Axe falls next Monday for ABC staff

ABC staff will find out next Monday where the axe will fall, as the national broadcaster takes action to deal with the budget cut announced by Communications MInister Malcolm Turnbull this week.

ABC Managing Director Mark Scott told a Senate Estimates Committee yesterday that details of cuts “need to be finalised and we need to brief staff first.”

“I will however note that the ABC will look to find efficiencies in our operations and support services to make the savings required and the ABC will seek to protect content wherever possible.”

He ruled out cuts to the ABC’s emergency broadcasting role and to digital transmission.

Scott confirmed the ABC would look at television production facilities, especially in Adelaide, as recommended in the Lewis efficiency review, and said staff will be hit hard with cuts.

“Our staff will learn on Monday that there will be significant job cuts…As the Minister conceded yesterday there’s no way of reaching these savings without significant job cuts, and they will have an impact across the country. But that’s the reality we have to deal with.”

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