor, Malcolm Fraser
, attempted unsuccessfully to take similar action by replacing the board with politically conservative commissioners in 1976, but was only able to make new appointments by adding two extra director positions onto the board.
In 1983, Minister John Button
referred proposed board appointments to an all-party committee for the first time. This practice was discontinued before the end of Paul Keating
's government. Alan Ramsey
, in a 1996 article for the Sydney Morning Herald noted that:
A 2006 restructure of the ABC board, undertaken by the Howard
government, abolished the position of staff elected director. The elected director was previously nominated and elected by employees of the ABC. Nominees for this director office were to have been employed at least 24 hours a week by the ABC and the term of office was two years with eligibility for re-election to a second term. An elected director was not eligible for a third term of office. The last elected director was broadcaster Ramona Koval
who had occupied the position for the previous four years amid ongoing intense controversy. This drew criticism from the Labor Party, Australian Greens
, and the Democrats
, who saw it as a 'revenge measure' taken against the Corporation.
Labor announced plans to make the system of appointments to the board independent of the Minister for Communications in July, 2007.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. It is made up of five to seven directors chosen by the Federal government, a Managing Director appointed by the Board itself, and until 2006 a staff-elected director.
Members
The Governor-GeneralGovernor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
, on the recommendation of the Federal Government, appoints members, as specified in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act 1983. The Act specifies that Directors must be experienced in broadcasting, communications or management, or have expertise in financial or technical matters, or have cultural or other interests relevant to the provision of broadcasting services. Each director serves a term of five years, with eligibility for reappointment at the end of this term.
Directors are expected to follow the ABC Board Protocol, which stipulates responsibilities, expectations, rights, and benefits.
Board members since 1 February 2011:
- Mark ScottMark Scott (businessman)Mark Walter Scott AO is the current Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He took up his position in July 2006, having previously been the Editorial Director at John Fairfax, responsible for the editorial content of the group's major newspapers including The Sydney Morning...
– Managing Director - Maurice NewmanMaurice NewmanMaurice Lionel Newman AC is the current Chairperson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as former chair of the board of the Australian Stock Exchange. He was Chancellor of Macquarie University until 2008....
AC – Chairperson - Steven SkalaSteven SkalaSteven Michael Skala AO is the Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank for Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's board of directors since 6 October 2006. He is also a director of the Australian Ballet and the neo-liberal/conservative think tank, the Centre for...
AO - Julianne Schultz AM
- Michael Lynch, CBE, AM
- Cheryl BartCheryl BartCheryl Sarah Bart AO is an Australian lawyer and company director.Bart was educated at Moriah College in Sydney and graduated from the University of New South Wales with degrees in commerce and law...
AO
The board maintains an Advisory Council, which advices it on matters concerning the Corporation's programming. The Council is made up of twelve members, broadly representative of the Australian community, which serve staggered four-year terms. Vacancies are advertised in September–October each year. The Advisory Council's current Chair is Dr Jane Munro, Head of International House at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
.
Appointment
ABC board members are currently directly appointed by the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital EconomyMinister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (Australia)
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is currently Senator the Hon Stephen Conroy. He replaced Senator the Hon Helen Coonan on 3 December 2007.-Portfolio:...
.
Appointments to the board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit. Past appointments have associated directly with political parties - five of fourteen appointed chairmen have been accused of political affiliation or friendship, include Richard Downing and Ken Myer (both of whom publicly endorsed the Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
at the 1972 election), as well as Sir Henry Bland. David Hill was close to Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
, while Donald McDonald was considered to be a close friend of John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
.
From 2003 the Howard government also made several controversial appointments to the ABC Board, including prominent ABC critic Janet Albrechtsen
Janet Albrechtsen
Janet Kim Albrechtsen is a conservative Australian opinion columnist with the News Limited-owned newspaper, The Australian. From 2005 through 2010, she was a member of the Board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's state-owned national broadcaster.-Early life and...
,
, Ron Brunton
Ron Brunton
Dr Ron Brunton is an Australian anthropologist. He is currently the Director of Encompass Research Pty Ltd and was a Director of the Board of the public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a five year term from 1 May 2003....
,
and Keith Windschuttle
Keith Windschuttle
Keith Windschuttle is an Australian writer, historian, and ABC board member, who has authored several books from the 1970s onwards. These include Unemployment, , which analysed the economic causes and social consequences of unemployment in Australia and advocated a socialist response; The Media: a...
.
During their 2007 federal election campaign, Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
announced plans to introduce a new system, similar to that of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, for appointing members to the board. Under the new system, ABC candidates would be considered by a panel established "at arm's length" from the Communications Minister. If the Minister chose someone not on the panel's shortlist, they would be required to justify this to parliament. The ABC Chairman would be nominated by the Prime Minister and endorsed by the Leader of the Opposition. The committee has not yet been announced.
John Gallagher QC
John Gallagher (barrister)
John Gallagher QC is an Australian barrister. He was a Director of the Board of the public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1999 to 2008....
and Ron Brunton
Ron Brunton
Dr Ron Brunton is an Australian anthropologist. He is currently the Director of Encompass Research Pty Ltd and was a Director of the Board of the public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a five year term from 1 May 2003....
both retired from the Board in February and May 2008, respectively. No replacement has yet been appointed, pending the announcement of a new independent panel responsible for new appointments.
Past Managers
General Managers- Sir Charles MosesCharles MosesSir Charles Moses CBE headed the Australian Broadcasting Commission from 1935 until 1965....
(1935–65) - Sir Talbot DuckmantonTalbot DuckmantonSir Talbot Sidney Duckmanton CBE was an Australian broadcaster and radio and television administrator. As General Manager of the Australian Broadcasting Commission he oversaw the advent of colour television, ABC Classic FM and Triple J.-Early life:The son of Sidney James Duckmanton and Rita...
(1965–82) - Keith Jennings (1982–83)
Managing Directors
- Geoffrey Whitehead (1983–87)
- David HillDavid Hill (businessman)David Hill is a British-born Australian businessman who has held a number of high profile senior positions with public authorities in Australia. He is also a writer....
(1987–95) - Brian Johns (1995–99)
- Jonathan ShierJonathan ShierJonathan Shier is an Australian-born media executive who lived in the United Kingdom from 1976 until 1999, who is best known for his controversial tenure as managing director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1999-2002.- References :...
(1999–2002) - Russell Balding (2002–06)
- Mark ScottMark Scott (businessman)Mark Walter Scott AO is the current Managing Director of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He took up his position in July 2006, having previously been the Editorial Director at John Fairfax, responsible for the editorial content of the group's major newspapers including The Sydney Morning...
(2006–present)
Chairs (deputies in brackets)
- Sir Charles Lloyd Jones (1932–34)
- William James Cleary (1934–45)
- Sir Richard Boyer (1945–61)
- Sir James DarlingJames Ralph DarlingSir James Ralph Darling OBE was the Headmaster of Geelong Grammar School , and Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission .-Early life:...
(1961–67) - Sir Robert MadgwickRobert MadgwickSir Robert Bowden Madgwick, OBE , Australian teacher, soldier, academic and public servant, was the first vice-chancellor of the University of New England from 1954 until 1966, and chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Commission from 1967 until 1973.Born in North Sydney, New South Wales in 1905,...
(1967–73) - Professor Richard Downing (1973–75)
- Sir Henry Bland (1976)
- John D Norgard (1976–81)
- Dame Leonie KramerLeonie KramerDame Leonie Judith Kramer, AC, DBE is an Australian academic, educator and professor.-Education:Kramer was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne, the University of Melbourne, where she gained a Bachelor of Arts in 1945, and Oxford University, where she gained a Doctor of...
(1982–83) - Ken MyerKen MyerKenneth Baillieu Myer AC DSC was an American-born Australian patron of the arts, humanities and sciences; diplomat; administrator; businessman; and philanthropist...
(1983–86) (Wendy McCarthy) - David HillDavid Hill (businessman)David Hill is a British-born Australian businessman who has held a number of high profile senior positions with public authorities in Australia. He is also a writer....
(1986–87) - Bob Somervaille (1987–91)
- Professor Mark Armstrong (1991–96)
- Donald McDonaldDonald McDonald (ABC chairperson)Donald Benjamin McDonald AC is an Australian arts administrator and between 1996 and 2006 was chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's national public broadcaster...
(1996–2006) - Maurice NewmanMaurice NewmanMaurice Lionel Newman AC is the current Chairperson of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as former chair of the board of the Australian Stock Exchange. He was Chancellor of Macquarie University until 2008....
(2007–present)
Past Board members
- Janet AlbrechtsenJanet AlbrechtsenJanet Kim Albrechtsen is a conservative Australian opinion columnist with the News Limited-owned newspaper, The Australian. From 2005 through 2010, she was a member of the Board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia's state-owned national broadcaster.-Early life and...
– 2005-2010 - Peter HurleyPeter HurleyPeter Hurley is the President of the South Australian branch of the Australian Hotels Association and on the board of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.-Notes:...
- Ramona KovalRamona KovalRamona Koval is an Australian broadcaster, writer and journalist.Her parents were Yiddish-speaking survivors of the Holocaust who arrived in Melbourne from Poland in 1950....
(staff representative 2002-2006) - Tom Molomby (staff representative)
- Bob Raymond
- Keith WindschuttleKeith WindschuttleKeith Windschuttle is an Australian writer, historian, and ABC board member, who has authored several books from the 1970s onwards. These include Unemployment, , which analysed the economic causes and social consequences of unemployment in Australia and advocated a socialist response; The Media: a...
Criticism
Appointments to the ABC Board made by successive governments have often resulted in criticism of the appointees' political affiliation, background, and relative merit. Past appointments have associated directly with political parties - five of fourteen appointed chairmen have been accused of political affiliation or friendship, include Richard Downing and Ken Myer (both of whom publicly endorsed the Australian Labor PartyAustralian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
at the 1972 election, as well as Sir Henry Bland (an adviser to Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
during the 1976 election campaign). David Hill was close to Neville Wran
Neville Wran
Neville Kenneth Wran, AC, CNZM, QC was the Premier of New South Wales from 1976 until 1986. He was National President of the Australian Labor Party from 1980 to 1986 and Chairman of both the Lionel Murphy Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation from 1986...
, while Donald McDonald was considered to be a close friend of John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
.
In the past, appointments of commissioners and directors also drew criticism. In the 1932, a majority of the commissioners were publicly conservative. This continued to 1942, when the Curtin
John Curtin
John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...
and Chifley
Ben Chifley
Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949...
administrations appointed a more 'politically balanced' commission.
Once elected to power, Labor
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
prime minister Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
replaced the entire board - appointed by Liberal governments over the previous 23 years - with supporters of the Labor Party. His successor, Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
, attempted unsuccessfully to take similar action by replacing the board with politically conservative commissioners in 1976, but was only able to make new appointments by adding two extra director positions onto the board.
In 1983, Minister John Button
John Button
John Norman Button was an Australian politician, who served as a senior minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor governments...
referred proposed board appointments to an all-party committee for the first time. This practice was discontinued before the end of Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
's government. Alan Ramsey
Alan Ramsey
Alan Ramsey is an Australian columnist and former writer for The Sydney Morning Herald. He first started working in journalism in 1953, for Frank Packer who then owned Sydney's Daily Telegraph...
, in a 1996 article for the Sydney Morning Herald noted that:
A 2006 restructure of the ABC board, undertaken by the Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
government, abolished the position of staff elected director. The elected director was previously nominated and elected by employees of the ABC. Nominees for this director office were to have been employed at least 24 hours a week by the ABC and the term of office was two years with eligibility for re-election to a second term. An elected director was not eligible for a third term of office. The last elected director was broadcaster Ramona Koval
Ramona Koval
Ramona Koval is an Australian broadcaster, writer and journalist.Her parents were Yiddish-speaking survivors of the Holocaust who arrived in Melbourne from Poland in 1950....
who had occupied the position for the previous four years amid ongoing intense controversy. This drew criticism from the Labor Party, Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
, and the Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
, who saw it as a 'revenge measure' taken against the Corporation.
Labor announced plans to make the system of appointments to the board independent of the Minister for Communications in July, 2007.