ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks told staff in an email today that up to 50 jobs will be lost in a series of cuts that will begin this week.
“Around 40” job roles are likely to be made redundant and “around 10” more fixed term contracts will be axed in changes that will cut jobs that “no longer align with priorities.”
Marks’ email, leaked to radioinfo and several other media outlets, says the savings resulting from the cuts will be “reinvested directly into more content and services for audiences.”
The cuts are aimed at enhancing the ABC’s TV slate, increasing the capacity to commission more high value journalism, enabling more original podcasting and to channel some resources into radio’s metropolitan audio teams, according to the MD’s email.
Changes to the structure of some departments will take place as part of the process, which has begun in the last month of this financial year.
The proposed changes are subject to union consultation and a formal redundancy and redeployment process that will take several months.
The ABC’s Content division will change its name to ABC Screen and will include a new Digital Content department.
The Audio Quality Team will be revived to “bolster training for content makers.” The Sport and Capital City Network teams will be separated into different departments again after the recent departure of Mike Fitzpatrick, due to health reasons.
The changes will “simplify, strengthen and sharpen the focus of each of these teams on their core priorities and ensure we continue to innovate and renew our offering to audiences,” said the email. The national broadcaster’s digital focus will go to the “primary digital platforms, ABC iview and ABC listen.”
Several Radio National staff based in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia are facing redundancy.
In the News Department, ABC TV’s Q+A program will end after an 18-year run, with the ABC looking at “new ways to facilitate discussion and elevate voices from around the country.”
New methods of audience feedback will be developed following the pattern of the ABC’s Your Say initiative during elections, which is likely to also include radio talkback slots.
Some recent hirings in the Audio Division will be made redundant, as will leadership positions in the Innovation and Digital departments.
Marks said in his email, “Losing colleagues is always hard and is no reflection on people’s performance. I want to acknowledge the huge contribution that has been made by so many talented people.”
Speaking to Ali Moore on ABC Radio 774 Melbourne, Marks said: “The aim is to continue to invest in premium content… we need to focus on the premium audio that supports the excellent work that the local radio teams do…
“The ABC has to do more on local content that gives people a reason to tune into the ABC on any regular day, or to come back to the ABC.”
The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance has condemned the latest cuts, saying: “The ABC is one of Australia’s most important institutions. It needs to be well funded and accessible to all Australians. Management is driving instability through a flawed commercial model which simply doesn’t fit with the public interest test.”