ABC News is consistently ranked as the most trusted source of news in Australia, but despite that it regularly attracts critics from both the left and the right who accuse it of bias. At the same time, there are often serious questions raised about how well the ABC performs when it comes to delivering accurate, impartial and valued news at a regional, state, national and international level. While defending the ABC from unfair attacks, the Alumni will also raise the concerns of its own me...

While the primary role of the ABC Alumni is to support a strong, relevant and effective ABC, it will also from time to time make comments on broader media issues that are relevant to the role of public broadcasting. Australia’s defamation laws have had a significant chilling effect on investigative journalism in Australia. In an extended two-part essay in 2021, Alumni Chair Jonathan Holmes teases out the issues. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. In 2019, following t...

The ABC has more international news bureaux than any other Australian news organisation, and it has long had an unparalleled commitment to covering world news and current affairs. Despite that, funding and resources for international coverage have been under pressure and successive Governments have failed to properly support the ABC’s vital role in this area. In 2020, as part of expanding and building on a Foreign Policy White Paper, there was an inquiry into international developmen...

The challenges facing the ABC when it comes to producing original, high quality Australian content are significant and growing. ABC Alumni believes it is crucial to the ABC’s identity and performance that it continues to produce quality content across a wide range of platforms and services. Most recently, ABC Alumni has produced this detailed summary of the challenges facing ABC drama.  And Quentin Dempster has written about the Americanisation of our culture. The former AB...

A well-funded and efficiently-run ABC is vital to Australia’s democracy. For at least 40 years, the ABC has endured funding cuts and freezes that have left it unable to properly fulfill its role as Australia’s most trusted and valued public broadcaster. Over the years, ABC Alumni has consistently called for increased funding for the ABC, while also acknowledging that the budget needs to be spent on the core charter responsibilities of the ABC. When the Albanese Government restored indexat...

As a public broadcaster, it is essential that the independence and integrity of the ABC is defended against the regular threats against it, both from governments and from vested interests and competitors who have no desire to see a strong and independent public broadcaster. ABC Alumni has been clear on its support for an ABC that is well protected against those who would seek to improperly influence or damage it. Following its decision to change funding agreements with the ABC and SBS to ...

The ABC has been subjected to negative media campaigns from the Murdoch press over many years. The Liberal Party has also failed to rescind a 2018 resolution to privatise the ABC.  As recently as February 2025 NewsCorp's tabloid papers published a vicious attack. Read the response from ABC Chair Kim Williams and the Alumni's Michael Ward. For an analysis of the Coalition's historical position on the ABC, see this video from Jonathan Holmes published 2022.  And Jonathan's&...

View the election videos created by ABC Alumni for distribution on social media for the 2025 general election. Prominent Australians support the ABC Alan Kohler 1:  There's more than enough money in the federal budget to keep the ABC well funded. Posted Monday 7 April  Zoe Daniel 1: The ABC is critically important to our democracy. Posted 8 April Greg Mullins 1: The ABC needs an allocated budget for its lifesaving emergency broadcasting. Posted 9 April Kate Chaney 1: Even in...