ABC David Anderson has announced he will depart as Managing Director ahead of his term, due to conclude in 2028.
A search for a successor is expected to extend into 2025.
In a letter to staff he wrote:
When I was formally appointed Managing Director of the ABC in 2019, I said it is a privilege to be appointed to the role, overseeing one of Australia’s most loved and respected cultural institutions.
Not a day has gone by since when I haven’t reflected on that privilege, and the honour of leading the ABC, advocating for the work we do and most importantly, doing my best to support all of you, the ABC’s greatest asset.
It is with sincere thanks and gratitude that, after more than five years as Managing Director, I write to you all to advise that I have informed ABC Chair, Kim Williams of my intention to leave the ABC.
This decision has not been an easy one. I am still very much committed to the importance of the ABC to the nation. I believe it is the right moment for leadership renewal for the next stage of the ABC’s continued evolution.
To have the opportunity to serve the Australian public and lead such talented and dedicated people across the country, and overseas, for what is approaching six years is humbling. To have had this opportunity after a long career at the ABC is an achievement I am proud of and incredibly grateful for. The relationships forged with hard working people who possess a shared passion for the purpose and value of the ABC is an experience I will always cherish. It has been an absolute honour to be part of the ABC community.
We are all custodians of this great national institution that has served Australians for over 90 years. Over that time the ABC has adapted and embraced new technologies. It has innovated to meet the ever-changing needs of our audiences.
That has certainly been the case over the last six years as the media landscape has transformed dramatically. How we have responded to these changes and delivered more value to Australians than ever is an important record for all of us.
I want to acknowledge and thank the ABC leadership team whose expertise, professionalism and support have helped me to manage the significant responsibilities of this role.
I am grateful to Kim Williams and the Board for their support, and their efforts to persuade me to stay on for my full second term. Their unabashed enthusiasm for the importance and future of the Corporation makes this decision easier. I am confident the timing is right for both me and the ABC.
Kim has asked that I stay on in the role until a new Managing Director has been appointed to ensure a smooth transition, which I expect will be at least until the start of next year.
The ABC has achieved a great many things over the last six years, some of which are clear in the public eye, while other equally important achievements go by without fanfare. Be assured that I know of the hard work and commitment that takes place daily across the entire organisation.
In difficult circumstances, we have shown the financial acumen required to navigate changing funding levels and achieve additional financial stability, all while maintaining existing services, expanding critical services such as emergency broadcasting, and evolving our digital platforms and related services to ensure we remain relevant to the Australian community.
Key to that relevance is trust and reliability. The ABC has continued to be the most trusted source of news and information that people rely upon, and the trusted source to which people turn, to gain knowledge and understanding of the truth. That is crucial amidst a plethora of misinformation disseminating throughout our community.
As the media industry has changed and moved away from a regional, rural and remote footprint, we have gone the other way. We have expanded our regional journalist workforce by 10% while implementing the largest decentralisation in ABC’s history.
The result is the ABC is more local and in more locations than any other media provider. We have also strengthened our presence internationally and have established ourselves as the pre-eminent source of media across the Pacific. With assistance from Government, we have doubled the number of Radio Australia transmitters and established a network of Pacific journalists.
Our position as the most culturally important institution is enduring with our ongoing commitment to the performing arts, music, telling Australian stories through drama, comedy, entertainment, factual, and childrens content.
The ABC remains the largest commissioner of Australian stories. Through our commitment to telling Australian stories on every platform, we better understand ourselves, each other, our shared history, our different perspectives and the different cultures that make up this proud nation.
As part of this, the ABC is the leading provider of digital news in the country and ABC iview has grown engagement by more than 30% and is the number one BVOD platform. We have invested in personalisation to make it easier than ever find our incredible content. ABC iview now has more than 2 million logged-in users each week.
Just as relevant in changing times is maintaining existing services, with ABC Radio continuing to be important for Australians across all our networks, local and national, connecting Australia and ensuring support during emergencies. This was crucial during the horrific Black Summer bushfires where there is no doubt our services were a lifeline.
I have always seen my duty as publicly and privately advocating for our journalists both individually and collectively, the importance of our journalism, a better funded ABC, and the importance of diversity of our staff and our content to better reflect contemporary Australia.
It is a privilege to advocate, even in the face of scrutiny and misinformation campaigns, when the value of the work undertaken by the ABC is so clear. The commitment of so many of you to relentlessly reporting and investigating matters of public interest, without fear, and often in the face of significant pressure from those in positions of power, has been a constant inspiration. It can give a voice to those who cannot speak, hold the powerful to account, and ultimately contribute to a better society and future for the nation, well beyond our time at the ABC.
There is still much work to do to ensure our laws better protect journalists and whistleblowers, but I am hopeful that the galvanising of staff at the ABC and across media outlets following our response to police raids and the untoward pressure placed on individual ABC staff in 2019, will stay in the mindset of the public for decades to come, and with continued advocacy, will lead to further positive change.
I am also proud to have had the opportunity to direct the management of this organisation through the pandemic. Observing thousands of you commit to providing for the Australian public during that period, day in day out, while dealing with the effect of the pandemic on your own lives, was something to behold.
Looking ahead, we need to keep up with what Australians need from us, get ahead of it and overcome the challenges common to all media organisations. We should continue to treat the public with respect, as citizens with rights and obligations, not as consumers that are part of a self-serving business model. It differentiates us from the rest. It’s a great responsibility and one the ABC will continue to fulfil well into its second century of public service.
I have enormous respect for the ABC’s new Chair, Kim Williams, with his vast experience and knowledge, who brings a new era of leadership for the ABC. We share a genuine passion for the ABC as a crucially important cultural institution, and in particular for its Charter and purpose. Under his leadership at the board level, I am certain the ABC is in very good hands.
To everyone I have worked with for over three decades, thank you for your friendship, support, advice and collegiality. Being part of the ABC with you has been the highlight of my career.
The ABC is bigger and more important than any one of us, but it is all of you who guide its course. Please never doubt the importance of your work, now more than ever.
I will always remain supportive of the ABC and will continue to do whatever I can to ensure it is always cherished, supported, and valued.
I look forward to working with you all for the remainder of my time at the ABC.
Chair Kim Williams also wrote to staff:
Dear Colleagues,
You will all have received and read David Anderson’s general advisory note to the ABC workforce. It is, in my view, an excellent statement – dignified, comprehensive and as always with David, positive about the role and performance of the ABC. I am sure you will agree with me readily that David is a special individual, and that the ABC has been a better place for his leadership.
David has made the decision to advise of his intention to move on from the Managing Director’s position at the ABC in due course. David in characteristically constructive character, has agreed to remain as Managing Director and undertake an orderly handover to a new Managing Director when the recruitment for the role is completed and a new appointment has been made. The Board will consider the recruitment of a new Managing Director and initiate that process in the near future.
We expect that process may well extend into early 2025. I have observed to my ABC Board colleagues that my admiration for David and his commitment to the ABC is undiminished and my respect grows ever greater. He is exemplary in his spirit of public service generally and in his deep abiding commitment to the Corporation. As he says in his note to you all, he always will remain supportive of the ABC and will continue to do whatever he can to ensure it is cherished, supported, and valued.
It is difficult to respond appropriately in terms that properly honour the period of David’s leadership and service in so many roles at the ABC, although I think he will be treated generously in the overwhelming body of commentary about his decision. The time will arrive when we can honour his three decade plus years here across a spectrum of roles, recognising his unique commitment to the ABC in its many spheres of creative endeavour and public accountability.
I look forward to being part of that tribute and sharing it with many of you across the nation. I will keep you all advised in due course as we seek to make the right appointment of a new Managing Director, who has to step into proverbially very large shoes!
With all my very best wishes,
Kim Williams AM
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